West Rim Trail from the Top Down
The West Rim Trail in Zion National Park has been our favorite trails of the park for many years. We hike it every time we are in the area, but it is a long trail with some significant elevation gains so we were pleased to have a two vehicle shuttle system organized for us to hike the West Rim Trail from the top down.The trailhead is at Lava Point, 40 km up the Kolob Terrace Road at 7890 feet.
The single track trails winds south on Horse Pasture Plateau, through open forest and low shrubs with occasional views west toward Wildcat Canyon and east to the Upper Zion Narrows.
The first 10 km was a steady hike with a moderate slope along the top of the ridge. The trail then dropped into Potato Hollow, an open bowl. There are two uphill sections up to the West Rim from the pasture in Potato Hollow.
The views improve dramatically once we were on the West Rim.
Most of the views are to the west with Greatheart Mesa and Mins Mountain in the foreground.
This second section of trail along the rim has superb views, sustained for the rest of the long hike.
The area to the west is steep and rugged, not very accessible from any direction.
The South Guardian Angel stands at 7140 feet between the Left Fork (Great west Canyon) and the Right Fork of North Creek on the western edge of the Zion peaks.
At the south end of Horse Pasture Plateau the ridge ended with a steep drop into the canyons below. The trail switchbacked down the sheer face, a challenge for anyone with a fear of heights.
The steep downhill section dropped us into Icebox Canyon (also called Little Siberia), a narrow canyon on the north side of Mount Majestic. The trail descended further into another canyon where a bridge crossed over to a ridge above Refrigerator Canyon.
This was a busier section of the trail that hikers venture up to after hiking (or refusing to hike) Angel’s Landing. We have hiked this several times before so instead of going out to Angels Landing, we turned down the trail at Scout’s Landing. The rest of the trail to the bottom was non-stop people hiking up or down to Angel’s Landing.
The final section of the 29 km hike switchbacks down Walter’s Wiggles, goes through Refrigerator Canyon, then switchbacks down the lower slopes of Cathedral Mountain to the Virgin River. The trail ends at the Grotto, where the shuttle bus stops.
After having hiked up to the West Rim to the top of the hill above Potato Hollow and back (link), a 25 km route, and the top down option, we would always choose the top down route. This will probably be our favorite hike of 2018, one we hope to do again.
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