Timber Creek Overlook Trail

Timber Creek Overlook Trail

The Timber Creek Overlook Trail in Zion National Park is a short hike at the end of the Kolob Canyons Road featuring stunning views of the Kolob Canyons. This 1 mile round trip hike is a great family hike, although it does gain some elevation and offers no shade from the sun.

The drive up to the Timber Creek Overlook Trail is a fantastic drive that most of Zion’s visitors don’t make. The result is a quieter area of the park with the impressive backdrop of the red cliffs of the Kolob Canyons. At the very end of the drive is a parking lot with a nice interpretive sign explaining what you’re looking at. Turn around from the interpretive signs and you’ll find a trailhead leading to a shaded picnic area and a trail that heads up to a nice overlook.

We started out on the trail in the heat of the afternoon. Thankfully, the hike to the top is only 1/2 mile. Once you pass the picnic area, you get out of any real shade and spend most of your time out in the sun. The benefit of no shade means that you have unobstructed views of the surrounding area and it is fantastic.

The beauty of hiking this trail in the afternoon is that the impressive red cliffs of the Kolob Canyons are front lit and in full view the whole way up. The valley separating you is where Timber Creek flows when there is water. Timber Creek eventually makes its way into La Verkin Creek. That creek is obscured from view, but the valley that flows south isn’t.

At the top of the hike, the Timber Creek Overlook Trail drops down just a little bit giving you a perch looking south. Some folks said that they could see the north rim of the Grand Canyon, but I wasn’t sure what I would be looking at. Perhaps you can find it for yourself. The view is great and allows you to see a variety of terrain that that area offers.

Kolob Canyons

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