Wildcat Canyon Trail, The Subway Trail and The Left Fork of North Creek is a 7.8 mile moderately trafficked point-to-point trail located near Springdale, Utah that offers scenic views and is only recommended for very experienced adventurers. The trail is primarily used for hiking and rock climbing and is best used from March until October.
Zion National Park charges a fee to enter. Fees are $35 per vehicle or $30 per motorcycle. If you are entering on foot, horse, or bike the fee is $20 per person. You can also purchase a park specific annual pass for $70. Please visit their site directly to secure your pass: https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/fees.htm Backcountry permit is needed from Zion National Park in order to do this hike and you will need to be guided unless you have the equipment and experience to do the rappelling. This trail takes hikers through one of the most beautiful sections of slot canyon in Zion National Park. The Subway is a strenuous day-long hike with some beginner technical canyoneering aspects. The route involves several short rappels, some down-climbing, and a few cold swims. This route starts at the Wildcat Canyon Trailhead and ends at the Left Fork Trailhead. Much of the hike involves walking through shallow water.
Permit Reservations https://zionpermits.nps.gov/wilderness.cfm?TripTypeID=3
You will need a backcountry permit to hike the Subway. You can reserve permits for your group 3 months in advance by going to https://zionpermits.nps.gov/wilderness.cfm?TripTypeID=3. You will need to bring: neoprene socks, water, snacks, rope, harness, first aid kit, and headlamp. Best group size: 2-6. Best time to go: May-September.
April 8, 2021Looking for two tickets on 4/18 and 4/19! Will buy! Please contact if you can help. 940-735-1860 krsanders@yahoo.com
April 4, 2021Gave up rock hopping and just trodded through the river. quite refreshing.
April 4, 2021Hi! Looking for 6 tickets for 4/9. Please text 6784378768!!! However much you have, we will take! Thank you.
March 31, 2021Nice walk through the woods to a spectacular vista at the end
March 31, 2021The trail was terrific today. Not too hot or cold, no snow, not too much water in the canyons, and very few people. Don’t underestimate this hike, it is a doozy. We managed to do it with our entire family, with kids ranging from 6 years old to 18 years old but it literally took us 12 hours. We rented dry suits for everyone from Zion Guru and that helped a ton since we were so slow and spent lots of time in the freezing cold water. We wished we had neoprene gloves, the upper pools are literally covered in Ice! Bring tons of water, dry bags, 60 feet of rope and harnesses.
December 19, 2020Perfect trail. Soft dirt and well maintained. Mostly flat with a big scenic payoff at the end.
November 27, 2020ISO! looking for one ticket any day of 12.5.2020 through the 12.8.2020 Dec. 5-8th 4805621670 or my ig @ericjamesmarquis THANK
October 31, 2020Looking for 1 shuttle ticket at 7am for 10/31. Text if you are willing to sell back for a $1. Thanks ! 440-567-5253
October 24, 2020Very difficult for average hikers. Our time slowed once I. The canyon and we had to turn back early. Well try again next year. Make sure to allow plenty of time. Mileage closer to 10-12.
August 29, 2020beautiful canyon trail with river crossings. shady and Sunny in parts. hiked in neoprene socks due to cold water. probably did not need them. hike in and out was fairly easy.
July 29, 2020Gotta say, we had a bad time but that was through our own hubris and naivety. Read about the obstacles, didn’t take it seriously. Almost didn’t bring a rope. We would’ve had to be helicoptered if we didn’t have that rope. The rope was barely long enough and we didn’t have harnesses (which obviously aren’t needed to make it out but god it would make your lives easier). Several areas required either precarious climbing or straight swimming through standing water that did not look too sanitary. Eventually we all had to swim. Nobody ended up with any infections but it was a risk for sure. Also for the first part of the hike, having this route saved on all trails allows you to access the map without being connected to the internet and it will also usually show you where you are on the map as well. This was a necessity for the first part of the hike. Also give yourselves plenty of time. We started at maybe 1pm and wound up hiking in the dark because one of our group was struggling real hard. The obstacles took maybe 45 minutes each to get each of us down. And then there’s the fact that we scrambled up the side of the canyon to avoid swimming different portions. That took a long time. Still have to rate it five stars because it was a really cool hike, we just got taught a good lesson. Also we passed a sign that said permit required and I haven’t seen that noted here. Maybe it’s for another hike, but it seems possible they’d want a permit for this one
June 3, 2020Not a good trail. It’s basically not marked and not fun to do. We turned around after 3 miles of stumbling into the right direction. Wouldn’t recommend - other trails are much better
May 24, 2020Let’s just be straight up honest here, if you can fly then sure it’s 8.9 miles however I did the hike (top down) it’s a solid 11+ miles. However if you can’t climb Over boulders all day and have to keep crossing the stream. Well then you’ll clock about 16 miles like I did.. prepare for over 12 miles and you MUST bring a water filter.
February 11, 2020Water was freezing. You'll definitely want a wet suit for October. You'll be wading in and out of the water basically the entire subway portion. The last deep pool is after the big repel at the end. I was disappointed in how short the slot canyon portion of the trail and the hike after you leave the subway seemed to take forever.
November 10, 2019October 17, 2019That was a lot of scrambling! Maybe the prettiest hike I have done in Utah. That says a lot. Nothing on the hike is too difficult. Very slow going in places. Leave yourself plenty of time. The Alltrails app was great. Just fallow it judiciously. The rappels are easy. The swim throughs are freezing until you get to moving water.
October 13, 2019Good hike, beautiful views! I would HIGHLY recommend wet suits and a harness for everyone. We used the same for our team during rappelling. Trail is hard to follow and some of the points for the rappelling are not accurately placed. Plan to swim in some cold water! The end is a steep scramble up the cliff side and can be a bit difficult. Overall, beautiful views!
September 25, 2019Amazing!!! So so beautiful! Beta: Bring a dry sack, 60 foot rope, and a spare set of clothes.
August 1, 2019We did the top-down route this week. Started around 8:00 and hit some bottlenecks of larger groups on the final rappel into the lower pools. I would recommend starting earlier maybe to avoid back-ups at the rappels. Overall a seriously stunning hike with lots of little obstacles - from cold water swimming to the short rappels, but definitely worth it! I did get pretty cold during the swimming, so an extra shirt and shorts were helpful to stay warm, but the hike in and hike out can get pretty hot. Lots of boulder hopping and river crossing during the last few miles. Loved the short steep section over the lava outcropping at the end - what a way to finish. Take it in because it’s a beauty in true Zion’s fashion!
July 8, 2019We did the top down with a group of 8. Had a great time with the 3 rappels, the multiple swims and much rock scrambling. Took a little under 9 hours- my GPS watch clocked it as a bit over 11 miles- were all cold intermittently during the middle 1/3 of the hike, but the first 1/3 and last 1/3 we were hot! Overall a Beautiful day and a great hike!
July 8, 2019Did the top down route yesterday. Started at 8am and finished at 6pm. Group of 3 that didn’t rush. And we did not bring wetsuits. It got cold in a couple spots but not bad. We were glad we didn’t bring them. Great day to do it and we had a blast.
June 17, 2019Amazing. 6/15/19 We hiked the Subway from top to bottom. The water wasn't as high or cold as the ranger had reported. We were a little nervous until we came to the water. It was a little cold, but didnt need or want to carry wetsuits. We did have neoprene socks. We did have a rope and harness. We started at 8 and finished at 5. We took our time and enjoyed every minute of it.
