Kolob Canyons Hike & Extreme Disc Golf

Dale and I were really looking forward to our first weekend in Utah, and it did not disappoint. We watched the weather all week, hoping for a beautiful weekend, and it was indeed gorgeous.

Taylor Creek Trail at Kolob Canyons

Saturday morning we slept in a bit, grabbed some coffee and a bagel, then headed to our first Utah hike, the Taylor Creek Trail located in the Kolob Canyons. Kolob is in the northwest corner of Zion National Park, and from everything we’ve read, Zion is extremely popular. We were hoping that because Kolob is located at the top of the park it would be less busy, and we were right. Plus, we only had to drive about 15 minutes to get to the park!

The area in the orange circle is the Kolob Canyons area. It was home to the Southern Paiute people, and rediscovered in the early 1900s by European settlers. The first trails were built in the 1920s, and in 1937, Kolob Canyons was incorporated into Zion National Park.

After reviewing our hiking options using the All Trails App, we selected a 4.9 mile hike along Taylor Creek. It ended up being six miles! It was worth it though! The trail follows Taylor Creek and we had to cross back and forth across the creek several times using well-placed rocks. We were prepared to have wet feet, but fortunately we managed to stay mostly dry. (I accidentally stepped in the water near the end of the hike.) It’s still pretty chilly here and the water is cold.

We started our hike around 9:30am and finished four and a half hours later! We definitely took our time, there was so much to see. We were like bobble heads trying to look at every vista. Then on the way back, it looked completely different coming from the opposite direction.

I had packed sandwiches in the cooler, so after the hike, we went further into the park and ate at a picnic table near Lee’s Pass. The wind was so strong and cool that we ended up finishing our lunch in the car. Nevertheless, no fancy restaurant could have had a better view!

Extreme Disc Golf

After church on Sunday we enjoyed brunch at a local diner, then headed to Thunderbird Disc Golf Course, which is located in town, just a couple miles off Main Street. Once you get there, you’d think you were miles away from civilization. Dale and I could not believe how crazy this course was. The terrain, the distance between tee and basket, the wind … it all conspired against us, but we had so much fun! If you think Georgetown’s Rivery Course is off the hook, you would swoon over this one.

We started the course about 12:30pm and finished a couple of hours later. There were very few people on the course, which is a good thing because as newbies we spent a lot of time wandering around trying to figure out tee and basket locations. We should have used the UDisc App. Maybe next time.

This week will be a normal work week, but on Sunday we will be headed to Zion National Park again, southern end, to camp for two nights!