Snow Canyon State Park is a “local knowledge” kind of park recommended by our cruising friends’ parents who live in St George, UT. Snow Canyon made a perfect place to rendezvous with friends who were camping with us for a few weeks, provision at Costco, check out all of the gear and make sure we had all the parts and pieces necessary to do some epic camping.
Snow Canyon “Sand Dunes”
We were amazed at how little “real” provisioning there is once you leave St George and head up to Zion/Bryce/Grand Staircase-Escalante/Kodachrome all the way up to Blanding. Take advantage of it here!
What a gorgeous state park!
The 7,400-acre park has every color in the spectrum, black lava flows overlap soaring sandstone cliffs in a strikingly colorful desert environment. Majestic views and light, shadow, and color dancing across canyon walls provide a stunning setting for a campground.
Lance 1685, set up, taking it all in.
Among other geological features, Snow Canyon features our favorite hike in this state park, “petrified” sand dunes. The sand dunes, up to 2,500 feet thick, over geologic time (that’s LOTS of time, not lifetimes as we know them) were cemented into stone. Shades of deep burnt orange to creamy white, Navajo sandstone is what remains of the ancient sea bottom. Water has cut and shaped the soft sandstone to form canyons. Then nearby cinder cones erupted, causing lava to flow down the canyons, filling them with black basalt, redirecting ancient waterways and carving new canyons.
More gorgeousness.
There are more than 38 miles of hiking trails to take in all the scenery plus a three-mile paved walking/biking trail and over 15 miles of equestrian trails.
Springtime in Utah is bursting with color – even in the desert … and even growing in rocks!
Did I mention the amazing campground (click here for campground map) that’s very popular with locals and those of us lucky enough to know about it … and get a reservation! We had to get reservations the day they were available to insure a spot – reservations are accepted 4 months ahead of time at Reserve America, click here.
Dinner with friends in the Clam for the first time – they were as impressed as everyone else is with our Clam QuickSet Escape Enclosure.
The campground features private sites (some of which are relatively narrow) set in a scenic setting among the canyons. We also had electricity and water hookups and there’s a dump station in the campground. Overall highly recommended … and close to St George for reprovisioning (and Costco!). 🙂
This family was enjoying Snow Canyon State Park. Photo Credit: Doug
Check out these rocks. It was a lot of fun climbing around on them. That is Rayene and her hat in the foreground and Jan in the distance. What a great park.
Rayene in the foreground, Jan in the distance. Climbing around on rocks. Photo Credit: Doug
This is our friend, Doug. He gets a photo credit for a couple of these photos! THANKS Doug!
Doug at Snow Canyon
If you’re looking for a convenient stop near “real” provisioning in St George, UT, Snow Canyon State Park is the most scenic in the area (or so we’re told by the locals) and offers a great campground. Just be sure to get your reservations in early!
More info on Snow Canyon State Park? Please leave a comment and share! Other campgrounds you prefer in the area, leave a comment and share that info too! 🙂 Cheers! Jan
