Sandwiched between its two famous neighbor parks in Utah, Zion and Bryce, Cedar Breaks National Monument only gets one visitor for every six of theirs.
The scenery in southwestern Utah is arguably the most spectacular in the United States. The heavy-hitters are Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park, each of which can draw three million visitors a year. Also in the area, and often overlooked, in spite of the fact that is just an hour off the road between Bryce and Zion, is Cedar Breaks National Monument. For every six or seven people who visit the big parks only one will find the way to Cedar Breaks. Even at the height of tourist season in summer Cedar Breaks is relatively uncrowded.
The first thing to know about Cedar Breaks National Monument is that it is way up. It sits at an elevation of 10,200 feet, surrounded on all sides by the Dixie National Forest. Cedar Breaks is a multi-hued amphitheater which the Indians called the Circle of Painted Cliffs. The semi-circle of rock drops 2,500 feet from the cliff tops to the floor and nestled deep in the bowl are eroded spires, arches, ridges and columns of sandstone, all bathed in purple and red and orange. In many ways it resembles Bryce Canyon, packed into one amphitheater instead of 18.
Cedar Breaks formed after sandstone and basalt rock shifted along a fault in the earth's crust to form the Markagunt Plateau. When the land lifted up, erosion took over and the water began carving the intricate forms that nature has since been working on for the past 20 million years.
Unlike its popular neighbors, Cedar Breaks offers no dramatic hiking trails down cliff faces. It is easy to take in all of what Cedar Breaks has to offer. A paved scenic road runs through the park for five miles with four overlooks to view the amphitheater from different angles as the light dances across the cliffs. Along the drive are high mountain meadows which glow in the summer with magnificent wildflowers.
Hiking at Cedar Breaks is an easy way to explore its delights. The Spectra Point/Ramparts Trail skirts the southern rim of the amphitheater for two miles. The trail begins at the Visitor Center and stretches one mile to Spectra Point Overlook, a peninsula of rock that extends into the amphitheater. Of special interest on the promontory are low-growing, ancient bristlecone pine trees that have been clinging to the exposed rock for 2,000 years. Ramparts Trail continues the rim walk another mile through a forest and out onto Ramparts Overlook, another extension into the center of the bowl. For those not interested in hiking, an overlook at the Visitor Center provides a perfectly satisfactory view of Cedar Breaks.
On the opposite side of the Visitor Center is the tranquil Alpine Pond Trail. This two-mile loop along the rim dips through quaking aspens, fir and spruce trees to a small pond. The Alpine Pond Trail, which doubles as a nature trail, starts at the Chessman Ridge Overlook.
The heavy snows will generally close Cedar Breaks National Monument from November until deep into May but the park remains open to cross-country skiers, snowshoers and snowmobilers.
