Trail Head Parking Area from Google Street View

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Description:
The Taylor Creek Trail is one of the few official and popular trails in the Kolob Canyons section: a pleasant 5-mile (roundtrip) hike up one of the enchanting "finger" canyons. The Taylor Creek Trailhead is well marked and easy to spot; it's a prominent parking lot on the left (north) side of the road a little over 2 miles from the Kolob Canyons entrance. This hike is fairly easy and should take roughly 3 to 5 hours to complete. Note: This trail is also commonly known as "the Middle Fork of Taylor Creek."  Canyon and dry desert habitat are the base habitat that includes mixed oak and juniper woodland, and the riparian areas along the trail and creek. 

Birding:
This great hike passes through a ton of great birding habitat and on a usual trip you should be able to build up a descent list.  WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, CANYON WREN, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, SPOTTED TOWHEE, and LAZULI BUNTING are regularly found while birding here.  With a little effort species like JUNIPER TITMOUSE, BLACK-THROATED GRAY, and VIRGINIA'S WARBLER, and PLUMBEOUS VIREO can be picked up as well.  The variety of habitat means a good variety of birds, and seasonally things can get quite interesting.  In the fall some high elevation species might be encountered here, as well as migrants.  All 3 NUTHATCHES have been recorded here, as have PACIFIC WREN, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, WESTERN TANAGER, and CASSIN'S FINCH.  Given how underbirded the Kolob Canyons section of the park is, there is a great opportunity to really explore this location and add to the already growing bird list.

Directions:
All Zion National Park hot spots directions in Zion Canyon, or to the east will originate from the visitor center parking lot for consistency. Anything in the north and west sides of the park will come from the nearest major intersection. Take I-15 exit 40 in New Harmony and go east onto Kolob Canyon Road for 2 miles till you reach the trail head on your left. Park here and you can hike for about 2.3 miles along the trail.