Cedar City to Goblin Valley State Park, Utah

June 1, 2019

Just north of Cedar City lies the Parowan Gap

The first settlers known as Wee Noonse (people who lived long ago) traveled frequently through the gap. Some stopped for a period of time and left writings on the wall.

The petroglyphs here are thought to be the work of several cultural groups and represent a long period of use by Native cultures. This area is a sacred site to the Paiute and Hopi.

Minersville State Park $15

Fishlake National Forest

Castle Rock Campground

A nice hike in Castle Rock

After clearing out brush found evidence of the original ranger station. I love that the state is spending the money to clear and preserve these ruins.

Original foundation

They uncovered their cold storage

Inside

Adding art to the site

$15

Fremont Indian State Park

In the 1980’s construction on the I-70 came to a screeching halt when an Indian village site was unearthed at the Village of Five Finger Ridge. Archeologists believe the first pit houses discovered date back to 1100 to 1150 AD. Thousands of artifacts excavated are on permanent display at the museum. We left the above campground and spent the morning in the museum and hiking the many paths to petroglyphs and ceremonial rings.

Zoom in on any rock wall to find petroglyphs

Passed a field of these “Belted Galloway”

Capital Reef National Park

Of all the places in Utah for Mormons to create a settlement Fruita might be the most difficult. With desert on one side and river often subject to flooding on the other it is not surprising that it was home to only 8 or 10 families. Early settlers planted thousands of fruit trees and today 22 orchards are maintained. They bake some of the greatest fruit pies here which are sold in the campground.

I knew that cottonwood could get large but

Took a nice hike from here up to the Hickman Bridge

Some of the earliest attempts to homestead in Capital reef was the Behunin Family. This modest one room home was abandoned one year later in search of a more suitable location. Frequent flooding washed out their irrigation system and crops.

Desert Moon RV Park $40

Goblin Valley State Park

In the late 20’s in search of a better route between Green River and Cainville, Arthur Chaffin found Goblin Valley. From deposits laid 170 million years ago by a vast inland sea Goblin Valley was sculpted by forces of nature such as uplift and erosion by wind and water. Today we witness the stone gnomes that inhabit the valley.

Hiking among the hoo doos

Desert Moon RV Park $40