5 will park in the spacious Trailhead 4 parking area on the west side of the road. A spur trail connecting with Trip 3 allows alternate access to the Sand Bench Trail, and the two trips can be combined into a half-day hike. Opposite this trailhead turnoff is a spur leading to the guest parking area at Zion Lodge.
(0.2; 2.8) Another road forks right toward the lodge, signed GUEST REGISTRATION. Trip 6 begins from the northeast edge of that parking area at Trailhead 5.
Following a grassy bench and paralleling the trail from the lodge, we soon curve into The Grotto
(0.6; 3.4), where tall Fremont cottonwoods shade the commodious picnic area. Directly opposite is the Trailhead 6 parking area, where hikers taking Trips 7 and 8 will park, while Trip 6 leaves the picnic area, bound for the lodge.
Continuing past The Grotto, we soon skirt the base of what is arguably Zion’s premier monolith, The Great White Throne. We follow the river as it describes a huge semicircle, the Big Bend, around Angels Landing and its companion tower, The Organ. The 2000’ walls of the monolith rise abruptly from the canyon floor to the broad mesa that crowns it. Here it is too close for us to fully appreciate its dimensions, but a turnout farther ahead reveals its immense bulk to better advantage.
Numerous shady alcoves, of which Weeping Rock is the largest and wettest, are seen ahead as we proceed through grassy openings and among groves of cottonwood, boxelder, and velvet ash. Before the road doubles back along the Big Bend, the signed spur to Weeping Rock Parking Area
(1.2; 4.6) forks off to the right. Trips 9 and 10 begin from the Trailhead 7 parking area, which tends to become congested. The road ahead curves west beneath two gaping alcoves, passes north of a large turnout, and abruptly turns north where a roomy parking area for southbound drivers only
(0.6; 5.2) offers a grand view of The Great White Throne.
Upstream the canyon becomes increasingly narrow, and we soon enter a shady flat. Here we curve westward around another bend in the river and reach
(1.0; 6.2) the large and often congested Temple of Sinawava Parking Area, its namesake crag jutting above the parking area to the north. Popular Trip 11 begins at Trailhead 8, where Trip 16 hikers terminate their trek.
Kolob Terrace Road, Trips 17–21
This highly scenic road leaves Utah 9 at the east end of the town of Virgin (6.1 miles from La Verkin and 14.1 miles from the Park’s South Entrance). This road is paved throughout its length, but has several steep grades and many sharp turns. All its trailheads can be driven to in passenger cars.
Even nonhikers will find the drive exceptionally rewarding, as it traverses unique and varied landscapes seen by only a handful of Park visitors. In winter, the upper reaches of this road are closed to all but ski and snowmobile traffic.
(0.0) From Utah 9 our paved road soon passes some outlying residences of Virgin, then begins ascending the drainage of North Creek, the primary watershed in the west-central part of the Park. Passing varicolored slopes of Moenkopi Formation rocks, we bridge North Creek twice and at length begin ascending a sloping, basalt-capped ridge.
(6.3) Our road enters Park lands amid pinyon-juniper woodland. As we approach Grapevine Wash on the upper limits of the ridge, signed Smith Mesa Road (1.1; 7.4) peels off to the left.
Soon the road curves north while ascending directly toward the red mass of Tabernacle Dome, flanked on the left by the fluted cliffs of Point 6083, and by Point 5855 on the right. Approaching these points, we soon reach a short spur (0.6; 8.0) branching off to the right (east), and signed for LEFT FORK TRAILHEAD. Park at Trailhead 14 100 feet off the paved road, where there is space for at least nine vehicles, and begin Trip 17 here.
The road ahead climbs past Tabernacle Dome on the right and a private residence on the left. Soon the grade abates and we leave the Park and enter the broad, grassy expanse of Cave Valley. Soon we strike due north for an ascent to the west slopes of the brush-clad Spendlove Knoll cinder cone. Due west of Spendlove Knoll we re-enter the Park and as the road begins to curve east, a second cinder cone, Firepit Knoll, fills the view ahead. A sign indicating the Hop Valley Trail informs Trip 18 hikers where to turn (4.5; 12.5) onto the short paved spur to Trailhead 15, just north of the road.
The road ahead ascends to a saddle separating the cinder cones, then continues the ascent above spreading Lee Valley. Soon the road descends east into the valley of Pine Spring Wash, then switchbacks once, climbing steeply among tall pines onto a plateau east of the valley. Upon reaching the plateau, and immediately before the road doubles back to the northwest, the signed Wildcat Canyon Trailhead spur leaves the pavement (2.8; 15.3). This narrow, unpaved spur leads quickly south to the
Trailhead 16 parking area (0.1; 15.4) amid thickets of Gambel oak on the edge of spacious Pine Valley. Trip 19 hikers will end their hike here, or those choosing a round trip to Northgate Peaks will start hiking here.
The road ahead eventually climbs into the expansive meadow of Little Creek Valley, and at its upper end we reach the Park boundary (3.0; 18.3). Our road ahead soon climbs into Oak Spring Valley. It then skirts volcanic Home Valley Knoll, enters another grassy spread, and finally meets
(2.3; 20.6) signed Lava Point Road.
Hikers bound for Trips 19 and 20 turn right here, leave the pavement and follow the good graded gravel road across a well-watered spread, and soon pass summer homes tucked back into the forest. We reenter the Park
(0.8; 21.4) and quickly reach a road fork (0.1; 21.5) on a flat ridge amid an aspen-and-white-fir forest.
If you are planning to camp before embarking on Trips 19 and 20, or if you would like an overview of the vast plateau and the canyons, turn right and proceed along the forested, basalt-capped ridge to a campground turnoff (0.7; 22.2). The Lava Point Campground (7900’) lies north of the main road, offering six pleasant, conifer-shaded campsites along its loop road. You must bring your own water to this primitive campground. No fee is charged here, but there are tables, fire pits, and pit toilets.
Barney’s Trail departs from campsite Number 2, descending 0.3 mile via an aspen-and-fir-clad slope to the trailhead access road, 0.7 mile from the West Rim Trail. Lava Point Overlook, 0.2 mile east of the campground turnoff, and offers an exceptional panorama of the Park and much of the Markagunt Plateau, with interpretive signs identifying distant landmarks.
Turning left at the campground junction, signed for WEST RIM TRAIL, we immediately bypass a left fork leading to a ranger residence and descend, steeply at times, along the forested north slope of Lava Point. The road is narrow, rough and rutted in places, and should be avoided immediately after a good
