National Parks

Pipe Springs National Monument

This desert oasis was declared a national monument in 1923 as a "memorial of western pioneer life". It is located on the Kaibab Indian Reservation and is an easy 25 mile drive southwest of Kanab via U.S. Highway 89A and Arizona Highway 389.

Tours of Winsor Castle are provided daily on the hour and half hour, all year long. and during the summer, rangers give "living history" demonstrations, bringing historic pioneer and Indian traditions to life. Visitors are welcome to tour the orchard and garden, historic out-buildings, and a scenic half-mile Ridge Trail at their own pace. At the visitor center and museum you can enjoy an extensive array of high quality exhibits on Southern Paiute and pioneer culture and history.

Pipe Spring also lies on the recently designated Old Spanish National Historic Trail. More information on the Monument is available at http://www.nps.gov/pisp/

Kodachrome Basin

About halfway to the Kodachrome Basin, as you travel one of the most scenic backroads in America, you'll see Grosvenors Arch. This is a great place to hike about, and the photo opportunities are all around you. This is a favorite spot of travelers to The Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

Traveling farther north on Cottonwood Canyon Road will take you to the spectacular Redrock Country of Kodachrome Basin State Park.Spires and chimneys, called pipe intrusions, reach out of the canyon floor, and tower into the sky. As the sun travels through the sky, the rocks change colors, reflecting the different angles of light from the multi-colored stone. Many hiking trails among and around the spires are available. This is great area for mountain biking, and photography.

Great Food, good company, and a relaxing country atmosphere can be found at the Paria Outpost and Outfitters, at the junction of hwy 89 and the Paria River Bridge. Paria Outpost also has maps, literature, and helpful suggestions for traveling Kane County.

Grand Staircase - Escalante

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument’s vast and austere landscape embraces a spectacular array of scientific and historic resources. This high, rugged, and remote region, where bold plateaus and multi-hued cliffs run for distances that defy human perspective, was the last place in the continental United States to be mapped.

Even today, this unspoiled natural area remains a frontier, a quality that greatly enhances the Monument’s value for scientific study. The Monument has a long and dignified human history: it is a place where one can see how nature shapes human endeavors in the American West, where distance and aridity have pitted against our dreams and courage.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument spans nearly 1.9 million acres of America’s public lands. From its spectacular Grand Staircase of cliffs and terraces, across the rugged Kaiparowits Plateau, to the wonders of the Escalante River Canyons, the Monument’s size, resources, and remote character provide extraordinary opportunities for geologists, paleontologists, archeologists, historians, and biologists in scientific research, education, and exploration.

Grand Canyon North Rim

The Grand Canyon is Immense
The canyon is a mile deep and over 275 miles long and the park encompasses over 1,200,000 acres, and is 10 miles wide in many sections. The 6 million year old Grand Canyon is made up of buttes, plateaus and mesas that cover two billion year old igneous and metamorphic rock. This Northern Arizona national park has earned its rightful place as one of the "seven wonders of the world." As one of the most popular national parks, the Grand Canyon is host to about four million local and international visitors each year. Due to the remote location of the North Rim, only a tenth of those visitors will see this magnificent section of the park.

Grand Canyon North Rim
The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is remote; located far from cities, towns and highways, allowing the Kaibab Plateau to remain pristine and primitive.

Grand Canyon North Rim - Road Closures
North Rim services are open from mid-May until mid-October, but the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is accessible as long as highway 67 remains open. If it is a mild winter, ADOT tries to keep the road open until Thanksgiving or even as late as mid-December. The only thing to count on however, is the road being open until mid-October.

Directions to the Grand Canyon North Rim
From Kanab, travel south on Highway 89A (Hwy 89 turns to Hwy 89A right after the only traffic light located in Kanab). Fredonia, Arizona is just a few miles away, across the Utah - Arizona border. Take Highway 89A to Jacob lake (36 miles), then take Highway 67 to the Grand Canyon North Rim park entrance.

North Rim Grand Canyon Location
The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is 65 miles from the Quail Park Lodge and Kanab, which is located on the east side of Zion National Park (see Map tab for further information). Many who visit the National Parks of Southern Utah add the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to their travel plans and those visiting the North Rim of the Grand Canyon often visit Zion National Park.

Important
Highway 67 to the North Rim Grand Canyon closes each winter due to snow levels and opens again, mid-May, when the Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim opens.

Visitors in 2009 (through August): 3.2 million
Established in 1919, the Grand Canyon is perhaps the most famous of America's national parks. It is an enormous stretch of canyon: 277 miles long (measured by the length of the river at its bottom), 6,000 vertical feet at its deepest and as much as 18 miles across in some places. It takes about two days to get to the bottom of the canyon and back on foot. And it receives close to 5 million visitors each year.

More information:
http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

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Bryce Canyon

The entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park is only an hour and a half from the Quail Park Lodge. Travel north on Hwy 89, turn right on Hwy 12.

Famous for its unique geology of red rock spires and horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters, Bryce offers the visitor a "Far View" from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah.

Small by National Park standards, the 56.2 square miles of Bryce Canyon National Park occupy the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in south-central Utah. The park is not a canyon. Rather, it is a spectacular series of more than a dozen amphitheaters, each of which is carved at least 1,000 feet into the chromatic limestone of the Paunsaugunt Plateau.

History
Named after the Mormon Pioneer Ebenezer Bryce, Bryce Canyon became a national park in 1924.

Bryce is famous for its worldly unique geology, consisting of a series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters carved from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah. The erosional force of frost-wedging and the dissolving power of rainwater have shaped the colorful limestone rock of the Claron Formation into bizarre shapes including slot canyons, windows, fins, and spires called "hoodoos." Tinted with colors too numerous and subtle to name, these whimsically arranged rocks create a wondrous landscape of mazes, offering some of the most exciting and memorable walks and hikes imaginable.

Ponderosa pines, high elevation meadows, and fir-spruce forests border the rim of the plateau and abound with wildlife. This area boasts some of the world's best air quality, offering panoramic views of three states and approaching 200 miles of visibility. This, coupled with the lack of nearby large light sources, creates unparalleled opportunities for stargazing.

For additional information
http://www.utah.com/nationalparks/bryce.htm

Visitors in 2009 (through August): 874,267

Known for its unusual geology, Bryce Canyon's jagged landscape is formed from millions of years of erosion. Alternating periods of frost and thaw carved an impressive collection of hoodoos and spire-shaped formations into the park. Relatively free from light pollution, Bryce Canyon is also popular with astronomy buffs. In June, the park hosts an annual four-day astronomy festival.

More information
http://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm

Zion

The entrance to Zion National Park is only 30 minutes from the Quail Park Lodge. Travel north on Hwy 89, turn left on Hwy 9 located in Mt. Carmel junction.

Zion National Park History

By 1909, Zion Canyon was practically inaccessible to outside visitors; and while only a few had laid eyes on the towering cliffs, the country still understood its significance and established Mukuntuweap National Monument. In 2009, the National Park Service celebrated the Nation's commitment to preservation and protection of the natural and cultural resources and providing visitor enjoyment in Zion National Park over the past 100 years.

For Pet Owners - Did You Know?

Zion National Park has a trail where pets are allowed. The Pa'rus Trail winds along the Virgin River for 2 miles at the entrance to Zion Canyon and is also a bicycle path. For pet owners, bringing your pet to a national park can be a planning challenge.

Rules prohibiting pets on trails are in place for your pet's protection. Zion National Park is home to insects, poisonous plants and wild animals. Negative interactions with other pets, park wildlife, and visitors are a major concern for park managers.
The harsh summer heat found in Zion National Park can be life-threatening for your pet. Never leave your pet in a closed vehicle!
Pets must be under physical control on a leash no longer than six feet at all times. They are not allowed on the shuttle, in the back country, on trails, or in public buildings.
Service Animals are allowed on all of Zion's trails and shuttle and must be clearly identified as such.
All pets are allowed on the Pa'rus Trail, located near the Zion Canyon Visitor Center, but must be leashed.
Utah's First National Park

Zion's massive canyon walls ascend toward a brilliant blue sky. To experience Zion, you need to walk among the towering cliffs, or challenge your courage in a small narrow canyon. These unique sandstone cliffs range in color from cream, to pink, to red. They could be described as sand castles crowning desert canyons.

For additional information visit
http://www.utah.com/nationalparks/zion.htm

Visitors in 2009 (through August): 2 million

Zion's many multicolored canyons, mesas and towers frame its first-rate scenery. The park's most popular formation is Zion Canyon. Besides camping sites, Zion Lodge offers rooms, cabins, suites and a restaurant. From April to October, a free shuttle service whisks visitors on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive.

More information
http://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm

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