Kolob Canyons is the northwestern lobe of Zion National Park, separated from the main canyon by twenty miles of impassable plateau. It is reached by a separate entrance off Interstate 15, an hour's drive from Springdale, and it sees a fraction of the visitors. The five-mile Kolob Canyons Road climbs into a series of parallel red-rock finger canyons that are at least the equal of the main Zion gorge.
The headline hike here is the strenuous fourteen-mile round trip to Kolob Arch — at 87 metres across, one of the longest natural arches in the world. For an easier day, the half-mile Timber Creek Overlook Trail at the road's end gives a sweeping view of the canyons in evening light. Bring water and food; there are no services beyond the contact station at the entrance.