SNOW CANYON STATE PARK, UT
This is my second trek through Snow Canyon State Park, after doing Scout Cave & Cinder Cone Trail on Tuesday. I absolutely loved today's loop through the park where I hit the Petrified Dunes, Lave Tube (way cooler than I expected!), and Whiterocks Amphitheater. Check them out!
Petrified Dunes
Within minutes of parking at the trailhead, you are climbing petrified sand dunes, choosing your own path over the swirling rock as there is no set trail.
Love how it looks like elephant skin...
It was a VERY windy day. In the picture below, see the ridge in the foreground that drops off to a valley with more petrified dunes in the distance? I am showing you this because my hat blew off and tumbled right over that edge.
See it down there?
For a moment, I assumed the hat was gone forever, but then, partially because I hate seeing litter on trails and partially because I just bought this hat and use the heck out of it, I finally found a way down to that little ... gully? valley? ... and success!
Because of the hat situations, I had the chance to make my way back out past some unique rock formations:
... and via an interesting course. Here's a little narrow that I climbed down. Remember as a kid climbing doorways with one foot and hand on each door jamb? Turns out that skill is still handy.
And then under (through?) some brush. The pic below is an awkward angle, but I took it crouching down to show just how low this little path is, but I saw footprints there, so I wasn't the first to take this crazy path down.
Finally back out in the open where I can see trails in the distance! The photo below also shows how drastically the landscape changes in such a short distance - from the petrified sand dunes in the foreground, to the flat open area just behind it, to the tall jagged cliffs in the background that are clearly made of a different kind of rock. And yes, you're right, I should be able to identify what kind of rock that is by now.
One more pic with the orange sand dunes in the foreground, contrasting with the Whiterocks peaks in the background. Photos don't quite capture that contrast, but it's stark in person.
Ok, now that I have my hat and made it across and through the petrified sand dunes, the next stop on our loop is ...
Lava Flow
The Lava Flow trail turned out to be SO COOL! The trail was peppered with black lava rock, which provided a stark contrast to the red stone. That is nice to see, of course; the pictures below prove that. But that is definitely NOT the highlight of the trail.
And THEN!!! I came across this little gem that looks like a bunch of lava rock, but turns out to be much more fun than that. As you get closer, you realize you can actually climb down into that pit, or lava tube, which was formed after the last volcano eruption, some 27,000 years ago.
I was the only one around and decided to climb down, where I discovered what looks like a hole on one side, but turns out to be the opening of a cave, literally a lava TUBE.
I thought I was being so super adventurous to pick my way through the collapsed lava rock rubble into the mouth of this tube, equipped with nothing more than the flashlight on my iPhone. I quickly learned I've got nothing on adventure compared to what I encountered deep inside this lava tube.
Instead of telling, I'll show. Check out this video ... and again, this is shot from my iPhone that I was also using as a flashlight, so the quality is terrible, and I solemnly swear to never record video in portrait mode again haha, but hopefully it gives you an idea of what I saw. So. Much. Fun!
See what I mean? THOSE are adventurous people. I am not even close to that level!
Whiterocks Amphitheater
From the Lava Flow, I hiked up a sandy trail to the Whiterocks Amphitheater. I thought it was interesting how the sand around the red sand dunes was red, then transitioned to white as I got closer to the Whiterocks. Check out the side by side contrast below:
I am still fascinated by how much the landscape varies in such a short distance, and how the sand is simply particles eroded from the stones around it, so of course it is the same color as the nearby rocks.
Some shots of the enormous amphitheater flanked by hills of elephant skin rock.
You can just barely make out the moon in the photo below ...
Here, you can see the moon again, and also how the landscape changes three times behind the Whiterocks.
One more ... because I love how the yellow and white rock swirl together and contrast with the blue sky and green brush. The moon adds a nice touch.
Butterfly Trail
From WhiteRocks, I made my way back to the car. It was much easier and FASTER going downhill in sand than uphill!
I was working my way toward the Butterfly Trail and wondered why it has that name because I sure haven't seen any butterflies in this desert landscape. Then I came around a curve and saw this and instantly understood. It literally looked like a dinosaur-sized butterfly perched on the rock. Kind of neat.
This was a fun hiking day!
Total miles = 7.37
Total elevation gain = 1,191'
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