Zion: Lambs Knoll
Categories: Zion
As you drive up Kolob Reservoir Road past Tabernacle Dome into Cave Valley you’ll notice a small gravel pit on the left and behind it, Lambs Knoll. Lambs Knoll is not in the boundaries of Zion National Park. Because of this it is popular with guiding companies, so you will often see or run into some guided climbs when you visit. Lambs Knoll is a group of rock pinnacles and fins all smashed together close enough to form a couple of basins on the top.
For rock climbing there are routes up all over the walls. But you can hike up to the basin and explore nearly the entire top of the mesa. Once on top there is a confusing array of pinnacles and hoodoos with several that look about the same height, so finding the true summit it difficult. Just to be sure I climbed up three of them. The views are amazing, looking at Cave Valley and the terraces of the Kolob in one to the north and east. To the south and west is a grand vista of Smith Mesa and the desert beyond, all the way to Arizona.
The towers of Lambs Knoll.
It’s pretty easy to figure out where to go due to the deep trails in the sand from human traffic.
On the right is a group of people who were on a guided canyoneering trip. To get in here you have to squeeze through a slot so tight you must exhale.
Above the area where the canyoneers were.
This near tunnel was actually the best way to access one area on the top of the knoll.
This split in the mountain was so deep I never could get close enough to see the bottom. It drops precipitously out towards the edge of the Kolob Terrace, to those distant trees far below.
A nice flat ledge after a lot of sandy and bushy slogging.
The view to the south.
The view of the park to the east.
I think this was the true summit. That ledge is close to 7 feet high and sloped on top. There’s a lot of exposure on top of it.
The way down from the ledge.
Lambs Knoll isn’t a long hike, but it has a bonus hike after you come back down. Like Spendlove Knoll, Lambs is partially engulfed by a cinder cone. Behind the cinder cone are some more rock formations that make up the edge of the terrace. It’s fun to explore ways to get out on those rocks for even more unusual views.
The cindercone.
Behind the cinder cone is the edge of the Kolob Terrace.
The rock on this base layer looks more like what you could come across around Moab or Lake Powell.
On the right is a pile of translucent onyx, I think.
The end of the finger of rock was a block overhanging the hills below.
If you followed this blog all the way to the end you are rewarded with this very unusual view of distant Zion.