Schwieterman Summer Adventure Series 2025: Part Five – Kolob Canyon National Park
Following our adventures in Bryce Canyon National Park, our plan was to head to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We had spent a few hours in the park on our way to California back in 2022, but we wanted to see more. However, just a few days before we left home, we saw posts on social media about a wildfire burning the historic lodge and visitor center within the park. Hwy 89A was still closed following the evacuations. Now what? After a quick look at the map, we decided to explore the area around Cedar Breaks National Monument. Initially, we had planned to visit that area as a daytrip while staying in Bryce, but we opted to visit Kodachrome Basin State Park instead since we would now be staying near the monument.
I found a campground near Cedar City, UT: Cedar Canyon Retreat RV Park, which was only seventy-two miles from our campground in Bryce Canyon. There were a few different ways we could take, but we opted for Scenic Route 14 with its winding climb into Markagunt Plateau. It was a truly beautiful drive at an elevation of 10,000 ft. At some point, we began to notice all these piles of black rock along the road, like seriously large piles of rock strewn among the forest of aspen trees as if dump trucks had been working overtime. There was a pull-off overlooking Navajo Lake, so we opted to pause and take in the views and stretch our legs. We found our way over to an information board where we learned all that black rock was basalt, which is cooled lava. Was there a volcano in the area?! It turns out the area is full of lava tubes and geologists believe the most recent of many eruptions was around 1,000 years ago. The Navajo Lake was formed when one of these eruptions dammed the Duck Creek. I’m not typically one to be interested in geological factoids, but this one was fascinating. These lava fields are striking and so thick that nothing grows through them.
Anyways…back to our adventures. After settling in at our campground, we headed to Kolob Canyon National Park which is a remote portion of Zion. The park has a single five-mile road which twists and turns through striking red rock canyons. At the end of the road is a beautiful overlook with access to the Timber Creek Overlook Trail, the shortest of the four trails in the park. It’s a 1.2-mile easy-moderate hike with 200 feet of elevation (some sites say 100 ft). The somewhat strenuous hike was well worth the sweeping views. Even for Daddy who carried our Trachie on his shoulders the entire way up. That, my friends, is *Dad*ication! We lingered for quite some time admiring the 360-degree views. We highly recommend this hike.
Following the camp host’s recommendation, we ordered carryout from Pizza Cart on our way back to the campground. Their wood-fired pizza with made-from-scratch crust was excellent. My favorite was the New York Garlic, but we only scratched the surface of their menu.
It was a great introduction to the Cedar City, UT area and we were eager to continue exploring! Next on the itinerary was a trip to Cedar Breaks National Monument and a spur of the moment trip Navajo Lake and Duck Creek Village, a town which called to us as we passed it on Hwy 14. Stay tuned for our next adventure!
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