Grand Circle Gateway
Cities
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Iron County Tourism & Convention Bureau - Cedar City, Utah The gateway cities of Las Vegas, Nevada and St. George, Utah provide easy access to the Grand Circle tour of magnificent state and national parks and monuments in southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona. Destinations within this area include Zion National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, Kodachrome Basin State Park, Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Lake Powell and Rainbow Bridge National Monument, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and Pipe Spring National Monument.
Zion National Park is centered over a 2,000 foot deep geologic layer of petrified sand dunes. The road to the park, completed in 1930, is an engineering feat set against rock walls 2,000 - 3,000 feet high. The six mile Zion Canyon Scenic Drive follows the north fork of the Virgin River. Popular hikes lead to pools, waterfalls and cliffs seeping water of the Emerald Pools Trails and Weeping Rock. Zion Lodge is open year round. In the remote northwestern corner of the park, off US 15, is a five mile scenic drive to Kolob Canyons Viewpoint. Hikers backpack to Kolob Arch which has a span of 310 feet and rivals Landscape Arch in Arches National Park as the world's longest. The park has a visitors center and children's nature center, and there are plenty of accommodations outside the park. From Zion, continue 60 miles north on Interstate 15 to Cedar City, called "The Festival City" for its Olympic-type Summer Games and Utah Shakespearean Festival. From July to September, three Shakespearean plays are shown in one of the world's most authentic reproductions of the Old Globe Theatre. Drive 24 miles east from Cedar City on Utah 14 to Cedar Breaks National Monument, a giant natural amphitheater three miles across and 2,500 feet deep, located at the top of the Grand Staircase. The area was named Cedar Breaks by early settlers because of the steep cliffs and the "cedars" which were really junipers growing at the base of the cliffs. The five mile scenic drive through Cedar Breaks is generally closed from October to May from winter snows, but visitors still come by snowmobile, skis or snowshoes from Brian Head, a downhill ski resort, just two miles north of the Monument. From Cedar Breaks, follow Utah 143 for 14 miles to Panguitch Lake, a 1,250 acre reservoir located in a volcanic basin and known for its excellent rainbow trout. Seven miles south of the town of Panguitch on US 89 is Bryce Canyon. Bryce is not really a canyon but a series of amphitheaters that extend 1,000 feet down through the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The Park Service called the strange rock formations found in the canyon "hoo doo". Many of these rocks can be viewed from overlooks with names like Fairyland and Inspiration along the 17 mile scenic drive. Bryce Canyon Lodge is open from mid-April through October and Ruby's Inn, just north of the park boundary is open year round and offers a full range of year round tours and outdoor activities in and around the park. Kodachrome Basin State Park, located twelve miles southeast of Bryce Canyon off of Utah 12, is a unique, but lesser known, destination. Sandstone chimneys range in height from 6 to 170 feet. The views are unlike anything seen anywhere else. From Kodachrome Basin return to Utah 12. Go northwest to US 89. Turn south to Kanab, 74 miles south of the Bryce Canyon turnoff. Kanab is close to the Utah - Arizona border, Lake Powell, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion. The spectacular scenery and Vermillion Cliffs to the west and east have been backdrops for many a western movie. The Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park has set aside huge areas for hiking and off road vehicles. Page, Arizona, Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam are 85 miles east of Kanab on US 89. Page was developed around the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, the northernmost and largest of the dams built through the Colorado River Project. The town is one of several gateways to Lake Powell, which is one of the largest manmade lakes in the world. Rainbow Bridge, the most famous sight on Lake Powell and one of the world's seven natural wonders, is only accessible by boat or charter. If time permits, experience a half-day scenic float trip from Glen Canyon Dam to Lee's Ferry. Lee's Ferry is the only road at river level on the Colorado between Green River and the California state line. Wahweep Lodge and Marina, operated by ARA Leisure Services, offers an excellent choice for accommodations on land, and ARA also rents fully equipped houseboats and motor boats for exploring the lake. In Page, visit the John Wesley Powell Museum to learn about the man who led the first expedition down the Colorado River through Cataract Canyon and the Grand Canyon in wooden boats. Next stop is the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Drive south 23 miles to Bitter Springs where US 89A turns north to Marble Canyon another 14 miles to Navajo Bridge. The bridge spans the Colorado River which flows 467 feet below the bridge. It was built in the 1920's. The North Rim is 83 miles from this point. Travel 41 miles west on US 89A through ponderosa pines on the Kaibab Plateau to Jacob Lake. The drive from Jacob Lake south on Arizona 67 to the North Rim is one of the most beautiful and remote in Arizona. The North Rim is 1,200 feet higher than the South Rim and is open from May 15 to October 20. Point Imperial on Cape Royal Scenic Drive offers the highest viewpoint from either the South or North Rim. The Grand Canyon Lodge, overlooking Transept Canyon near Bright Angel Point and the only accommodation in the park, is closed when the North Rim is closed. Kaibab Lodge, 26 miles south of Jacob Lake, offers year round lodging and cross country skiing on the snow covered Kaibab Plateau. From the North Rim, return on US 89A northwest for 30 miles to Fredonia. Fifteen miles west of Fredonia on Arizona 389 is Pipe Spring National Monument on the Kaibab-Paiute Indian Reservation. This ranching outpost established by Mormon pioneers is now a living history museum of frontier life. The ranch continues as it did in the 1870's and guides dressed in clothes of the period demonstrate quilting, weaving and cattle branding. From Pipe Spring continue on Arizona 389 and Utah 59 west to St. George and follow Interstate 15 to Las Vegas.
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From Las Vegas
take Interstate 15 northeast to St. George, Utah, the largest
town in southern Utah and fastest growing city in the state.
Known as Utah's "Dixie", the pioneers who settled here
planted cotton so they would not have to rely on the outside
world for their clothing. Today St. George offers warm winters
and year round recreation and serves as a home base for
exploring the nearby Pine Valley Mountains, Snow Canyon State
Park and Zion National Park. Zion, just 40 miles east of St.
George on Interstate 15, is part of what is called the Grand
Staircase of the Colorado Plateau. From southern Utah to
northern Arizona, faults break the Colorado Plateau into a
series of smaller plateaus. The rocks at Zion on the Markagunt
Plateau are older than those at Bryce Canyon and Paunsaugunt
Plateau and younger than the rocks at Grand Canyon and the
Kaibab Plateau. From 6,000 feet above the Colorado River at the
Kaibab Plateau, each successive plateau exposes nearly two
vertical miles and two billion years of geologic history.
