Snow at Cedar Breaks

The “problem” with southern Utah is that there are SO many places to see.  There are FIVE national parks, commonly called the “Mighty Five” — Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Arches, and Capitol Reef (so named because one of its rock formations resembles the US Capitol).   Add in the nearby north rim of the Grand Canyon, and there a total of six national parks within a half days’ drive from our current location.

There are also two National Monuments (Cedar Breaks and Grand Staircase-Escalante, which is actually being broken into three smaller national monuments).  The first picture below will show one “stair” level of the “Grand Staircase.”

These pictures are from our road trip to the smallest, highest (at over 10,000 feet) and least well known of these 8 national landmarks.  We drove here in the Can-Am, staying overnight in Panguich on our way to Bryce Canyon, for which you will see pictures next.

Along our trip, we have stayed just ahead of the snow.  It fell in the mountains near Yellowstone while we were there, and in South Dakota and Colorado within days after we left.  But this is the closest we have come, as we encountered snow all around us on our way to the Monument, and watched the road crew installing the road markers on the sides of the road to mark the edge for snow plows.  Did I mention we were on the Can Am?  Brrr…

Essentially the monument is just a paved overlook, with an entrance booth and very small visitor center, both of which were closed and boarded up for the winter.  So our stay was short, but (as you can see) picturesque.  The final two pictures were taken from our “dash cam” mounted on the front of the Can Am.  We are still figuring out how to use it.

As usual, click on each icon below to see the full picture.  A second click on the full picture should zoom in.

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