Its only about 30 mins Tops.... but with all the senic stopping points.... you could spend the day... if you like to hike... $30 will get you 7 days and you wouldnt tap the beauty still available... unfortunately that is the cheapest ticket... still worth it.... felt like a Hobbit... The most beautiful views
Winter is off season and you can do the drive yourself. If you wait till it warms up it will be closed to individual cars and you have to use the bus system.
If you turn left as soon as you cross the bridge and go up the scenic route it is about a 30 minute ride. Once you come back down from the canyon turn left again (v. going back over the bridge you came in on) and you can ride Hwy 9 all the way through Zion (amazing views), through the tunnel and on to Bryce Canyon. Bryce is about 2.5 hours from Zion.
It took us a little over 30 minutes. I would highly recommend it. I believe we could use our yearly parks pass to avoid the 30 dollar fee
Zion canyon scenic drive is only 12miles into the park. Then you have to turn around and go back the same way. Its not that long, maybe 30 minutes without stopping, but you will want to stop at the scenic viewpoints, do hikes, or stop by the lodge. They also close the drive when there are too many people, so get there early! Or you can wait and do a hike until they reopen it later in the day. I think we got there at 10am and it was closed to reopen at 1pm, so we did the Watchman's hike and went back to do the scenic drive at around 2pm.
From what I recall it's about 40-ish miles from I-15 to the entrance booth. Mostly higher speed, pass through a few little towns, and a half dozen miles of major road work just before the park boundary. As of last week.
I would say around 25min each way.
Thanks! Your answer is awaiting moderation.