Chilly Hikes & Kolob Canyons, Day 3 in Zion National Park

Day 3 in Zion National Park started with a continued quest for gorgeous sunrise pictures. We took breakfast with us in the car and drove over to the Zion Human History Museum. Even though the museum is closed at this time of the day, the area behind the museum is a great place to get sunrise pictures of the Towers of Virgin.

I think we got lucky that day because I’ve heard it can get pretty busy. Maybe it was the cold, but we were only one of two groups setting up for pictures.

Hiking

Weeping Rock Trail

This was definitely the coldest of our three days at Zion National Park, but we still wanted to get some other hikes crossed off our list. We started at the Weeping Rock Trail. This is a short, steep trail that ends at a rock alcove. It’s only 0.4-mile round trip. Here we saw wildflowers and mule deer. This hike is  almost so short that there’s no reason not to hike it. It’s quick and easy but certainly not going to be your favorite. At least it wasn’t for me.

Riverside Walk

We hopped back on the shuttle and did the Riverside Walk next. This hike is easy and paved. It’s 2.2-miles round trip and follows the Virgin River from the Temple of Sinawava to the entrance for The Narrows. I was so cold because, like I mentioned earlier, it was the coldest of our three days in the park and the towering canyon walls blocked the sun.

I’ll admit I was so jealous of the people speeding past us in their special gear to hike The Narrows. Not because I’d want to do that at the end of March but because I’ve seen pictures and read other blogs about people that hike it in the summer. The Virgin River helps them to cool off, and the special gear isn’t needed. Hiking The Narrows requires close observation of the weather forecast and current conditions as flash floods are a major concern.

Just recently Zion National Park experienced their worst flash flood in eight years. In fact, cars became trapped in the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel as debris was blocking both sides. You can read an article about it here.

Timber Creek Overlook Trail, Kolob Canyons

We decided we did everything we wanted in the Main Canyon portion of the park so we drove to Kolob Canyons. Kolob Canyons is located in the northwest corner of the park. We took Interstate 15 to exit 40. Since we were going into fast-food withdrawal we stopped at a Jack in the Box, one of our faves. In fact, I will not admit to how much Jack in the Box we ate on this trip 🙂

Here we hiked the Timber Creek Overlook Trail, a one-mile round trip trail that leads to views of Timber Creek, Kolob Terrace, and the Pine Valley Mountains. This is also a great spot to enjoy the sunset! Crowds in this part of the park are basically non-existent. I think we saw one other family on the trail.

Zion National Park describes this hike as moderate, but I honestly thought it was pretty easy. I’m not sure if I’m forgetting something, but it was a quick and very family-friendly hike in my opinion. If you’re short on time I would probably skip this section of the park. I’m glad we had time to do it, but I can see why others stick to the Main Canyon.

Night Photography

That night Kris braved the cold to get some cool pictures of the Zion Lodge at night. Kris thinks there might be a shooting star in the picture below. I’m pretty sure it’s a UFO. Haha!

Day 3 miles hiked:

3.6 miles

Total miles hiked since our Southwest vacation began:

11.35 miles