Kanab, Zion and surrounding area

Our journey continues.....

With some hesitation to leave our beautiful cool site we moved to Kanab, Utah from the Grand Canyon NP North Rim just in time to celebrate the 4^th of July. We stayed at the J & J RV Park for 3 days and all 3 days we were treated to firework celebrations as fireworks are legal in Kanab so we saw the family firework shows in the nearby neighborhood before and after the 4^th and then the large town fireworks on the 4^th.  Although it is a little warmer in Kanab than being in the forest we would say that Kanab has a great fireworks show along with music in the park and a parade in the morning. 

We did some sightseeing in and around town. The Little Hollywood Museum is a place where there are some of the old western movie props displayed like the ‘Outlaw Joey Wales’ house, Disney's ‘One Little Indian’ homestead and it even has a prop from the 1991 Kenny Loggins Live from the Grand Canyon concert.



Home of Outlaw Josey Wales



Kenny Loggins concert prop

Little Indian homestead



We also visited the Heritage House and had a great private tour of the home and the local history.  This 1894 home was considered “the first modern home in Kanab”.  The craftsmanship of the house along with the fireplaces is stunning. They sure don’t make them like that anymore.

Root cellar still contained canned goods from the 1900's.

 Not far from Kanab, across the AZ border, is the Pipe Springs National Monument via AZ 389.  The area is rich in history of Ancestral Puebloans, Paiutes and Mormon Pioneers. Driving through this dry, dusty area we wondered why anyone would pick this area to build a settlement and call it home and we found out during our tour of Pipe Springs.  It’s all about the water. It’s basically underground water that is stored in the natural rock plateau from rains and snow melt  and runs underground but at some places it comes above ground like at Pipe Springs.  The house/fort was built right over the running water and is literally running through the house in a trough like drain to this day.  The water was cool to touch. We enjoyed our history lesson of the region.

Pipe Springs water flowing through the house.

Outside of  compound/fort

In one of the homes looking out to interior courtyard of compound.

Exterior of Pipe Springs

We really enjoyed being in Kanab for a short time to refill our water and fuel tanks. After the celebrations and sightseeing we were ready to search for cooler climate. We made our way to Dixie National Forest along State Route 14 in the Duck Creek area of about 8000 foot elevation.  Yes, we found a great site for the week in the cool pines and at the edge of the rim with a view.

Only a short distance from camp was Zion National Park. Zion is known for its towering rock formations, tunnels and hikes.  We did not realize how busy it would be with tourists (not counting ourselves as tourist of course).  Parking was limited and the majority of the visitors parking is outside the park in Springdale. We walked back into the park and hopped a ride on the National Park shuttle bus throughout the park. Actually the bus is the only way to sight-see throughout the park in the summer due to the amount of visitors.  We did get off the shuttle at the last stop and hiked the mile long ‘Narrows Trail’ that meandered along the Virgin River so we were in shade most of the hike. One of my bucket list hikes is the Angel’s Landing hike in Zion so we will go back when it’s cooler and less people to check it off the list.

First tunnel entering Zion NP

Photo from the Jeep on the switchbacks in Zion NP

Towers walls along Narrows Trail

Towers walls along Narrows Trail

Narrows Trail

Virgin River

We sat in the shade and ate our lunch by the river

Beautiful sandstone formations all around.

A national park closer to our camp site that surprised us was Cedar Breaks NP. It was just 16 miles from our campsite via St Rt 14 then Road 148 reaching an elevation of  10,000 ft. The awe factor is the  3-mile amphitheater which has a striking display of natural features like hoodoos, fins and canyons in beautiful array of red, yellow and purple color variations of limestone. Most of the roads along the 7 mile road throughout the high-country were closed in June because of large amounts of snow this year, but by our July visit all roads were passable but one. The road leading to Brian Head Point still had a snow drift and was closed to vehicles.

Amphitheater  at Cedar Breaks

We ventured down the mountain to the lower elevations to visit Parowan, Utah for more history, Parowan Gap Petroglyphs and Cedar City for shopping.

Parowan Gap Petroglyphs - the prominent V shaped mark is sometimes called 'the zipper' but research indicates that it is a numerical calendar. There is 180 tick marks on the zipper indicated as the number of days that it takes the sun to traverse the horizon between the solstices. 

Look closely you will see many petroglyphs 

 Other attractions that kept us busy was to grab the flashlight and venture into the depths of the earth in Mammoth Cave, Ice Cave and Bowers Cave.  Hiked to Cascade Falls trail which ends at the waterfall cascading from an underground cave.



We could see the tops of the Zion NP canyons from the Cascade Falls hike



Natural drainage from Navajo Lake through underground rock fissures - Cascade Falls

Into the depths of Bowers Cave

The ladder seemed sturdy but looked pieced together

Get me out of here. Not really - it wasn't bad.

Had to hang on to the rope to help get into the Duck Creek Ice Cave.

The Ice Cave was used by pioneers to keep their food cold so it would last longer.  It still had snow (dirty snow) at the opening  (bottom of photo)

Inside Mammoth Cave. The cave has over 2,200 feet of passage and about a quarter mile long.

Exiting Mammoth Cave. The cave is closed in the winter to protect the hibernating bats. So glad I didn't see any bats.

The area is a mecca for off-road enthusiasts. A majority of the trails are for ATV and razor drivers but we had an abundance of Jeep trails to pick from and enjoyed driving the area lined with pines, flowers and junipers.

Happy Travels

Next: Hatch, Utah; Bryce Canyon