SNOW CANYON STATE PARK, UT
Snow Canyon is a Utah State Park located in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, just a few minutes from St. George in southwest Utah. It is highlighted by colorful sandstone cliffs, petrified sand dunes, and lava flows, and its varied landscape is crisscrossed with winding, interconnected trails.
I visited the park twice - the first time I did Scout Cave and Cinder Cone Trail. The second time I did the Petrified Dunes, Lave Tube (way cooler than I expected!), and Whiterocks Amphitheater.
Snow Canyon State Park
According to my google machine, the park was established to protect the desert tortoise and its habitat. They take it seriously - the map they gave me at the fee station and signs throughout the park all tell me to slow down and even provide specific instructions on what to do if you see one.
Apparently it's working because I heard some rustling next to the trail and discovered this little guy. I did not touch him. Last time I picked up a turtle, I was 11 years old, biking down the county road just west of our house in South Dakota. I thought, hey, this would be cool to take home and keep as a pet, until I picked it up and, well, I evidently scared the pee out of it, right on my foot. I instantly lost interest in keeping one for a pet.
Scout Cave Trail
This was an easy out and back trail with a couple cool caves at the end. There was nothing particularly exciting along the way, except, again, that cool contrast of red rock, red sand, and black lava rock. You can see the contrast in the two pics below.
There was a little elevation along the way - 84 consecutive steps. Here's a view back down from the top:
Here are the caves we are hiking to.
I was able to make it up and into the first cave. It was pretty awesome and far less scary and claustrophobic than The Lave Tube caves. Here's a view from the inside, looking out:
The second cave? Couldn't quite make it. The best I could do was get to a ledge just high enough that I could peer into the opening, like a toddler peeking over a table top. I was going to include the pic on the left only, but realized you'd think I was a total wimp for not making that climb, so I added the pic on the right to give you perspective on just how high off the ground it is. I'm sure other people were able to make that climb, but I prefer unbroken ankles.
And then, because I was the only one on the trail, and because it's impossible to take a cool picture of a cave, I decided to have a little fun experimenting with different pics and poses. A far cry from my jumping abilities in my high school cheerleading days, but my favorite shot from the cave.
Johnson Canyon
This trail is a spur off the Scout Cave trail, but is closed seasonally from Mar 15 - Sep 14 due to endangered habitat, so I had to skip this one. Womp, womp.
Cinder Cone Trail
This is a quick hike to the top of an ancient volcano. In the photo below, it's the greenish hill in the background.
When you reach the top, you can see the crater that was the mouth of the volcano, and then do a loop around the rim.
The picture below is a view out from the rim. Although it's hard to tell in the photo, there is a distinct line where lava from the last eruption stopped flowing. The red lines I added to the photo mark the distinct line between the black lava rock and greener land beyond that. It almost looks like a shadow from a cloud, but that is the different colored soil. Isn't that crazy?
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