the wandering chick
...Snow Canyon State Park
the colors of snow canyon
St. George, Utah

Snow Canyon State Park was a wonderful day trip as well as a pleasant surprise. It's relatively small, not at all crowded (at least not on this perfectly beautiful late September day), and especially picturesque.

Its landscape is a combinaton of red Navajo Sandstone, white Navajo Sandstone and black lava rock. There are nearly a dozen trails in this small, compact park, offering views that one wouldn't see otherwise.

Its name comes not from the winter sky's white tears, but rather from a couple of Mormon settlers named Snow who discovered the area in the 1850s while searching for lost cattle.

Snow Canyon is located in Utah's southwest corner, just north of St. George.

a lava rock
snow canyon
snow canyon
the red sandstone of Snow Canyon
snow canyon
snow canyon
West Canyon
the west wall of the park
Petrified Dunes
On the Hidden Pinyon Trail
Petrified Dunes
Petrified Dunes
Petrified Dunes
Looking north in the park
snow canyon
Petrified Dunes

Choose another Utah location by returning to the Utah home page.

Thank you for visiting these photo pages.

If you're interested in seeing more, please return to the Main Menu at the bottom of my home page and make your selection.

All images within 'The Wandering Chick' Web site are copyright protected. They may not be downloaded or otherwise copied.

Please contact me if you think a particular photo or set of photos can be used in your publication.

spring flowers
Throughout this page you will see the spectacular red sandstone. Most of it is concentrated in the area known as the Petrified Dunes, where walking is made easy by shallow steps and wide, flat spaces.
red, white and black
a roadrunner among the dunes
A roadrunner wanders among the Petrified Dunes.
A second trip to Snow Canyon State Park was in the spring when flowers were blossoming on every trail.
Petrified Dunes
spring flowers, looking north
Looking south
looking south
Lava fields
looking north
One of the trails in the park is through lava fields where you can see deep lava caverns such as this one.
looking north
The White Rocks
White Rocks, north of the park
The White Rocks
Looking south from White Rocks
White Rocks
Desert Tortoise warning sign
I didn't see any desert tortoise on this trip, but there were other wildlife to enjoy, such as many squirrels scampering about.
a squirrel finds food in the desert
lava rock
Gambel's Quail
my hiking boots
Though very hard to get a picture of, the Gambel's Quail's distinct call can be heard throughout the park.
Many of Snow Canyon's hiking trails are through deep soft sand, which is blow off from the rocks. A good pair of over the ankle hiking boots helps keep much of the sand out of your shoes.
across the sand dunes
snow canyon's sand dunes
formation of cats in the rock
snow canyon sand dunes
My travel partner and I were pretty sure we saw the forms of a couple of cats in this rock wall.
the sand dunes
Jenny's Canyon is a short hike at the south end of the park into an even shorter box canyon. No more than a half-mile round trip, it could hardly be called a hike. But well worth the time. The canyon wall formations on the outside make excellent photos, as seen in the surrounding images.
The park's sand dunes are located near the south entrance to the park.