The La Verkin Creek Trail is the most prominent trail in the Kolob Canyon area of Zion National Park, starting from the Lee Pass trailhead at 6080ft elevation and descending 1600ft to follow the waters of La Verkin Creek. It is most popularly hiked as an 14 mile out-and-back day hike to Kolob Arch, the second largest (by a span of 3 ft) measured arch in the world. It also forms the first leg of the Zion Traverse (or Trans-Zion Trek, aka TZT), connecting to the Hop Valley Trailhead at mile 6.5.
We hiked this trail twice as the first leg of a four day/three night backpacking trip across the western portion of the Zion Traverse. This trip report is from the most recent trip in late May of 2024.
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Backpacking Trip Report from the La Verkin Creek Trail
After a somewhat leisurely morning in Springdale, as far as mornings before a long hike go, we parted ways with half our crew to drive out to the Hop Valley Trailhead where we’ll be caching water – along with the car – so that a few in our party have the option of a shorter hike on Day 2. There’s just enough time to get our gear out when the Red Rock Shuttle driver pulls into the parking lot.
The forecast for late May is significantly better than it was just two months earlier when we first attempted, and then abandoned, backpacking the Zion Traverse. Now the only foreseeable drawback to the season is what the driver is calling “cedar gnats,” or black flies, which got a number of folks in the shuttle spooked about bugs. To alleviate any fears, the driver makes one final stop at the TrueValue and leads us down the aisle to get last minute ‘bug nets.’ I kid you not. We laugh nervously imagining what would possibly compel any of us to wear a mesh paint strainer with an elastic band “to ensure a snug fit” over a 5 gallon bucket on our heads. The cashier doesn’t quite know what to make of the sudden run on paint strainers and to be honest, I’m not sure either as I tuck it into the top of my pack. Since they weigh practically nothing (only 4 grams), better safe than sorry.
The adventure into the hardware store serves as an unintentional ice breaker, and for the remaining 45 minutes we become acquainted with the other hikers whom we’ll be sharing the trail with the next few days. There’s the solo hiking French Canadian, camping only two nights; the couple J&K, who’ll be camping right across the river from us the first night; and our group of four.
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Compared to the Zion Canyon area in Springdale, the Kolob Canyon section of the park feels small and remote, despite being only a few miles off of I-15. The two lane road winds up the canyon for five miles, with a few pullouts and small parking lots; that’s it.
When we arrived at the Lee Pass Trailhead there were only a handful of vehicles even though it was close to 11am. As we gathered our gear, it already started to feel communal – one of the other hikers volunteered to take our group’s photo I was trying to set-up remotely, so naturally we reciprocated, and then of course coaxed Montreal in for his solo shot as well. It was lovely to feel some of that thru-hike camaraderie despite being a relatively short ‘long distance’ trail at only 37 miles.
Geologic Formations along the La Verkin Creek Trail
Knowing that we’d be stopping frequently to take photos we let the other groups go ahead. The first mile is arguable the most scenic portion of the hike. The trail descends gradually towards the bullet shaped spire of Shuntavi Butte, with the jagged sandstone monoliths of Timber Top Mountain in full view to the left. As often as we stopped to appreciate the view that lay ahead, we found ourselves turning around to admire the different views into the Kolob finger canyons, especially the one between Beatty Point and Nagunt Mesa.
If you look at a topographical map, the walls that separate the Kolob finger canyons all look somewhat uniform, but they are actually composed of several different rock layers. The top of each projection is made up of Navajo Sandstone, formed from ancient sand-dunes 180 million years ago when the Colorado Plateau was covered by the largest known sand desert in to geologic history. The deepest area of this sandstone now lies within Zion, reaching up to 2200 ft thick and serving as the foundation for the park’s awe inspiring canyon walls and cliff faces.
Below that is an older layer called the Kayenta formation, visible below the cliffs as the steep but somewhat striated and shrub covered deep red slopes which is what the trail directly crosses.
After roughly 400 ft of elevation loss, the decline softened – nearly leveling out – as we reached Timber Creek. Numerous species of spring wildflowers were in bloom and grasses were lush and green.
There are two campsites in the lower Timber Creek area, both only 2.5 – 3 miles from the trailhead. From there we had another brief uphill to cross over to the other side of one of the last ‘finger’ before turning north along La Verkin Creek. The third campsite is located at the top of this hill, with some nice views of Red Butte and glimpses into the valley along La Verkin Creek.
Hiking to La Verkin Creek
We’ve only been hiking for little more than an hour when we stop for lunch near Camp 3, just as the trail shifts from bearing southwest along the Timber Creek drainage and turn northeast to follow La Verkin Creek.
I mentally map the La Verkin Creek Trail to Kolob Arch into four segments – five including Kolob Arch: there’s the initial descent, the stretch along the Timber Creek drainage, the descent to La Verkin Creek, the hike upstream along the La Verkin Creek basin, and then the last half mile into Icebox Canyon to see Kolob Arch. Even though today’s hike is relatively short – only 6.5 miles to the campsite – this marks roughly the halfway point.
The trail drops another 400 ft over the next mile, with neck craning views of Gregory Butte to the left, Neagle Ridge to the right and the canyon valley ahead. There’s a side spur when the trail reaches La Verkin creek to a lovely spot of slick-rock that would theoretically make a great place to cool off, but we’re all a bit too wary of the cyanobacteria bloom warning to actually cool off in the water.
The ecology changed immediately once we reached La Verkin Creek; unfortunately, so did the trail! We knew to expect the sand but it didn’t make it any easier. Every step now took additional effort as the sun beat down almost directly overhead. Fortunately there were some huge cotton wood trees providing much needed shade in between the exposed sandy stretches. The girth of these trees must have been at least 3 meters.
There was also one of the coolest optical illusions in the sandstone cliffs of Gregory Butte between Camp 4 and Camp 5. What appeared to be a full arch in the sandstone was in fact the result of shadows. It was very convincing, and somewhat more interesting than Kolob Arch proper if I’m honest.
At one point the trail passed exceedingly close to the river, as the path wound up on a sandy bank. There were a few places where a misplaced foot or loss of balance would have assuredly resulted in sliding into the water, but it was also an indication that we were almost there.
Every campsite became a countdown to arrival as we searched for the tell-tale brown carsonite markers. We passed an unmarked spring across from Camp 7 where the group of women we had leap-frogged earlier in the day were filtering water, so didn’t get a good look at it, apart from eyeing its location. And then one last decline into a grove of Ponderosa Pine where the markers for Camps 8 and 9 straddled the trail.
Overnight Camping in Kolob Canyon Area of Zion NP
La Verkin #8 is a very large primitive campsite situated below Gregory Butte. It would be our home for the night. Up to 12 campers are allowed to occupy this site at once and it is more than adequate. I’ve also seen it named ‘Flat Rock Camp’ in various places which accurately names one of the most distinguishing features of the site: a large flat rock just past the campsite entrance that became the de facto sitting area. It was the camp ‘living room’, so to speak.
Previous backpackers had arranged a few smaller sandstone rocks into a camp ‘kitchen’ which was the perfect size for balancing a Jetboil and bowl. There were also at least two good, flat places to pitch a tent on opposite ends of the site that provided relative privacy from each other: one near the heart of the campsite tucked under some pines and another off to the left behind the flat rock. It felt like we had a veritable two bedroom house in the wilderness.
It was still early afternoon when we arrived into camp, leaving plenty of time to hike to Kolob Arch if we had felt so inclined. Since it had only been two months since we hiked out to the arch in March, we opted against doing it a second time. Instead we completed the camp chores of water gathering and sat around relaxing and preparing ourselves for a much longer day tomorrow.
There were significantly more flies in the camp than there had been previously and sitting around for any stretch seemed to attact them. You could have mistaken us for a folk music group playing the hambone with all the body slapping. They were a bit aggravating, but not so much of a nuisance that we modified our behavior to avoid them.
For dinner we prepared our DIY Thai Coconut Chicken & Rice and Southwestern Backpacker Burritos, then filled up our water bladders at Beatty Spring with enough water to get through breakfast in the morning and hike to our water cache at Hop Valley.
How to Find Beatty Spring
Back in March, the ranger had described the location of Beatty Spring in relation to a big rock. Or as she put it, “Cross the other side of the creek past campsite #10 and look for the big rock. It’s … well it’s a really big rock.” Initially we felt like there were lots of relatively big rocks on the other side of the creek, but if you think about bigness less in terms of height and more in terms of mass then this is, most probably, the biggest rock in that area.
Beatty Spring is located off to the right, just after the trail from the campsites crosses the creek and just before the trail heads uphill towards the junction with the Hop Valley trail. Where, exactly, you choose to cross the creek will vary, but once you do, turn right and follow the trail just behind this big, flat, red sandstone rock.
You’ll find Beatty Spring flowing out the hillside to the left, near the base of a tree. Be sure to collect water from this area where the spring emerges and not where it flows down to meet La Verkin Creek. The spring is unmarked, but there is nothing else in the area to confuse it with. Water flowing out of the hillside? That means you’re in the right spot.
Logistics within Zion National Park
How to get to the Lee Pass Trailhead
The Lee Pass Trailhead is located in the Kolob Canyons district of Zion National Park, which is accessed from a separate entrance than the more popular Zion Canyon district in Springdale. There is a single road that takes visitors into the park past the Kolob Visitor Center. There is a small, well marked parking area located just past the sign indicating the elevation of Lee Pass. Overnight parking is only allowed with a tag provided with a wilderness permit.
How to get Reservations to Camp in the Kolob Canyon Area
Campsite reservations can be made at rec.gov by selecting the La Verkin Creek area. Only certain campsites are available to be reserved in advanced, though you are able to book multiple consecutive nights on a single permit. The remaining sites are available as walk-up permits, obtainable 24 hrs in advance, in-person at the Wilderness Desk inside the Main Visitor Center. If you plan to go through route, get there early! The line regularly starts to form well before the Wilderness Desk opens.
Best Campsites in Zion’s Kolob Canyon Area
The campsites in Zion’s Kolob Canyon are spread across 6 miles of trail. This not only gives each campsite its own personality and view, it also makes different campsites better suited for different goals. Campsites closest to the Hop Valley Trail junction are ideal for those backpacking the Zion Traverse west to east. These are further from the Lee Pass TH without adding extra miles to the second day.
Campsites further upstream beyond the junction provide additional solitude and serve as good departure parts for exploration of the Kolob Canyon area itself. Of course, any of the La Verkin Creek campsites would make a good weekend getaway. Those nearest the trailhead would be well suited to those who cannot manage, or don’t desire to hike, long mileage.
Read more backpacking trip reports from Zion National Park!
- Day 1: La Verkin Creek Trail through Kolob Canyons – that’s this trip report!
- Day 2: Hop Valley to Wildcat Canyon
- Day 3: Hiking and Camping along the West Rim Trail
- Day 4: From West Rim to the Grotto
- Day 5: East Rim and Observation Point
What to Pack when Backpacking the Zion Traverse
- Water filter. All water from the springs must be filtered before drinking. We like how quickly we were able to fill 6L liters of water with our MSR Miniworks EX to take back to camp for the next day.
- Water bladder. Carrying extra water is essential on the long dry stretches of trail or when camping at a distance from one of the springs. Camp #8 was close enough to Beatty Spring that filtering on the day we arrived and departed would have been fine, but if we were camping further from the spring we would’t have wanted to backtrack. We either carry empty 2L Platypus, which only weigh 1.3 oz (36g), or 4L Hydrapaks.
- Wag bags. There are no outhouses anywhere along La Verkin Creek. Packing our your waste is not optional and digging catholes is not permitted. Make sure to carry enough wagbags to take care of business.
- Sand gaiters. The trail along La Verkin Creek is sandy. Keep your shoes sand free with a pair of gaiters. My sand gaiters aren’t anything special, but they stay in place all day and keep out the sand.
- Food. We prefer to carry freeze-dried meals on our backpacking adventures that can be rehydrated with boiling water from our Jetboil. Many ready-made backpacking meals are heavy on the sodium, so we prefer to make our own light weight backpacking meals using easily obtainable ingredients.
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Planning your own hike in Zion National Park? Check out our Guide to Backpacking the Zion Traverse
Let us know what further questions you have about backpacking the Kolob Canyon area in the comments and we’ll respond with an answer.