USA South Fork Taylor Creek

Roughly 1.2 miles past the parking lot for the very popular Middle Fork of Taylor Creek Trail, there’s another large parking lot. Though unnamed, it serves as a parking area for the South Fork of Taylor Creek. The trail gets far less traffic than the Middle Fork but is also a beautiful hike, especially in the Fall. When we were there, we passed a total of four people over the course of the two-mile R/T hike. Just as we neared the end of the canyon we met a couple of rock climbers, one from New York and the other from Germany. They had just finished their climb and were leaving. They informed us that this particular wall is well known in the rock climbing community around the globe. The surface of the wall is covered with tafoni, which resembles a sort of honeycomb weathering or "swiss-cheese”. I’m no rock climber but assume the tafoni on the inward slanted wall must be somewhat unique or create a different kind of challenge. Generally speaking though, tafoni is quite common throughout the desert Southwest. I’ve never had a desire to climb on it but have enjoyed making numerous abstract photo compositions.

The Fall colors were at their peak in late October and the late afternoon glow on the canyon walls was spectacular.

From the Kolob Canyons Visitor Center off of Interstate 15, drive 3.1 miles to a large parking area on the right side of the road. Oddly, there is no signage indicating the purpose of the lot. There are vault toilets there. Cross the road and make your way down the obvious trail. The trail begins to steadily climb for about a mile to a spot where the bright red colored mountain wall seems to hang over you.