After doing a lot of research, we decided October would be best for our visit.
Weather had the biggest impact on when we wanted to go. We knew summer would be far too hot, especially with very little shade. The summer crowds also weren’t appealing.
We planned to visit Zion as part of a road trip to all five of Utah’s National Parks. Winter felt too risky for driving mountain roads. Plus, some of the areas we wanted to visit close for winter and daylight hours are shorter.
It came down to April or October. Shoulder seasons are great. Prices are usually cheaper, and the weather milder.
After looking at visitation stats, October was a tad quieter. Plus, we felt it gave us the best weather for the full two-week road trip.
In reality, our trip reminded us how unpredictable weather is. Despite it being October, we got to see one of those Monsoon storms at Zion. We had fall leaves at Capital Reef National Monument. Then, a few days later there were snow and hailstorms in Moab. We felt this worked out perfectly, and we got some great photos of Utah because of it.