Volcano Knoll

The upper Kolob Terrace plateau, inside Zion's high-elevation west district, holds a small cluster of Pleistocene-age cinder-cone volcanoes — conical hills built from ash and cinder rather than the park's signature sandstone. Firepit Knoll and Spendlove Knoll, the two best documented of the group, sit near Kolob Terrace Road above 7,000 feet, remnants of lava flows that once ran miles down the surrounding valleys. This knoll belongs to that same volcanic field. There's no maintained trail to the top of these cones; reaching one means walking cross-country up the slope itself, with no shade or water anywhere in this high, exposed terrain.

Context

• Part of the Kolob volcanic field, a cluster of cinder-cone hills on the high Kolob Terrace plateau
• No maintained trail — access is cross-country, off-trail walking
• High elevation (above 7,000 ft): very different conditions than the low desert canyon floor