agesilaus wrote:
Hidden Canyon is a good less popular hike that gives you a taste of exposure without the insane riskes of Angles Landing with a mob going up.
This is a good choice for a hike with fewer people. Go in the a.m. so you'll be in the shade of the canyon. Once you get to the sign that says end of the trail, keep going. Your boys will love the route finding and scrambling as there isn't a specific trail. You may have to backtrack a few hundred yards at times to find another route when you realize you can't keep going. Once past the trail end sign, the canyon is quite a bit narrower so not so much sun. Stays quite a bit cooler than down in the canyon.
The hike up Zion Narrows is also a good place to spend a hot day. You'll be wading in the river so quite cool. Plus the canyon is narrow with little sun. Make sure you have some good shoes for wading/walking in the river. Do check on the weather to make sure there's no rain up river as the water can rise quite quickly in the narrow canyon.
If you can get a spot, the campgrounds at Zion are great as you can walk to the river from your campsite. The Virgin "River" at this point is somewhat of a misnomer, as except for spring runoff, it's more like a stream. The kids build little dams to funnel the water around while adults set up their lawnchairs in or near the creek to soak their feet and cool of in the shade of the overhanging cottonwood trees.
