Checkerboard Mesa, seen from Highway 9
(1.1; 26.1) Immediately beyond the tunnel a spacious parking area on the roadway’s southeast side offers parking for Trip 12 hikers at Trailhead 9. Beyond the tunnel it seems as if we had entered another world. The red pavement winds eastward, following above the typically dry course of Clear Creek, a Pine Creek tributary.
(1.4; 27.5) After a few minutes of driving, we pass through a second, much shorter tunnel. The entire area traversed by the highway is excellent for short exploratory hikes into any of the northwest- and southeast-trending branch canyons. Numerous turnouts along the way make good starting points for such forays, and some of them have interpretive signs explaining various aspects of the landscape.
(3.5; 31.0) A northwest-bound paved spur road, signed for RANGER RESIDENCE and TRAILHEAD, leaves the highway here and climbs 300 yards to Trailhead 10, where Trip 13 begins. The pinyon- and juniper-shaded parking area has space for approximately 10 cars. Westbound drivers will find the trailhead turnoff 14.5 miles from Mt. Carmel Junction.
Drivers bound for Trips 14–16 will continue east on Highway 9, passing the East Entrance station 100 yards beyond the Trip 13 trailhead turnoff. The road then ascends the valley of the Co-Op Creek drainage, wedged between mesas that are notably lower in stature than those behind us.
(0.7; 31.7) Upon leaving Zion National Park, red pavement gives way to typical blacktop.
North Fork Road, Trips 14–16
This road, signed NORTH FORK, branches north from Utah Highway 9, 1.7 miles east of the Park’s east boundary, and 12.8 miles west of Mt. Carmel Junction. Eastbound drivers will locate the turnoff 50 feet east of milepost 46 on Highway 9.
(0.0) Driving north on this road, we find the first 5.4 miles to be paved, and the remainder a good graded dirt road.
(0.2) From spring through fall, a roadside sign reminds hikers bound for The Narrows that a permit is required for the trip.
(5.0; 5.2) To gain access to the trailheads for Trips 15 and 16, turn left (west) where a sign indicates ZION-PONDEROSA RANCH AND RESORT.
Almost at once we pass beneath an archway, ignoring a left turn at once signed for CHECK-IN. The roads we follow ahead are public roads across private property. Respect landowner’s rights as you proceed. Our road continues generally northwest. Enroute ignore three left-branching, lesser-used roads leading to cabins.
(0.7; 5.9) At a major junction, turn left onto Buck Road, where a sign points to Cable Mountain. Drivers bound for Trip 15 should refer to directions below to locate their trailhead. After about 100 feet we must bear right, following a rough and rocky road through charred vegetation.
(0.6; 6.5) Turn left (south) here, staying on Buck Road, at the junction where Beaver Road branches right (west); then after another 100 feet turn right (west) onto signed Pine Street, where a sign indicates Gooder-Reagan.
Just pass a pair of summer cabins, our westbound road becomes extremely rough and rocky, and ahead the road is rutted with a high center, and is passable only to high-clearance vehicles. We avoid numerous spur roads, posted as private property, as we proceed west.
(0.5; 7.0) Continue straight ahead (west) at the junction with northbound Oak Road.
Presently our rough, narrow road declines to a Park service gate
(0.1; 7.1), where there is room for one vehicle. However, we can pass through the gate (closing it behind us) to where two cars can be parked just short of the post barricade at Trailhead 11, where Trip 14 begins.
(0.7; 5.9) Parting company with drivers bound for Trip 14 via Buck Road at the major junction, we bear right (northwest) onto signed Twin Knolls Road, also signed for Observation Point.
Climbing to a saddle north of a broad hill, ignore northeast-bound Pine Knoll Road (0.5; 6.4) just over the top.
Descending over the broad plateau, we intersect a north-south road at a T-intersection (0.3; 6.7) and turn right, following the sign to Observation Point. Avoiding several left-forking roads to summer cabins as we proceed north, we cross the upper reaches of the Echo Canyon drainage, and meet southwest-bound Fir Road in a sagebrushclad opening (0.9; 7.6), and continue straight ahead (west) on Beaver Road. Drivers of low-clearance cars should park near this junction and begin their hike here; the poor road ahead requires a high-clearance vehicle.
(0.3; 7.9) Ignore a left fork here, following the sign pointing to Observation Point, and proceed past faint left and right forks, staying on the “main” road. We finally reach a fence and a locked gate at the Park boundary
(0.4; 8.3) at Trailhead 12. A hiker’s maze just south of the locked gate marks the beginning of Trip 15.
(5.2) Resuming our drive northbound on the North Fork Road, we traverse the slopes of a vast rolling plateau, soon reaching the end of pavement (0.2; 5.4). Dipping into Bull Hollow, we ignore a private east-bound road (6.6; 12.0) into another parcel of the extensive Zion-Ponderosa Resort, and stay left. Quite soon we descend into the upper drainage of Orderville Gulch (0.2; 12.2). Climbing out of Orderville Gulch we ignore another road (0.8; 13.0), that branches right, once again leading into Zion-Ponderosa Resort land.
(3.6; 16.6) At length we reach a bridge over the Virgin River’s North Fork, and immediately thereafter meet a junction with the road to Navajo Lake, 16 miles to the right, where our road branches left to the Zion Narrows Trail (so signed). This road proceeds westward on the north side of the river to a gate and a drift fence (0.5; 17.1) delineating the Chamberlain’s Ranch property. A sign here reminds us of flash-flood danger, and that we can look forward to a minimum 10-hour hike to the Temple of Sinawava. Don’t forget to sign in at the trail register here, and be sure to close the gate before proceeding.
The remainder of the road to the trailhead is poor, rough and rutted, but a high-clearance vehicle will have no trouble. Continuing down the final stretch, avoid the spur (0.2; 17.3) branching left to the ranch house and quite soon ignore another road (0.1; 17.4) badly eroded, forking right. Not long afterward the road fords the North Fork (0.2; 17.6) and hikers taking Trip 16 park in one of the spaces north of the ford at Trailhead 13.
Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, Trips 3–11
This road should be traveled at a leisurely pace, allowing ample time to park in any of the several turnouts enroute to take a short walk or a longer hike, or to simply soak up the incredible scenery at hand.
(0.0) Junction of Zion-Mount Carmel Highway (Utah 9) and Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, also signed for Zion Lodge. More trailheads lie along the Scenic Drive than any other road in the Park. This part of the canyon is visited by the most people, and not all of them are here to hike. The drive allows those with limited time to experience the atmosphere of the canyon and the magnificence of the Park without ever leaving their cars.
Northbound on the Scenic Drive, we are at once flanked by a gargantuan, rubbly mass of slide debris (see Trip 3) that funnels the river here into a narrow, rocky channel. This