Hiking Zion—Kolob Arch

The Kolob Canyons area of Zion is in the northwest corner of the park, quite some distance from the Springdale main entrance. I think it’s a lovely part of the park, and it gets far fewer visitors. Of course, to see any of its wonders requires a bit of hiking. One of the popular, but long, hikes begins at Lee Pass, descends down Timber Creek to La Verkin Creek, and then upstream to a side canyon for a view of Kolob Arch.

I think we hit this area at near optimal time—the grass was green, flowers were blooming, seasonal Timber Creek was still running (La Verkin runs year round and was running muddy and high with snow melt). The temperature was just fine, although it felt too warm on our afternoon climb up out of the canyon.

The first part of the hike is a gentle descent down Timber Creek, through grassy banks, cottonwoods, junipers, and pines, with magnificent views of high cliffs and narrow canyons off to our left.

After a few miles, we came to La Verkin Creek and began our trek upstream, hiking in mostly sand. We found a spot where beaver had been active in the past, but there was no sign of them now.

After 7 miles we finally came to our destination—Kolob Arch. Because of the way the light struck it and the cliff wall behind it, we had a difficult time distinguishing the arch from the background with our bare eyes. It took me a couple of minutes, and Karen never did see it as an arch. The photo makes it clear that there is a huge arch up there, about 300 ft across.

We didn’t stay long before we began the return trip. We were both already feeling tired, so we knew the 7 miles back were going to be a real challenge. As we started the climb back up hill to Lee Pass, Karen informed me that she was never going to do a 14 mile hike again.

Links
—Kolob Arch hike photo gallery