In the northwest corner of Zion National Park is an area of easy access to a cluster of hiking trails in canyons.   Highway 15 connects St. George and Cedar City.   A signed pulloff goes to a National Park entrance (pass required) and a road winds up through the hills, with several designated parking areas at viewpoints and trailheads.   Two hikes are top-notch ones worth your time.   The La Verkin-Kolob Arch Trail is a popular backpack or long dayhike out to one of the world’s largest arches (it may be the largest, depending on how you measure it). The other trail is the Middle Fork of Taylor Creek, the featured hike in this article.

The trailhead is signed and there is lots of parking.   From the starting point. descend down into a wash and traverse over scrubby low-lying hills to Taylor Creek,   Cross the creek and follow the middle fork into the narrowing canyon.   Paria Point and Tucapit Point flank the entrance.

Sheer red sandstone walls rise above both sides of the canyon. The trail continues on for a total of 2.5 miles to the end at Double Arch Alcove. This is an unusual spot – a shaded, wet, arched alcove at the end of the canyon. A higher arch frames the lower arched area and the rocks are streaked by seepage.  Hanging gardens sit in pockets above. We couldn’t find a perspective for a good photo without a fish-eye lens and a tripod.

The hike is an easy one and can be combined with some nearby trails (the North Fork or the South Fork). On a hot day, the steep-sided canyon is cooler than the sunny red sandstone cliffs rising overhead.

On a fall hiking day, the shrubs and trees of the Kolob Plateau had started to change color. We returned to the trailhead and enjoyed the scenic drive to the end of the road and the viewpoints to the south. On our next visit, we will go the end and hike the trail around to Kolob Arch (trail description).