TO SNOW CANYON FROM CEDAR CITY

From Cedar City we headed west and then south towards St. George planning to visit a small state park we had seen on the map, Snow Canyon.

 This little Valley was obviously the garden center for this part of Utah.  Though it was still early in the season the watering equipment was lined up and ready for use after the planting.

 As we turned south there was still fog in the valley and the buildings and equipment stood out in relief from the dark mountains and light morning mist.

As we approached Snow Valley the volcano that created a lot of the topography that we were to see
was very apparent.

As we entered the Park the scenery changed dramatically. The beautiful red rock head wall provided a fitting backdrop for a mountain of white rock.

 The end of the lava flow coming from the volcano we had seen earlier made a beautiful contrast
to the desert vegetation growing in the valley floor.

 The bottom of the white "mountain" seemed very similar to the bottom of a sand dune.

 And growing around the lava flow, were beautiful little purple flowers.  I must find out their name.

 The red rock mountains continued down valley.

 We walked over to the edge and were able to amble over the petrified red sand dunes.

 There were interesting patterns in the rock, and they were backed by vertically striated  rocks of the same color.

 Looking back up valley with the white mountain showing above the petrified sand dunes was just incredibly beautiful.

At the camping site, the lava flow stood out against the red rock.

 As we headed South the red rock mountains became lower,

 And petered out to give way to the desert vegetation.

Finally heading West again, this unusual swirled formation stood out like a sore thumb

A bit further on we took a detour to an old mine which had be turned into a tourist attraction.  The colors in these rock flows reminded me of Artist Point in Death Valley in California

Stopping at a gas station before entering California, I spotted this dead butterfly on our bumper, a tragic but beautiful reminder of a beautiful state.