Southwestern Utah: Castles in the Sky
By: Katrina D. Baxter
Utah. It’s never really been on my radar as a destination spot. I thought it was just the home of Mormons and a big, salty lake. Boy, was I wrong.
My first of four perspective-altering days in the high desert of southwestern Utah occurred at a spa. But not just any spa. Located in a crimson setting just outside St. George, Red Mountain Resort and Spa shatters my stereotype of a pool-lounging spa. As an adventure spa, it hosts a slew of activities from dawn to dusk, both onsite and off, such as fitness classes, canyoneering, kayaking, horseback riding and even archeological interpretive hiking.
Even the standard spa fare – nutritious food and massage treatments – seem imbued with red rock radiance. After a delectable dinner at the Spa’s Canyon Breeze Restaurant followed by a signature warm stone massage, I returned to my palatial Villa Suite and revel in a king-sized masterpiece of dreams. I awoke early, refreshed and ready for my first adventure.
I’ve chosen a guided morning hike, an easy yet magnificent trek in Snow Canyon State Park. The Hidden Pinyon Trail wanders through rusty crisscrossed slickrock, black lava-encrusted promontories and towers of ancient sand hardened into copper cathedrals, all a delightful change from my Pacific Northwest home.
My fellow adventurers are young and old, married and single. Some are here for mother/daughter weekends or girlfriend getaways, while others are here alone, seeking respite from their regular lives. It’s a companionable group, as content to walk in silent meditation as they are to chat.
Perhaps they are considering, as I am, that their first 24 hours in Utah are not what they expected. I wonder what other surprises await.
Zion Canyon: A Place of Safety and Refuge
Only an hour’s drive from St. George, Springdale is the gateway to Zion National Park. While exploring the town, I find fabulous examples of southwestern artisanship. At the Sorella Gallery, a set of shamans, their copper bodies fired to desert hues and inset with turquoise, seems destined to hang on my living room wall.
When walking and window shopping are no longer enough to satisfy, I head for the Bit and Spur. On the vine-shaded outdoor patio, as sunset inflames the nearby cliffs, I munch chips and fresh guacamole in the company of hummingbirds. It’s the perfect appetizer for Mexican food and fresh strawberry margaritas.
With a late night and an early morning, I’m grateful the rustically elegant Cable Mountain Lodge is not only on the Springdale town shuttle loop but at the beginning of the Zion Canyon loop. I simply walk out my door, grab a quick, hot breakfast at Sol Foods next door and board the bus. It doesn’t take long to discover the next surprise.
In Zion National Park the cathedral-like elements of Snow Canyon take on mythic proportions. Red and white bleached sandstone soars skyward in great monolithic sweeps of jagged rock. The Zion Canyon shuttle passes formations such as the Great White Throne, Angels Landing and the Altar of Sacrifice on its way to the Temple of Sinawava and the beginning of the Riverside Walk.
The Riverside Walk, one the most family-friendly trails in Zion, traces the Virgin River through stands of cottonwood for a mile before disappearing into the Zion Narrows, the trailhead of a challenging river hike. Most visitors turn around here, although a few intrepid, appropriately geared souls, venture onward.
Not one of those souls, I return and board the shuttle for the Emerald Pools Trail. The first family-friendly leg to the lower pool is a leisurely paved stroll to a tall alcove behind twin waterfalls. Lush hanging gardens of fern and moss dangle from the moist underside of the curving cliff. The trail to the middle and upper pools is unpaved and more strenuous, but the reward is sweeping views of the canyon and relative solitude in which to contemplate the seeming dichotomy of calling this landscape a desert, even if it’s a “high” desert.
Bryce Canyon: Land of the “Legend People”
Sixty miles later, I’m standing on the edge of a fairy tale looking down into the amphitheater of Bryce Canyon National Park. The late afternoon sun drifts across cliffs of coral, fins of ocher and spires rising in shades of flame.
The Paiute called them Legend People – those who lived here before the Indians. Because they were a greedy people who didn’t care for the land or the animals they shared it with, Coyote, the trickster, turned them to stone.
My eyes see expressions – regal, sad, mischievous – flicker across the stone faces. Whatever you see or think you see, 50 miles of interconnected trails on the canyon floor allow a more personal interpretation.
For a slightly different taste of the West, I head to Ebenezer’s Barn and Grill. While the Bar G Wranglers provide toe-tapping Old West entertainment, complete with rope tricks and gun-spinning, I dine on a gourmet chuck-wagon meal.
When the show ends, it’s just a short walk to the Best Western Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel. My spacious, well-appointed suite is relaxing after a long day exploring. As I drift to sleep, I hear the haunting bugle of an elk and imagine it is mourning the Legend People.
Cedar Breaks: The Beautiful Badlands
Southwest Utah continues to challenge my concept of a desert landscape. Cedar Breaks National Monument has all the colors of a desert but none of its heat. At 10,000 feet in elevation with a stiff breeze, I’m wishing I’d worn pants, but I wouldn’t want to miss this. The three-mile wide, 2000-feet deep coliseum-shaped marvel is like Bryce Canyon on steroids.
A five-mile drive hits all the viewpoints, including Point Supreme, a magnificent introduction to the monument. I’m using a GPS Ranger tour, a portable digital tour guide available for rent from the visitor center. In addition to displaying information about the monument when live ranger talks aren’t available, I like having a “map” that tells me where “you are here” is, no matter where I am.
Although there are no trails from the rim to the floor of Cedar Breaks National Monument, there are several options for hiking the perimeter, including the Spectra Point Trail, home to the park’s oldest tree: a 1600-year-old bristlecone pine. But now I am headed to (slightly) lower elevations. My last evening is in Festival City, USA.
Cedar City has a hometown feel with big city appeal. With its proximity to the national parks and Brian Head Ski Resort, plus more than a dozen festivals throughout the year (including the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespearean Festival), Cedar City offers activities for every season.
But some of that hometown feel isn’t found on any schedule. During my short stroll from The Big Yellow Inn to the Garden House for dinner, I briefly join a block party where a live band jams and meet a Dick Clark’s American Bandstand original. He wasn’t dancing, but he still likes to party.
My party, at least in this state, is almost over. In the morning I hop a flight from St. George to Salt Lake City and then on home. I thought Utah was just the home of Mormons and a big, salty lake. It is. But it’s also a land of canyons and cliffs, myths and legends. A place that challenges you to discover it, and in doing so, rediscover yourself.
BIO
Katrina D. Baxter is a local freelance writer. Visit her at katrinabaxter.com.
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Food and Lodging
- Red Mountain Resort & Spa: redmountainspa.com
- Cable Mountain Lodge: cablemountainlodge.com
- Bit and Spur: bitandspur.com
- Oscar’s: cafeoscars.com
- Ruby’s Inn: rubsyinn.com
- Cedar Breaks Lodge & Spa: cedarbreakslodge.com
- Big Yellow Inn: bigyellowinn.com
- Garden House Restaurant: 435-586-6110
Areas of Interest
- Zion National Park: nps.gov/zion
- Bryce Canyon National Park: nps.gov/brca
- Cedar Breaks National Monument: nps.gov/cebr
- Brian Head Resort: brianhead.com
- Utah Shakespearean Festival: bard.org
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Photo Captions and Credits (Southwest Utah: Castles in the Sky)
BryceCanyonHikers.jpg: Hikers navigate switchbacks leading to “Wall Street” on the Navajo Trail at Bryce Canyon National Park. Photo by Katrina D. Baxter
CedarBreak.jpg: A view across the three-mile-wide rim of Cedar Breaks National Monument. Photo by Katrina D. Baxter
Red Mountain.jpg: Red Mountain Resort and Spa. Photo Courtesy Red Mountain Spa
SnowCanyon.jpg: A sandstone formation along the Hidden Pinyon Trail in Snow Canyon State Park. Photo by Katrina D. Bater
Zion.jpg: A hiker arrives at the lower pool on the Emerald Pools Trail at Zion National Park. Photo by Katrina D. Baxter
