Cedar Breaks National Monument opens for summer season

Overlook of Cedar Breaks National Monument, undated | Photo courtesy of Nancy Julian

CEDAR BREAKS NATIONAL MONUMENT – Cedar Breaks National Monument begins its summer season on Friday. Visitor facilities will be open and scheduled interpretive activities will begin, including Ranger-led hikes, geology programs and special events.

“The trails are still a bit muddy and snowy in places, especially in the forest, but things are melting up pretty quickly,” Daphne Sewing, chief of education and partnerships at Cedar Breaks National Monument, said. “All the overlooks are clear.”

Cedar Breaks National Monument is known for its amphitheater shape filled with hoodoos and red rock vistas, which can be seen from most trails in the monument.

Any of our trails are just awesome to hike because we just don’t get the visitation that other parks do, so it’s a nice solitary type experience,” Sewing said. “You don’t see hundreds of people you just see a few people.”

For those who are visiting the park for the first time, or who have not taken advantage of the monuments hiking trails, Sewing said: “I would recommend the Spectra Point Trail, because you just get these really gorgeous views of the amphitheater as you walk, and also the vegetation along the rim,” she said. “You get the full gamut of what we have, so it’s just a beautiful hike.”

The four-mile round-trip hike offers spectacular views while you hike among bristlecone pines, one of the longest-living species of trees, the oldest in the monument being 1,600 years old.

The trail reaches a summit elevation of 10, 500 feet, so dress accordingly.

If wildlife is what you hope to see, the best times to visit are in the dawn and dusk times of the day, sewing said.

I think that’s an awesome thing to do,” she said, “explore the park early in the morning or late in the after noon, towards the evening.”

The entrance fee is a $4 per person for visitors 16 years of age and older. Children 15 years old and younger are free. The monument is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Although the monument is open, the Point Supreme Campground will not be available until June 6.

For more information, visit the Cedar Breaks National Monument website or call 435-586-9451, 435-586-0787.

Image courtesy of the National Park Service
Image courtesy of the National Park Service

Directions

Traveling north on I-15:

  • Take exit 57 to Cedar City
  • Travel north on Main Street for 2.2 miles
  • Turn right onto Center Street/Highway 14
  • Continue east on Highway 14 for approximately 18 miles
  • Turn left onto Highway 148 and continue 4 miles to Cedar Breaks National Monument

Traveling south on I-15:

  • Take exit 78 to Parowan
  • Travel south on Main Street for 1.3 miles
  • Turn left onto Center Street. Travel 0.3 Miles
  • Turn right onto Highway 143 East
  • Continue approximately 15 miles to Cedar Breaks National Monument

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