Jenny’s Canyon.
It might be the most dramatic half-mile walk you’ll ever take.
This magnificently unique miracle of nature is just one of many wonders in the extreme southwest corner of Utah, less than a day’s drive from North County but a world away in climate, topography, geology and history.
We are headquartered for five days in St. George, population 96,000 and growing by leaps and bounds. We are spending the day with hosts Len and Peggy exploring Snow Canyon State Park, named in honor of two early Utah leaders. This park is a sound alternative when the more-celebrated tourist-magnets like Zion and Bryce national parks are full-up.
And there is plenty to celebrate at Snow Canyon.
We begin with Jenny’s Canyon, just inside the park entrance. Every step into this slot canyon reveals another example of nature’s curious and artful sculpting of the multistories-high, red Navajo sandstone walls.
In another area of the park, nature continues to amaze as we hike up a portion of the Petrified Sand Dunes, rolling mounds of petrified sandstone. I try to imagine the forces of nature — the wind, water and pressure — it took to create this otherworldly landscape, but I can’t put it together. It’s much easier to just appreciate the immense beauty.
Then, one more trail to explore: Lava Flow, a path that wanders through patches of saffron-colored desert daisies, an occasional cholla cactus, and a jumbled, solidified, black lava flow, remnants of a volcano that erupted 27,000 years ago.
After several hours of hiking, we focus on the serious business of choosing delicacies at Veyo Pies. Located 20 miles north of St. George on Route 18, the shop is conveniently on our way home. We are told that pie-lovers come from miles around to Veyo’s for their fruit and cream pies, pot pies and pastries.
On another day, we head for the quieter section of Zion National Park, an area called Kolob Canyons, in the northwest corner of the park. Red-rock gorges, canyons and cliffs surround us as we hike the Taylor Creek Trail, which crosses the creek two dozen times. The scenery here rivals that in the park’s more crowded areas to the south. Taylor Creek is an out-and-back trail, but different views confront us on our return trip.
Post-hike, we drive to Kolob Canyons Viewpoint, where the enormity of the landscape is evident. It is mesmerizing to watch the rock’s shades of red, burnt orange, yellow, browns, chocolate and vanilla change with the position of the sun.
Homeward bound, we stop at the recommended Main Street Cafe in Hurricane (pronounced HER-i-kun), population 20,000. The menu caters to meat-lovers, vegetarians and gluten-free eaters alike, and our gregarious server extolls the virtues of small-town living in Southern Utah.
Getting to Southwest Utah is an adventure, too. Southern Californians must pass through the Arizona Strip, the small, remote, extreme northwest corner of Arizona. The strip is traversed by a 29-mile stretch of Interstate 15, which winds through the Virgin River Gorge and presents drama at every one of the many turns.
Called the most interesting portion of interstate in the country, these 29 miles also were the most expensive stretch of rural interstate ever built because of the challenging terrain.
