Dixie Sunrise Rotary Club organizing Snow Canyon State Park service project; Event open to the public

Snow Canyon State Park, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Pixabay, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The Dixie Sunrise Rotary Club and the SunRiver Hiking Club are joining together to hold a service project on Friday in the southwest corner of Snow Canyon State Park.

Snow Canyon State Park, Washington County, Utah, May 18, 2013 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

The project will mostly focus on removing illegal trails from the Toe Trail, posting signage to keep visitors on the path and helping to limit damage done to tortoise habitats in the area.

The event will be run by Snow Canyon State Park. Park staff will be guiding volunteers on what to do along the trail.

David Nelson, president of the hiking club at SunRiver, said this is an event they have held before and is open to everyone, not just SunRiver residents.

“They want us to kind of block off some of the illegal trails because people go out there and start to roam trails, cutting shortcuts,” Nelson said. “They want us to take those and make sure people understand that that is not the correct way to go and they need to stay on the established trails. I think they’re also going to have us put up some more signs out there marking where the trails are going.”

There are about 20 people involved in the project so far. The group plans to meet at the north end of 100 East in Ivins. The event is scheduled to go from 8:30-10 a.m.

Scenic overlook of Snow Canyon State Park of off SR-18, Washington County, Utah, May 18, 2013 | Photo by Mori Kessler. St. George

“The biggest thing for us is that we all love using Snow Canyon so much and we love having the tortoises out there, most of us actually get to see a tortoise every year,” Nelson said. “Being able to preserve all that, make things the way they should be out there and kind of protect that habitat really does a lot of good for us. We enjoy it so much that we want to do whatever we can to get out there and help them out.”

Nelson said Snow Canyon can be short-handed at times, and they are happy to help in any way they can. The project also falls on World Environment Day, June 5, which adds another aspect to the project.

He also talked about the importance of staying on the trails while hiking in a place like Snow Canyon. When venturing off the trails, it is easy to disturb and damage the habitats of the tortoises that call Snow Canyon State Park home.

“We spend a lot of time out hiking around and enjoying the outdoors, which is why a lot of us even moved here,” Nelson said. “We enjoy it, we like to see it kept that way and not developed to have people go out and use them the way they are meant to be used. That’s what makes us feel good about it.”

To attend the event or to receive more information, email jedtnelson@sunrivertoday.com.

Editor’s note: The original story identified the SunRiver rotary and hiking clubs as the organizers of the event. The article has been updated to reflect that it was actually the Dixie Sunrise Rotary Club and the SunRiver Hiking Club that jointly organized the event.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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