Hike The Taylor Creek Trail To Double Arches Alcove

One of our favorite Creek Trail hikes is the Taylor Creek Trail found in the Kolob Canyons, the newest addition to Zion National Monument. Kolob Canyons is accessed off of I-15 in Southern Utah at exit 40. There isn't much infrastructure yet in this part of Zion, but the scenery is spectacular and there are a few great maintained hiking trails. The road into the park ends after only 6.5 miles at a scenic outlook (a short hike from the parking lot, which has toilet services and drinking water), but the Taylor Creek trailhead is just 2 miles from the visitor center with a spacious paved pullout from the main road. It is well marked. There is only parking for about 20 vehicles, so it's a good idea to get an early start during the peak season to ensure access.

The trail starts in the parking lot and has a fairly steep descent into the creek bed itself, but then settles down as you reach bottom. Then it follows Taylor Creek 2 ½ miles up a finger canyon to the terminus at Double Arches Alcove, a spectacular bowl shaped amphitheatre carved out of the abundant Navajo sandstone that makes up all of the National Monuments in the area (Zion, Bryce Canyon, Lake Powell, the Grand Canyon, and more). There are no good words to describe the visual impact of the Alcove, although if you had some good ones you could enjoy a wonderful booming echo from the amphitheater itself. Water seeps out of the rock constantly, a result of the abundant winter snowfall melting slowly into the porous sandstone underneath, and this water creates a wide palette of color from the stone itself and from the algae and moss that grow in it.

The hike is a 5-mile round-trip with a modest 450 ft. elevation differential. It is rated "moderate" by the park service and we would place it at the "easy" end of moderate. Our round trip, including numerous photo stops, is 3 hours. We last hiked it in the first week of October with very unseasonable warm weather, up to the high 90's. The trail, however, has lots of shade along its length, and the depth of the narrow canyon also provides significant shade for most of the day. Pretty much any footwear from hiking boots to sneakers will do the job. Late summer to early fall provides best access to the creek when the runoff is lowest. The trail fords the creek dozens of time along its length. There are literally dozens of very good photo opportunities along the length of the trail, and this can contribute quite a bit of time to the round-trip. Because you are in a narrow and tall canyon, the camera buff can find almost any type of lighting they desire to capture picture-postcard-perfect shots.

There aren't any facilities in the park between the Visitor Center and road's end at the overlook, so bring plenty of water and snacks and visit the loo when you pay the $25 fee to enter the park. If you are 62 or older, the $10 lifetime pass is the deal, good at all "interagency" national parks and facilities. Or you can opt for the $80 annual pass if you will be making visits to 4 or more facilities within a single year. In the area of Kolob Canyon you can reach at least 4 National Parks with less than a 2 hour drive (Zion, Bryce, Kolob, and Cedar Breaks).

Without much infrastructure there also aren't many people! Even on a weekend you can enjoy a significant amount of solitude on your hike along the Taylor Creek Trail. For more leads on great Creek Trail hiking, or to see pictures and more information on this trail, visit our favorite information website http://www.creek-trail.com/articles.

By: Warren Mudd

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Warren lives full time with his wife Wendy in his RV and posts regularly to his blog site at muddscape.wordpress.com. He communicates interesting information regarding the RV lifestyle at www.campersmotorhomesonline.com and hiking at www.creek-trail.com