Dixie National Forest Near Kanab Utah

Dixie National Forest is located in Cedar City, Utah. This national forest is almost two million acres and extends for almost 170 miles across southern Utah. Dixie National Forest stretches to the Great Basin and the Colorado River. The Great Basin, near the Colorado River, provides spectacular scenery, with colored cliffs and steep-walled gorges. The forest vegetation varies from desert-type plants to pinyon pine, juniper, aspen, spruce and fir.

Information About Dixie National Forest

Elevation – The elevation is between 2,800 feet to 11,322 feet at Blue Bell Knoll on Boulder Mountain, and just 1 hour and 40 minutes from Kanab, Utah which makes it a great day trip destination location. It is also near St. George, Utah.

Geographic’s – The forest is divided into four unique areas, the Markagunt, Pansaugunt, and Aquarius Plateaus. Boulder Mountain is one of the largest elevations in the United States, reaching  11,000 feet above sea level.

Climate – Precipitation ranges from 10 inches in the lower elevations of the forest, to 40 inches of snow and rain per year near Brian Head Peak.  Thunderstorms are most common in July to August. Depending on elevation temperatures year around exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit and drop to -30 Fahrenheit.

 

Wilderness Areas of Dixie National Park

Ashdown Gorge Wilderness

Designated in 1984

7,043 Acres

Sharing the western and northern borders of the desert-like Cedar Breaks National Monument, Ashdown Gorge Wilderness displays eroded, multicolored Wasatch limestone, meadows, and forestland including a significant stand of bristlecone pine, known as the Twisted Forest, in the northern corner. Bristlecones are among the oldest living life-forms. The area is home to a diversity of wildlife that includes mule deer, yellow-bellied marmots, chipmunks, golden-mantled ground squirrels, voles, and mice. Creeks run year-round. Elevations range from 8,000 feet to 10,400 feet, and winter snows often add spectacular highlights to the colorful stone formations.

Within the Wilderness, you’ll find less than 10 miles of trails. The Rattlesnake Trail (five miles) traces the northern boundary of the national monument and follows Rattlesnake Creek on an east-to-west path across the Wilderness to meet the Potato Hollow Trail. The latter trail continues south to a trail-head at Cedar Springs. The Potato Hollow Trail (2.5 miles) forks before the trail-head to become the Blowhard Trail, which climbs Blowhard Mountain. There is ample opportunity to find solitude, especially if you hike off-trail (taking care, of course, to create as little impact on the land as possible).

Box-Death Hollow Wilderness

Designated in 1984

25,751 Acres

Vertical gray-orange walls of Navajo sandstone stand above two canyon tributaries of the Escalante River in Box-Death Hollow Wilderness. This is canyon country, home to numerous monoclines–places where fault lines have made layers of earth rise and fall sharply, exposing the colorful strata of sediment. The name Death Hollow gives reference to a number of livestock that plunged to their death trying to cross the steep canyon. Running north-south through a steeply dipping monocline, Pine Creek forms the area known as "The Box." Death Hollow Creek, east of The Box, has carved its way through a gently dipping monocline. Raging waters often flood these canyon narrows after a rain. Pinion and juniper cover many of the plateaus above the canyons. Brown and rainbow trout are plentiful in Pine Creek and in portions of Sand Creek. Along the creek banks, you may see mule deer, an occasional cougar, or even elk in winter. The BLM’s Phipps-Death Hollow Outstanding Natural Area lies adjacent to the Wilderness. Nine miles of trail run the distance of "The Box", hiking in the remainder of this Wilderness area requires following drainage’s or un-designated routes.

Cottonwood Forest Wilderness

Designated in 2009

2,620 Acres

Zion National Park’s world-famous landscape of soaring cliff walls, forested plateaus, and deep, narrow gorges extends well beyond the boundaries of the park onto surrounding BLM and FS lands including the Cottonwood Forest Wilderness. The area is characterized by deep, narrow red rock canyons with intermittent surface water and seasonal flows. There are no designated system trails in the wilderness and travel is limited due to steep terrain. Seeps in the canyon walls provide water for bouquets of maidenhair fern, scarlet monkey flower, and columbine. Hawks, falcons, and eagles nest along the sandstone walls, while deer, and cougar live in the canyon bottoms.

Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness

Designated in 1984

50,232 Acres

A mountain island surrounded by desert, Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness preserves numerous lush meadows (up to 50 acres in size) and a beautiful forest of Engelmann spruce in the south, and spruce mixed with fir, pine, and large stands of aspen in the north. The Pine Valley Mountains rise through the entire center of the area and provide habitat for chipmunks, marmots, red squirrels, and a large herd of deer in summer. Elevations rise to a high point at 10,365 feet on Signal Peak in the southern portion. On a clear day at this site, you can see Zion National Park across Interstate 15 to the west, and some of Arizona’s highest mountains to the south.

Several springs fill numerous perennial creeks. Snow falls October through March, followed by a relatively dry and pleasant period that ends with a season marked by typically violent storms from July through September.

The Summit Trail follows the crest of the Pine Valley Mountains in their north-south ramble for a distance of about 18 miles, and at least eight other trails climb the mountains to join the crest, including the easily accessible Whipple Trail (six miles). The Wilderness, Utah’s second largest, lies within a much larger un designated wild and free recreation area, bringing the total mileage of maintained trails to more than 151.

Recreation In Dixie National Forest

Dixie National Forest offers a vast variety of recreational activities to its visitors.  This forest offers solitude, hiking, nature study, hunting, fishing, camping and winter sports. There are 25 campgrounds and 5 picnic sites on the forest. The Forest works with state parks to maintain some trails for skiing and snowmobiling. There are also over a thousand miles of timber roads that can be used for these sports. Skiing and snowboarding lifts and runs are available at Brian Head Resort, which located near Cedar City.

Stuff To Do At Lake Dixie National Forest

Dixie National Park has tons to do. Whatever it is that your family likes to do, chances are this place has it. Winters are cold and summers are pleasant. Not matter the season there is an activity for you to do here.

Helpful Links

Planning your trip to Lake Powell – http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/dixie/home
Alerts and Notices – http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/dixie/alerts-notices
News and Events – http://www.fs.usda.gov/news/dixie/news-events
Passes’s and Permits – http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/dixie/passes-permits