Snow Canyon State Park

About a 5 minute drive from my house is one of the most beautiful State Parks I've ever been to. "Snow Canyon State Park" feels like a little known secret in Southern Utah. Most tourists travel to our end of the state to see the magnificence of Zion National Park, or Bryce Canyon. Stunning as they are, I'm still a big fan of Snow Canyon which I feel is every bit as spectacular.
In the evenings Mr. Cactus and I like to walk the trails of Snow Canyon. Some trails are nicely paved and the views are so captivating I hardly feel like I'm exercising.


These pictures off Mr. Cactus' camera hardly do the park justice. My camera was somehow lost on our trip to Disneyland, so this will have to do for now. The sun was also setting behind the mountains, so the colors are not as vivid as they are in real life. The mountains are Red Navajo Sandstone, capped by an overlay of black lava rock. Just outside the park we can see clusters of ancient volcano heads.

The paved trail pass through a myriad of desert vegetation that include cholla cacti, and sage just to name a few. The park covers 5,700 acres. We often go off the paved trail onto other hikes because most paths are not very strenuous, and can be accomplished in a short time range.

The state park has a very clean 35 unit campground, with 17 units for RV's. Even though we live close by, I'm tempted to bring my family and camp here it's so inviting. As we hike we rarely see others in the park. Very quiet and secluded. Voices leave an echo that travels far, so we are usually aware if others are in the vicinity.


One of my favorite parts of the park are the petrified sand dunes. One range is in red, and the others are white, showing what was once flowing mountains of sand.

There are lava caves scattered on the desert floor that are well marked.

You can see the black lava rock through out the range.

Now that the weather is cooling down, the evening walks are so pleasant.