Only a little less than an hour later we have left Cedar Breaks and made our way out to Cedar City and then down Highway 15 to the exit for Zion National Park – Kolob Canyons.

There is a nice small visitors center just at the entrance.  

Then there is a five mile drive in along the most beautiful red road.  Yes, you saw that right, a red road.  They have used local rock ground down and used just like the black asphalt.  And the yellow center line looked good on it too! :)

There are several trails that lead off the road, but some of them are quite long and take days.  One is 14 miles long, so some people park at the end lot and spend several days out in the back country.

It’s a pretty short run from Cedar Breaks to Upper Zion National Park, Kolob Canyons.  Only about 40 miles back out to Cedar City and then south on Highway 15.  There is an exit on the freeway and a left under the highway takes you right to the nice little visitor’s center.  Pardon me for not putting in entry prices along throughout the trip but I bought the Golden Age Pass last year and now I just flash the card to get free for the rest of my life.  (One of the greatest benefits of making it this far in my life.)

First impression of Kolob Canyons?  The red road is pretty!  What can I say, I have always seen asphalt colored black.  Here they use a brick colored rock. It really is pretty. 

A five mile scenic drive takes you along where you can look east at the canyons and beautiful arches, cliffs and formations. There are trails that begin here and allow hikers to head into the Park.  The trails are at least two hours in length and one is 14 miles so overnight camping along the trail may be needed.  The scenic drive ends at an elevated parking area facing the huge cliffs at the edge of the Upper Kolob Plateau.  This would be a particularly impressive sight at sunset. We were there earlier in the day and it was still quite nice.

• Please click here to see all our pictures from today

Many people completely miss this wonderful part of Zion National Park. Only about twenty miles north of the heavily traveled main section of Zion, this part of the National Park lies off of Interstate 15 and is about an hour away from the southern section. The 5 miles scenic drive in from the small visitor center initially follows Taylor Creek. There are two well-maintained trails at this point, one of which leads to Double Arch Alcove, a large overhang in the canyon walls, extravagantly colored by streaks of mineral-laden water, and sheltering hanging gardens of wildflowers. Another two miles along the very scenic drive the road curves around another side canyon, formed by the South Fork of Taylor Creek is another beautiful gorge with sheer red cliffs. There is another trail here. At the Grand Viewpoint there is the La Verkin Creek Trail, which leads to Kolob Arch, one of the largest in the world. It is a 14 mile hike. Even if you are not into long hikes, this drive is spectacular and offers a wonderful look at the natural beauty and amazing formations.