Closest airport to Zion, by entrance.

Which airport for Zion?

NPS names four airports for Zion. Two are small regional airports close to the park, and two are hub airports a long drive away. Pick by entrance first. The South Entrance, on the north edge of Springdale, is the way into Zion Canyon. Kolob Canyons is a separate section at I-15 Exit 40, which NPS puts 40 miles from Zion Canyon. Some guides call it the North Entrance, but NPS doesn't use that name. NPS says every Kolob Canyons visitor must stop at the Kolob Canyons Visitor Center to show a pass or pay the entrance fee.

Every airport-to-entrance drive.

Every airport-to-entrance drive we route. Cedar City and Salt Lake City get two rows each, because I-15 passes Kolob Canyons on the way south. The last column shows the entrance roads open all year, because the park is open 24 hours a day, every day. The Kolob Canyons rows carry the exception: NPS says Kolob Canyons Road, past the visitor center, closes frequently in winter for snow or ice.

Put Cedar City and St. George side by side. Cedar City is 60 miles from the South Entrance and St. George 47, but the drive times are close, 1 h 14 min against 1 h 10 min. So the choice between those two comes down to flights, not the road. The Las Vegas drive, 172 miles, follows I-15 through St. George, so you pass the closer airport on the way.

Match the airport to your entrance.

South Entrance (Zion Canyon): St. George is the shortest drive, 47 miles, then Cedar City at 60 and Las Vegas at 172. Springdale, the park's gateway town, is right outside the gate.

Kolob Canyons: Cedar City is 21 miles (23 min), and Salt Lake City 274 miles (4 h 38 min). Driving down from Salt Lake City you pass the exit, so it's an easy first stop before the South Entrance. Plan it for a dry day in winter, when NPS says the road may close for snow or ice.

East Entrance: no airport route ends here. It sits on the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway, 13 miles west of Mt. Carmel Junction, 10 road miles from Canyon Junction inside the park. NPS says vehicles that are too large can't drive between Canyon Junction and the East Entrance, so check the size limits on our Zion road closures page before you rent an RV or a big van.

Any month: the park is open 24 hours a day, all year, and NPS works to keep the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway open all year too, though snow, ice, rockfall or traffic sometimes close it. Season doesn't change which airport works. If you haven't picked dates yet, start with the best time to visit Zion page.

Short drive or more nonstops?

We don't publish fares. What sets them is how many nonstop routes an airport has, and whether your trip needs a connection. St. George's FAQ lists flights to five cities: Delta to Salt Lake City, United to Denver and Los Angeles, and American to Phoenix and Dallas Fort Worth. NPS names only Salt Lake City and Denver, so confirm the route with the airline before you book. Cedar City has one route, Delta to Salt Lake City. Unless you live in one of those hub cities, flying to either small airport means a connection.

Salt Lake City is the biggest choice by nonstops, with more than 330 daily departures to 100 nonstop destinations, per the airport. It's 313 miles (5 h 29 min) to the South Entrance. Las Vegas publishes a list of nonstop airlines but no destination count. At 172 miles (3 h 48 min), it's the shorter of the two hub drives.

You don't have to fly in and out of the same airport. Las Vegas in and Salt Lake City out, or the reverse, covers I-15 end to end with no backtracking, and Kolob Canyons is on the way. Check the one-way rental fee before you decide.

Adding Bryce Canyon? The same four airports serve it, at different distances. Our Bryce Canyon airports page has those drives.

Rental cars, the bus, and getting around.

NPS names two ways to reach the park: your own vehicle or public transit. For a rental car, St. George's airport lists Budget/Avis, Enterprise and Hertz. At Las Vegas, rental cars are at the Rent-A-Car Center, three miles south of the airport, and courtesy shuttles take you back to your terminal after you return the car. Salt Lake City's rental companies are in the Gateway Center next to the parking garage. We couldn't confirm rental counters at Cedar City.

No car? SunTran's Zion Route is a public bus from St. George through Washington, Hurricane, La Verkin and Virgin to Springdale, a 42-mile route. Fares are $5 each way, paid on the bus by cash, card or Venmo. On September 10, 2026 its page listed service Monday through Saturday, 5:40 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., with no buses on Sundays or holidays. SunTran changed its route operations on September 8, 2026, so check the current schedule before you plan around it. Neither SunTran nor NPS mentions a stop at the airport, so you'll need a ride from the terminal to a bus stop.

From early spring to late fall, a free shuttle runs from Springdale to the park's Pedestrian Entrance, so you can park in town and ride in. During shuttle season, private cars can't use the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, though they can use the park's other roads. How the park shuttle works is on our Zion shuttle page, and where to leave the car is on Zion parking.

We don't carry live flight status, schedules or fares. Those change daily. Check them on the airline's or the airport's own site before you book.

Common questions.

Is Bryce Canyon or Zion closer to Las Vegas?

Zion. Harry Reid International is 172 road miles (3 h 48 min) from Zion's South Entrance and 273 miles (5 h 23 min) from Bryce Canyon's entrance station, by our routing with no stops.

How far is Zion from Salt Lake City?

313 road miles (504 km) from Salt Lake City's airport to the South Entrance, about 5 h 29 min without stops. Kolob Canyons, right off I-15, is closer: 274 miles (4 h 38 min).

Does this page show flight prices or live flight status?

No. Fares and schedules change daily. We compare the airports by drive and by the routes each airport lists, then send you to the airline or airport for flights.

Where these facts come from

The four airports, the SunTran and Springdale shuttle options, the Kolob Canyons and East Entrance locations, and the East Entrance vehicle-size rule come from the NPS Zion directions page; year-round park hours and the Scenic Drive shuttle-season rule from the NPS operating hours page; the early-spring-to-late-fall shuttle season, Kolob Canyons Road and Zion-Mount Carmel Highway conditions from the NPS current conditions page; the Kolob Canyons pass stop from the NPS Kolob Canyons page. Airport-to-entrance distances and drive times are computed by the OSRM routing engine on OpenStreetMap roads (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with airport coordinates from OurAirports and entrance coordinates from OpenStreetMap nodes; last computed 2026-09-10. They are road distances and no-stop times, not live traffic. NPS lists each airport as a number of miles away without naming an endpoint, so we use the routed figure to a named entrance. The Bryce Canyon distance comes from the same routing for that park. Airline and rental notes come from the airports' own pages: the St. George FAQ and rental cars page, the City of Cedar City, Harry Reid International's airlines and rental cars pages, and the Salt Lake City airport overview. Bus route, fares, hours and the September 8, 2026 change come from SunTran's Zion Route page and the SunTran home page. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.