Hiking Southern Utah: The Subway
Trail: The Subway or Left Fork of North Creek
Location: Zion National Park. You must obtain a Zion Wilderness Permit for this hike. There are two methods to obtain a permit: making a reservation up to three months in advance or the last-minute drawing two to seven days prior to your planned hike. Visit https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/thesubway.htm to find more information and any important trail policy updates that may have changed since this article was first published.
Difficulty: Strenuous
Distance: Approximately nine miles round trip
Average hiking time: Six to nine hours.
Elevation gain: Approximately 5,000 feet trailhead elevation with a 350-foot elevation change to The Subway. However, there is a 450-foot descent from the cliffs overlooking the Left Fork of North Creek into the creek bed. From there, the gradual elevation gain to The Subway is about 600 feet.
Family-friendly: This is not a hike for children under 18.
Getting there: From St. George, drive to Hurricane via Interstate 15 and State Route 9. In Hurricane, stay on State Route 9 (called State Street in Hurricane and La Verkin) leading to La Verkin. In La Verkin, turn right (east) at the prominently signed intersection (continuation of State Route 9) to Springdale and Zion National Park.
Soon, you will enter the tiny town of Virgin. As you are just about through the town, 6.8 miles from the La Verkin intersection, turn left (north) onto paved Kolob Terrace Road. Stay on Kolob Terrace Road for eight miles to the signed trailhead and parking area on the right (east). The trailhead has a sign “Left Fork,” a kiosk with a map and hiking information, and toilets. It is about 45 minutes driving time from St. George to the Left Fork of North Creek trailhead.
Perhaps the most spectacular of Zion National Park’s iconic hikes is The Subway (formally named The Left Fork of North Creek), a hike including a weird subway-like tunnel with a creek running through it. This hike is way off the beaten path. We needed a wilderness permit to attempt it.
The Subway can be approached from the top requiring repelling with all the attendant gear or from the bottom without the gear. We chose the latter.
The trailhead elevation is 5,000 feet. We started a bit before 9 a.m. on the 0.75-mile well-trod mostly flat trail to the canyon rim. Once on the cliffs above North Creek (the canyon is also known as Great West Canyon), we looked down to the wooded creek bed. From studying route maps, we knew it was a steep climb down, but the reality was daunting. The next leg of our journey was a 450-foot descent about 0.4 mile in, among large boulders on a sandy trail into the canyon.
Upon reaching the creek bed, take notice of the small exit sign, the immediate environment, and the black volcanic rock above. You don’t want to miss the exit on your way back.
The next three miles are along and in North Creek as it winds through a relatively wide canyon, full of vegetation and trees. From this lowest point, the gradual elevation gain is approximately 600 feet to The Subway. When crossing, the creek was seldom above our knees, although there were deeper pools that we avoided. The canyon walls were the usual spectacular red sandstone. But don’t admire them while walking or you are likely to stumble on one of dozens of huge rocks or get smacked in the face by a low-hanging tree branch (I only fell twice, both times in the creek).
There are many user trails, usually on both sides of the creek. All take you upstream. After a couple of miles along the creek, the canyon closes in upon a series of playful small waterfalls and a staircase of wide cascades. Just beyond the cascades, the canyon makes a sharp turn to the right (south) with The Subway up ahead. No matter how many photos you see, this feature is amazing — a curving tubular rock passage below sheer sandstone walls. The many almost circular holes in the rock floor, some several feet in diameter, are a curious feature of The Subway. This is the turn-around point for most.
This is not a hike for those desiring an easy, or even moderately strenuous, stroll. However, The Subway is a unique desert adventure. Don’t wait until you are in your ’60s to try it.
Back in the early 2000s I hiked the Subway with friends on a photoshoot… It was fall and the colors were going off… we showed up at the trailhead just before 5am and started the initial decent in the dark. My friend a real photographer, unlike me, knew the timing involved and urged us all ro keep a good pace. We all had tripods and small packs < 30 lbs. We barely.made it with less than 10 min before the sun popped above the ridge. By the time I got my camera set on tripod etc for the shot in the area just before the subway cave I had less than a min as the sun began illuminating rocks high above and cutting downwards. Got one shot in perfect focus with the correct light but the rest were flawed and at that point the show was shortly over as the light blew out and up… The great thing about the subway is after that… the rest of the photographic icons and other potential landscape shots are available for hours. 30 min later many other photographers showed up and the place was crowded. Only one other guy was there with us in the early morning.. He was a Hollywood cinematographer who was given a free $$$$digital Hasslebad by a rich producer to do custom photos for the guys new house in Beverly Hills. Well he was being a ..d.. and really not a photographer -type.. Never forget … he slipped inside the subway and as he was about to fall into the pool with $25k equipment… my friend 6' 3 grabbed him by the collar and caught him mid fall pulling him to the side. From then on he was the nicest guy in the world. That Hasslebad would have been at the bottom of that pool. Subway is a photographers paradise, but you need to beat the crowds… Coming back… uuuh.. be ye wise.. don't stay too long as final hike out up the switchbacks is not for everybody.and doing it in the dark is not recommended… Peace out