Snow Canyon State Park

Snow Canyon State Park was our 'home' in the St. George UT area. After traveling for 11 days, moving the travel trailer every other day and road tripping 300-400 miles on the other days, we were both looking forward to some 'down' time at the state park. 

We have traveled through St. George and honestly, we would not have stopped this time had it not been for the opportunity to spend a few days with Jon & Sherry. And honestly, we would not have visited Snow Canyon if it had not been their home and work base. What a treasure we would have missed!

the view looking out our front door

"Snow Canyon State Park is a 7,400 acre scenic park tucked amid lava flows and soaring sandstone cliffs in a strikingly colorful and fragile desert environment.

Transported by wind more than 183 million years ago, tiny grains of quartzite sand covered much of what is now Utah. These sand dunes, up to 2,500 feet thick, eventually cemented into stone.

Burnt orange to creamy white in color, Navajo sandstone, the predominant rock in the park, is what remains of the ancient desert sand sea.

Over time, water cut and shaped the sandstone to form canyons.

Created in 1959, Snow Canyon has a long history of human use. Anasazi Indians inhabited the region from A.D. 200 to 1250, utilizing the canyon for hunting and gathering. Paiute Indians used the canyon from A.D. 1200 to the mid-1800s. Mormon pioneers discovered Snow Canyon in the 1850s while searching for lost cattle.  

lava flow ridges of basalt

Approximately 1.4 million years ago, and as recently as 27,000 years ago, nearby cinder cones erupted causing lava to flow down these canyons, filling them with basalt. This redirected the ancient waterways, eventually carving new canyons.

a lava tube and cave 

(distorted color as it is VERY black)

petrified sand dunes

Hubby blends right in with the dunes

1 of 13 marked hiking trails in the park 

the names of the pioneers, written in axle grease, dating back to 1881

plodding in very fine sand

most of the trails were well marked

The canyon was the site of Hollywood films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Electric Horseman, and Jeremiah Johnson. Originally called Dixie State Park, it was later renamed for Lorenzo and Erastus Snow, prominent pioneering Utah leaders."

I was sort of bummed we would not be going to Zion National Park, or Bryce Canyon National Park, or any of the other very scenic parks and drives. Our stay in Snow Canyon helped ease the need to see the stunning red rock landscape of Utah's national parks where there would have been many more people. Snow Canyon was a perfect substitute.