Mt. Kinesava - Zion National Park

Driving Directions:  On Utah State Highway 9, turn onto Anasazi Way, between towns of Rockville and Springdale.   If driving east past Rockville, Anasazi Way is a left turn just over one mile from Rockville, just before Springdale Fruit Company.  After turning onto Anasazi Way, make the first right (there is a sign for Chinle Trailhead) up a steep hill, which then descends steeply on rutted gravel road to parking lot for Chinle Trailhead.  

Hiking Directions:  (We did not make the summit; below is description to cliff face just before the "catwalk").
Evan Quarnstrom's account, "Tackling Mt. Kinesava" nicely breaks down this hike into sections.   
Three main sections make up our hike: 

• Fence and First Ridge​ to Three Poles
  After closing the gate at the Zion National Park boundary, 1.1 miles into the hike on Chinle Trail, walk along the fence to the east for ~ 0.2 mile with a good view of three ridges that lead up toward the sediment layers forming cliffs.  We found the center ridge most direct to get to the three telephone poles that are at base of second ridge through lower cliffs.  We actually ascended the ridge to the left, but had to descend down into the canyon between that and center ridge and then up to three telephone poles.  From the poles, you can clearly see the steep path through the cliff bands.  Check out topo map below with our GPS tracks to get a good visual.  On the way down, we found the best trail to descend on the middle ridge just past three poles.
• Second Ridge Through Lower Cliffs 
  ​From the three poles on top of center ridge, the path or "passage" over the lower cliff is obvious, as it channels you up onto the plateau above it, passing by a large white boulder with a rock pile on top.  Remember this entry point, as it is also your exit point.  ​ The red-orange terrain dotted with boulders on this beautiful plateau is covered with large areas of cryptobiotic soil crusts - a "living soil."  Be careful not to walk on this, as damaged crusts take 50 + years to return to maturity.  Composed of fungi, algae, bacteria and lichens, they affect the germination and nutrient levels in plants and provide soil stabilization.
  From here, get closer to the sheer fractured cliffs and the "triangle" of trees that must be traversed to bring you to the first cliff face.  Keep aiming for the peak as the terrain begins to get steeper.  You reach a gulley that gets deeper to the left, so we stayed to the right to avoid elevation loss.  This is where views of Zion Canyon begin to get spectacular.
• Third Ridge and rocks along Cliff Face
  Aim for the "triangle" of trees, climbing once again after brief flat gulley to the base of the cliffs under the largest prominence.  A few encouraging cairns help you to aim for cliff face just to the right of tip of triangle.  Aim for the left side of the horizontal line of trees to reach cliff base.
  Once at the base of the sheer walls, begin Class 3 (climbing with use of hands) up more or less vertical rocks, making your way to the right along cliff base.  It took us longer than we wanted to navigate through the horizontal band of trees under the pinnacled vertical cliffs.  We reached a comfortable platform with a good view of the "catwalk", a very narrow section that must be traversed to gain access to the final climb up the diagonal band of trees to the notch that lands you on the plateau above.   Begin Class 3-4 climbing.  This is where we stopped, figuring we didn't have enough time to summit AND get down (see image below).   Once on the plateau, Mt. Kinesava's summit is another 300-400 foot climb.  ​
• The Way Down

              Our GPS tracks show that we hiked a more westerly route than on our ascent (see below).  I recommend hiking straight down over the third ridge instead of swinging to the right to save more time.  We followed a well-marked trail  to the right.  Once out of the steepest terrain, we spotted the white boulders on the plateau below, the only way over the lower cliff bands.  After descending this steep ramp and reaching the three telephone poles, the trail on the middle ridge is obvious as it traces down the ridge to the relatively flat lands to bushwack back to fence line. 

Location	Waypoint
Chinle Trailhead	37.1614    -113.0195
Gate at Zion National Park Boundary	37.1715    -113.0302
Foot of Center Ridge	37.1743    -113.0237
Three Telephone Poles at saddle between First (middle) ridge and Second Ridge	37.1804    -113.0237
Entry onto plateau above Second Ridge	37.1849    -113.0230
Cliff Base at start of horizontal line of trees	37.1929    -113.0285
Mt. Kinesava Summit	37.1977    -113.0305

Trip Stats

• Location:  Southern Zion National Park above the town of Springdale, Utah.
• Distance/Elevation gain (according to All Trails):  8.1 miles roundtrip/3,470 feet.  Trailhead = 3,800'.  Summit = 7,270'.  Our trip to base of cliffs was 4.6 miles from trailhead.  Quarnstrom's hike was ~ 11 miles round trip to summit.
• Difficulty:  Class 1 on Chinle Trail, Strenuous Class 2 scramble and route-finding on ridges, Class 3 - 4 climbing through platforms at bottom of cliff faces and up through cracks.
• Date hiked:  June 7, 2020
• Best Season:  April - May when ice is melted and before it gets too hot.
  
• Maps:  Trails Illustrated #214, Zion National Park, Zion NP Interactive Map,  Mt. Kinesava Topo Map
• References for hike planning:  Evan Quarnstrom website - "Zion National Park - Tackling Mt. Kinesava".
• Considerations:  Research the route, wear long pants (cross-country through brush and cacti).  Pay attention to entry point at break in cliff band.  No permit needed.  Experience with navigation off-trail and route-finding essential.  Start early!

"Our updated trailhead will add 2 hours to the trip, which means that now fewer of you should ever attempt it.  DO NOT GET STUCK ON THIS ROUTE IN THE DARK!!!!!"
​         -  zionnational-park.com

Route up to cliffs under Mt. Kinesava.  Blue line indicates our ascent, red line indicates our descent.

Our GPS tracks on the way down from cliffs under Mt. Kinesava - Zion National Park