Painted Hills RV, Parowan UT
We left Las Vegas and headed on a straight northeast road, except for the Virgin River Gorge. That area was beautiful with tight, winding mountain passes and the river below.
Painted Hills RV campground is new and very simple. The name comes from the surrounding red rock hills. The owner, KC, was helpful and after some trial and error in positioning the camper, we settled in. Though it was cooler than Vegas, it was still rather hot, I did not feel like cooking so we explored the little town of Parowan. Based on our host’s recommendations, we had dinner at Parowan Cafe. Simple, homestyle cooking and very tasty..
The main attraction is Cedar Breaks National Monument, about half hour southwest of town. The road up is steep, you are climbing from 7,300 feet to 10,000 feet. We passed through Brian Head, small ski resort town, located in a bowl on the ridge. It’s primarily beginner and intermediate mountain, with very scenic location. As we passed, mountain bike riders were getting together for a event.
Cedar Breaks is on the rim of amphitheater, looking into colorful cliffs and pinnacles. There are alpine meadows and lots of wild flowers, the air is cool (yay!) and clear. There are couple of lookouts, some with short hikes to explore the rim. Hiking at 10,000+ feet is not easy, as I found out, you run out of air fast!
We chatted with the ranger at the Visitors Center, she suggested we continue on Rt 14 to see more of the area, and it was well worth it. We drove to Zion Overlook pullout and you can see some of the peaks in Zion Canyon. This area is part of Dixie National Forest so we stopped at Cedar Canyon Campground to check it out. There we met John, the camp host, who gave us plenty of good info about the area and the campground. I’m not sure we could fit our beast in there, but there were two smallish trailers there.
When we first met John, Tom jokingly asked if it’s ok for us from NJ to come in and John quite seriously said that this forest is ours (everyone’s). He seem to have a lot of passion and dedication to make sure all are welcomed and see these places. It warmed my heart.
We went back next day to explore some other places in Cedar Breaks and Dixie National Forest, this is a wonderful area to experience. We are off tomorrow to one night stop at Nephi, UT and then north again, to cooler places (I hope).