Kolob Canyons, Zion National Park

Kolob Canyons is a great, 5-mile scenic drive through Zion’s National Park! There are lots of good trails for hiking, but also plenty of spots to just pull off and enjoy the view. They have nice bathrooms at several of the trailheads. Also, there wasn’t hardly any traffic when I went, which was especially surprising for a nice, summer evening.

Nice scenic 5 mile drive with some spectacular views and rock formations. Kolob Canyon is right off Highway 15 so there’s easy access on and off. There is a nice hike at the top, I didn’t do it but will next time.

This is such a great addition to Zion National Park. Zion has two parts, the huge, heavily populated side (totally worth going to) and this side. You can really get a great appreciation of the landscape in a short amount of time here. It is also much easier to get to, since it is just an exit off the highway and you are there. We went to the other side of Zion one day, and visited this one on the way back from Bryce Canyon NP. We didn't do any trails, but this would definitely be the way to go if you are short on time, or if have small children. We loved Zion, but the easier trails we were sticking too were heavily populated and are used as a connector trail to get to some of the harder and more popular ones. So we felt like we were in others way going at our small children walking pace. Kolob would have probably been a better place to family hike. The drive alone is spectacular. At the top there is a nice infographic with the elevations of the mountains listed. It's pretty humbling to see the thousand feet differences in the mountains right in front of you, giving you a better idea just how huge the cliffs are.

I wouldn't replace a trip to the main Zion canyon with a trip to Kolob only, but if you are in Sothern Utah, make sure that you stop in Kolob. The scenery is beautiful and this area of the park is much less crowded than the main canyon. As always, arrive early to beat the other people who are visiting this park and you might just have it to yourself.

An absolutely stunning, scenic drive! You can see the whole canyon right off of the road. This is a great place to drive by if you have an hour to spare. Perfect for the lone adventurer or the whole family!