Hike Rabbit Ears Peak via Left Fork of North Creek Zion National Park, UT

Mar 31, 2018 — This is a ridiculously fun route-finding adventure through the heart of one of the least visited areas of Zion National Park. If you ask me, backcountry hiking doesn't get much better than this. A few months ago, I got a chance to summit South Guardian Angel, which served as a great introduction to the Kolob Terrace region of Zion, and I've wanted to check out more of the obscure peaks back here. There are definitely many ways to trek through this area of the backcountry via washes, canyons, hills, hoodoos, and slickrock. The route mapped out that we took includes a bit of bushwhacking, but for the most part follows sandy washes, animal trails, and slickrock to make the going easier.

NOTE: A year after doing this route, Yoshi and I returned to the area and hiked Dead Tree Peak, Elkhorn Peak, and Turkey Peak. I actually would recommend you look at that link's map and description instead, because it fixes a few of the mix-ups we took during this route. Of note, this trip to Rabbit Ears Peak follows the standard Subway route for a while, whereas the Dead Tree Peak route took us down a sneak route, dropping us right where we needed to be. Also, since we were more acclimated to the area, we made some better choices for navigating the brush/washes. So at the very least, go check out the map from that route. Anyway, this route was definitely viable and was a great time for us so I left it intact. Carry on!

From the Wildcat Trailhead, follow the standard route into The Subway, cairned and fairly well traveled. Once in the Left Fork of North Creek (above The Subway), go through two swimmer sections. We had not prepared for these frigid pools, but it got the day started on some pretty intense terms. My DSLR ended up getting wet and broke at this point, so most of the photos from this trip are taken with Josh's phone. Shortly after the pools, look for a large jug arch on the left and scramble a Class 4 sandy ledge that doesn't seem like it would go, but it does. A trail leads up over the south rim of the Left Fork of North Creek. From here, try to follow the map or plan your own route. On the map, the orange line is our exit route just to chang it up, but both options worked fairly well. It's definitely slow moving back here because of the wildness of the terrain, so don't get too lost. Along the way, you get a really nice view of North Guardian Angel and South Guardian Angel, as well as the tip of Greatheart Mesa as you skirt its west ridge, a ridiculously large looming mountain that helps keep you on some sort of trajectory for most of the day. Eventually, Rabbit Ears Peak comes into view, and it's a super fun Class 3 white slickrock slab until just before the summit, where a dirty and easily breakable series of Class 4 moves lead to the summit block. We made good use of the tree with some webbing and by stemming up the trunk to get past the most dangerous part. A couple of fun and exposed moves take you the final push of the way.

From the summit, the cliffs of the eastern ridge of Rabbit Ears Peak proved to be one of the most stunning displays of Zion majesty I've ever seen, and we could pretty much trace the entire route we had taken to get to this point, as well as figure out another route to change it up a bit (see map's orange line). Our short mini loop to see more things proved to be much more pretty and interesting, with a Class 3 slabby downclimb with an incredible view of South Guardian Angel, and bushwhacking through a canyon/wash leading back to our approach route. We continued back the way we came. When faced with the frigid pools again, we were grateful for our webbing and managed to find a way to avoid the pools entirely.