The Taylor Creek Trail is one of the most popular in the
Kolob section of Zion National Park. After a short steep
decent the easy trail follows the creek up to the arches
crossing it many times. In the summer the creek is almost dry,
but in the winter and spring, expect to get wet.
There is sign asking you not go further than the base of the
slopes beneath the alcoves. Please respect this sign as it is there
to protect the fragile slopes and plants beneath the lower arch.
There are what look to be trails that go up the sides, but these
are not stable and contribute to the erosion of the area.
As you go up the canyon, expect to loose gps reception, but
don’t worry, there is nowhere else to go. At the coordinates, you
can get reception if you sit in one spot for 5 or 10 minutes.
These two arches have formed in the cross-bedded Navajo
Sandstone. Two different erosional processes have resulted in
similar geomorphological features. In one, natural fractures in the
rock called joints provide space for water to collect in. The water
freezes, expands and pushes boulders off the cliff. In the other,
ground water dissolves the cement holding the sand together and
seeping out of the rock in a spring.
Crossbeds N37 27.491 W113 09.766
The crossbeds in the Navajo Sandstone can be seen in the northern
cliffs right at ground level. Cross-beds are formed by layers of
sand grains as they build up into a dune then collapse. Wind piles
sand up the gentle windward side of a dune. When the dune becomes
too steep to support itself, it collapses creating the angled
layers. This process also slowly inches the dune in the direction
of the wind.
Over time, the next dune migrates over the first, burying the
first and preserving the crossbeds. The USGS Western Coastal &
Marine Geology website has some downloadable movies to demonstrate
the process (http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/seds/Movie_list.html). Image
Source USGS:
http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/usgsnps/dune/dune.html
Logging requirements:
Send me a note with :
- The text "GC17E2D Double Arch Alcove in Crossbedded Sandstone"
on the first line
- The number of people in your group.
- the erosional process that predominates in each of the
arches
- based on only the crossbeds you see, which way was the wind
blowing when the sand was deposited.
The above information was compiled from the
following sources:
- Miek, Robert F., et. al., Geology of Zion
National Park, Utah in Geology of Utah’s Parks and Monuments, 2003
Utah Geological Association Publication 28 (second edition) D.A.
Sprinkel, T.C. Chidsey, Jr. and P.B. Anderson,
editors
Placement approved by the
Zion National Park