National Parks | Ken's Pastimes

Utah National Parks

Leave Cedar City and take Highway 14 east to long valley junction and follow for 41 miles. A scenic byway following the Cedar Breaks Creek Mountain Ranges, with fabulous colours set in canyons of rivers and cascading falls. View the Elm and Pine trees in the forest areas having many log cabins, and the mountain faces of all shades of red, sand, green, dust, cream and blue, in the Dixie National Forest.

Cedar Creek

See the breath taking views of Zion Forest looking over several miles of national park at an elevation of 6000 feet, watch the deer’s roaming in the basin whilst dropping down to Deer Valley. Now in Kane County even more scenic views of the Navajo Lake part of the Colorado River basin, known as the Great Basin with the Duck Creek feeding into it.

Pull into the Creek to check out the mass of ducks and idle awhile watching the fishermen. Continue onto Aspen Mirror Lake stopping at the quaint village of Duck Creek good spot for food and drinks.

Dear Valley

Duck Creek

Continue to Strawberry Point and go over the ridge, snaking down the scenic byway pass into Harris Flat over looking Pine forests in the Stout Canyon reaching Elm Ridge Mountain. There are several range type wooden homesteads right into Long Valley.

Take highway 89 south towards Glendale, cattle country, via Mount Carmel Muddy Creek passing over the Virgin River running along the side of Zion National Park enter and travel 15 miles for the experience of a life time.

Strawberry Point

Long Valley

Mount Carmel

Zion National park is one of the finest works of wonder by Mother Nature with Mountains of reddish and tan colours of Navajo Sandstone, Canyons, Butties, Mesas, Monoliths, Rivers, Natural Arches and Slot Canyons. It has four life zones desert, riparian, woodland and coniferous forest with unusual plants and animal diversity 289 species of birds, 75 mammals, 19 bats and 32 reptiles. A little bit of heaven on earth.

Zion NP

Virgin River

Continue road trip to Hurricane Valley northwest for 24 miles at the side of the river Virgin via Springdale, Virgin, and La Verkin into Hurricane stay the night at Rodeway Inn Motel. Travelled 203 miles today.

Next day travel south on Highway 15 towards Nevada through curved mountain passes and stop at St George just before crossing the border. It has a number of old morman businesses and dwellings which are very well maintained. Brigham Youngs winter home.

St George