We left Zion Canyon and Springdale and drove North on I-15 to Kolob Canyons. This is a lesser-known area of Zion National Park and was not at all crowded but is beautiful and offers nice hiking and picnicking. Our first stop after entering the park gave us great views of massive rock faces and deep valleys. Unfortunately, with all the sunscreen I was applying, I seem to have smeared the lens on my phone, so many of my pics from Kolob Canyons have artifacts, as can be seen in the right pic below.
From this viewpoint, we could see the road heading up and around.
We drove quite a distance along the road, past trailheads and small overlooks to get to the Kolob Canyon’s Viewpoint. Here we got spectacular views of enormous rock faces, as this panoramic view shows.
We then took the Timber Creek Overlook trail, a short, not too difficult trail that led to a high point with great views for many miles.
While it wasn’t nearly as hot at Kolob Canyons as it was in Zion Canyon, it was still pretty hot, so shade was important!
Once we reached the end of the trail, we could see distant ranges, but also could look back at the rocks across the valley from the trailhead. It was a beautiful hike!
[…] Zion National Park – Kolob Canyons […]