Cedar Breaks shouldn’t be missed during its brief season

The breeze fanning your face as you stand on the rim of the 2,000-foot drop-off at Cedar Breaks National Monument carries the resinous scent of sun on pine needles. A forest of pine, spruce and fir sweeps up to the eroding edge of a high plateau in Southern Utah, where nature carves fantastic shapes like walls, fins, curtains and solitary monoliths called "hoodoos." Toppled trees lie like bleaching bones in the mineral-stained depths of vivid pink and orange.

With its 10,500-foot elevation, Cedar Breaks draws visitors during a short season from late May through mid-October. Winter snows arrive early and linger late, closing roads, trails and campsites for more than half of the year. Despite the restricted season, hundreds of thousands of visitors find their way to this small Utah beauty spot annually.

To reach Cedar Breaks, follow Interstate 15 north into Utah as far as Cedar City, about 170 miles from Las Vegas. In Cedar City, turn on Highway 14 through lovely Cedar Canyon. One of the most scenic side roads in Utah, this road reveals splendid views of Cedar Breaks from below and Zion Canyon from above. Follow it 18 miles to the top of the high plateau. At the junction with Highway 148, turn north four miles to reach the park. This road links Cedar Breaks with other area attractions like Brian Head and Panguitch Lake.

Entering the park costs $4 per person over age 16 during the visitation season. National park passes of various types waive or reduce this fee and others, like the $14 per night fee for campsite use. Park passes benefit frequent park visitors and volunteers, senior citizens and the disabled. Purchase a pass at Cedar Breaks or any federal recreation area or park.

The Point Supreme Campground opens to full use by Friday. Available without reservations, its 30 campsites nestle among the trees along a loop road not far from the visitor center. Campsites include tables, grills, cleared tent area and parking pads with centralized water and restrooms with no showers, all wheelchair accessible. Although sites accommodate recreational vehicles, there are no hook-ups. For best site selection, plan a mid-week arrival or get there early on weekends and holidays. When this campground fills, seek other sites in Dixie National Forest or private campgrounds in nearby communities.

Start your experience in Cedar Breaks with a stop at the visitor center. Open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., this information center occupies a historic log cabin dating from the monument's early days in the 1930s. National Park Service rangers conduct talks on geology and other topics at Point Supreme overlook daily on the hour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. They also schedule ranger-led hikes and evening programs. Stargazing parties planned for July 23, July 28, Aug. 11 and Sept. 8 take advantage of the area's clear skies and lack of competing lights.

A five-mile scenic drive through Cedar Breaks includes Point Supreme and turnouts for three more lookout points reached by short paths. One of two hiking routes in the park, Ramparts Trail links these viewpoints on walkways running two to four miles. The Alpine Pond Trail forms a two-mile loop from a pullout north of Chessman Ridge Overlook. Purchase printed guides at the trailheads.

Brief and glorious, summer in Cedar Breaks paints meadows, roadsides and trail margins with colorful wildflowers that vie with the stunning geological effects for attention. The flowers create swathes of color in open areas that sweep right under the skirts of surrounding trees. Shaded by the forest canopy, many other kinds of flowers bloom shyly. Above timberline on balding Brian Head near the park boundary, a side road accesses a walkway to an observation building where tiny alpine flowers flourish, creating miniature gardens. Invest in a good handbook on Rocky Mountain wildflowers to help identify them.

The monument celebrates its glorious wildflowers with the second annual Cedar Breaks Wildflower Festival July 1-22. During the height of the flower show, rangers schedule wildflower talks, special hikes, photography treks and an art contest. Other special activities scheduled this season include observance of the monument's 75th birthday Aug. 18-19, and fall color events Sept. 16-Oct. 7.

Margo Bartlett Pesek's column appears on Thursdays.