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The Utah Scenic page is a potpourri of scenery including Aspens in fall color, Cedar Breaks, Coral Pink Sands, Panguitch, Butch Cassidy’s Boyhood Home near Circleville, and assorted images from Utah, such as Dinah the Vernal Dinosaur, Cedar City’s Rock Church, and more.
Click an image to open a larger version. Use your back button to return to this page.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection
Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:
Aspens and Utah Scenic
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Aspens in Fall Color
These images were taken in three sessions, each two days apart.
Many of the Aspen images are very highly detailed due to the small leaves (note file sizes).
Aspens Boulder Mountain 1537 (986 KB)
Boulder Mountain dominates the eastern edge of Aquarius Plateau at 11,000 feet. Scenic Byway 12 skirts the eastern flanks of Boulder Mountain from the town of Boulder to Capitol Reef National Park. Covered with groves of Aspens and Evergreens, it offers an extremely colorful scenic drive in the fall.
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1535 (1442 KB)
The Aspens turn color for a short period in the fall, and range from soft greens and golden yellows through amber, orange, red-orange and a brilliant vermilion.
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1542 (1368 KB)
The colors are most exceptional just before the leaves start to fall, and there is generally a one or two day window to catch the Aspens in their most brilliant display.
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1543 (810 KB)
One nice thing about Boulder Mountain is that there are several Aspen groves at different elevations.
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1560 (953 KB)
The Aspens at different elevations turn color at different times within a period of three or four days.
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1544 (1337 KB)
The Aspens in Utah are Quaking Aspens, and are sometimes mixed in with various evergreens.
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1551 (1331 KB)
In other places, the Aspens dominate the landscape between a border of evergreens on either side.
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1557 (1415 KB)
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1562 (1248 KB)
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1558 (1059 KB)
A small stand of multicolored Aspens on the northeast side of Boulder Mountain, with the Waterpocket Fold and Henry Mountains in the distance in the upper left and Scenic Byway 12 disappearing into the evergreens in the distance at center right.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection
Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:
Aspens and Utah Scenic
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 0810 (937 KB)
A pastoral scene on the southeast side of Boulder Mountain, with cattle grazing in a meadow beside a huge stand of gold and orange Aspens in full fall splendor.
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 0813 (905 KB)
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 0816 (905 KB)
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 0817 (1055 KB)
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 0814 (1163 KB)
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A colony of Aspens surrounding a meadow on the southeast side of Boulder Mountain.
Aspens Boulder Mountain 1566 (860 KB)
A vast colony of Aspens punctuated by small groups of evergreens on Boulder Mountain.
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1578 (1094 KB)
This brilliant red is somewhat unusual... while there are often a few trees that show this color, it is less often that you see an entire group of red and red-orange Aspens.
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1583 (1234 KB)
As the fall approaches, trees reduce chlorophyll production and other pigments become visible as the leaf uses up the chlorophyll. The reds are caused by several factors.
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1584 (781 KB)
An exceptionally dry spring and early summer cause the trees to be stressed. Strong rainfall in the summer and early fall along with a succession of sunny days and cool crisp nights cause the leaves to produce sugars to promote rapid growth. The higher amount of sugars increase the anthocyanin level, making the leaves red.
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1581 (1234 KB)
Brilliant red Aspens framed by evergreens beside Scenic Byway 12 on Boulder Mountain.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection
Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:
Aspens and Utah Scenic
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Pastoral Scene Boulder Mountain 1575 (610 KB)
Cattle graze in a meadow bordered by Evergreens and Aspens on Boulder Mountain.
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Scenic Byway 12 Boulder Mountain 1587 (611 KB)
Scenic Byway 12 entering a grove of golden Aspens on Boulder Mountain.
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1592 (1074 KB)
An enormous colony of Aspens covering the landscape on Boulder Mountain.
Aspens are clonal organisms. They derive from a single seedling and spread via the root system. The individual trees can live for 50-150 years, but the root systems can live for many thousands of years. The Pando colony near Fish Lake (50 mi. northwest of Boulder Mountain) is the heaviest single organism on Earth and one of the oldest living things at 80,000 years old.
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Aspens Cedar Breaks 0370 (717 KB)
This small stand of Aspens was taken a few days earlier, in a somewhat wetter area near Cedar Breaks.
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Aspens Cedar Breaks 0373 (797 KB)
These Aspens are just beginning to change color due to the greater amount of rainfall and the earlier date.
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Aspens Cedar Breaks 0404 (489 KB)
A colony of Aspens bordering a meadow at a lower elevation beyond Cedar Breaks. This is off State Route 148 (Cedar Breaks Scenic Byway), a few miles from SR-14.
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Cedar Breaks Aspens 0378 (769 KB)
The Pink Cliffs at Cedar Breaks, framed by golden Aspens under a stormy sky.
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Cedar Breaks Aspens 0381 (804 KB)
A detail shot of the Pink Cliffs at Cedar Breaks rising above the Aspens and Evergreens.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection
Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:
Aspens and Utah Scenic
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Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 0392 (588 KB)
Cedar Breaks Amphitheater is at over 10,000 feet. Breaks is another word for “badlands”, and early settlers called the Junipers in the area “Cedars”, thus giving the area its name.
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Cedar Breaks Amphitheater Hoodoos 0393 (719 KB)
Cedar Breaks Amphitheater has some of the same fin and hoodoo formations as those at Bryce Canyon and Red Canyon, although they are more eroded here.
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Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 0394 (594 KB)
The red-orange color is caused by iron oxides in the rock, the purple color in the upper left is caused by manganese oxide.
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Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 0395 (658 KB)
Detail of hoodoos and erosion features in the Amphitheater at Cedar Breaks.
The 300-400 series images were all taken in the mid-afternoon in late September.
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Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 0397 (685 KB)
Indians called Cedar Breaks the “Circle of Painted Cliffs”.
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Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 0403 (705 KB)
Detail of erosion features on the side of the Amphitheater.
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Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 1354 (746 KB)
The Cedar Breaks Amphitheater shot at mid-morning in late September. Strong shadows outline the erosion features.
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Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 1356 (657 KB)
The view from Cedar Breaks towards the Markagunt Plateau in the distance, covered in golden Aspen.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection
Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:
Aspens and Utah Scenic
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Coral Pink Sand Dunes X2426 (418 KB)
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is well known for its pink sand weathered from the surrounding Navajo Sandstone formations, but on the day I was there, the flat light caused by the strong overcast made the sand appear to be a creamy salmon-yellow.
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Coral Pink Sand Dunes X2421 (588 KB)
The Coral Pink Sand Dunes are the only major dunes on the Colorado Plateau and contain over 2000 acres of sand.
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Coral Pink Sand Dunes X2435 (435 KB)
Moquith Mountain (at left) is covered with Juniper and Pinyon Pine, and creates a strong contrast to the sand.
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Coral Sands Dune Sunflowers X2389 (500 KB)
Dune Sunflowers, grasses and the occasional tree find nourishment in the salmon sand.
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Coral Sands Dune Sunflowers X2390 (597 KB)
Coral Pink Sand Dunes and blooming sunflowers in late June. The locals call these Dune Sunflowers “Rough Mule’s Ear”.
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Coral Sands Dune Sunflowers X2393 (801 KB)
Much of the area is popular with Off Road Vehicle enthusiasts, although the area shown in these images is off-limits to ATVs.
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Coral Sands Dune Sunflowers X2400 (709 KB)
This was the most prolifically blooming Dune Sunflower, climbing all the way to the top of the dune.
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Coral Sands Dune Sunflowers X2396 (808 KB)
Detail of Dune Sunflowers at Coral Pink Sand Dunes.
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Coral Sands Dune Sunflowers X2404 (654 KB)
As the clouds thinned, the color of the Coral Pink Sands began to fulfill its promise.
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Coral Sands Ground Beetle X2413 (444 KB)
I hoped to see the renowned Coral Pink Tiger Beetle, but the only wildlife I encountered was this Ground Beetle.
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Coral Sands Ground Beetle X2415 (517 KB)
The little fellow wasn’t happy with the 6000 foot altitude, and headed for ‘higher ground’ on a Coral Pink clump.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection
Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:
Aspens and Utah Scenic
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Behind the Picket Fence Panguitch 2074 (611 KB)
A quintessential country scene in Panguitch Utah. Panguitch is near Bryce Canyon, and was settled by pioneers in 1864. It is still a small town with a pioneer flavor, with numerous red brick homes built in the early days from the local brick factory, whose workers were paid with bricks. Panguitch is at 6600 feet, and snow can get deep in the winter. Many of the old two story homes have exterior doors on the second floor that were used as entrances when the inevitable snow drifts blocked the main door.
Panguitch is a Paiute Indian word which means “Big Fish”.
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Bishops Storehouse Panguitch 2022 (814 KB)
The Bishop’s Storehouse was built in 1907 to store the tithed grain, flour, produce and livestock, which was given to families in need of food. In 1964 it was acquired by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and converted into a Pioneer Museum.
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Pioneer Wagon Panguitch 2023 (524 KB)
Outside the Bishop’s Storehouse is an early Pioneer Wagon. Covered wagons pulled by oxen were the common mode of transportation by Mormon Pioneers, holding 1000 lbs. of flour plus other food, iron, farming and mechanical equipment.
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Main Street Panguitch 2075 (418 KB)
Lee’s Indian Store and the Cowboy’s Smokehouse Cafe on Main Street in Panguitch.
Many of the original buildings in Panguitch are preserved, and the entire community has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home Circleville 5534 (845 KB)
The Parker Ranch House and Granary in Circle Valley, 3 miles south of Circleville, Utah.
At the base of a hill near the mouth of Circleville Canyon is an unmarked rustic cabin built in 1865. From 1879, it was the Parker Ranch and the boyhood home of Robert Leroy Parker, who would be known as Butch Cassidy, leader of the infamous Wild Bunch Gang of outlaws in the late 19th century.
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Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home Circleville 5544 (845 KB)
Butch Cassidy was born Robert Leroy Parker in Beaver, Utah in 1866 in a block house which still exists (and still has a family living in it). In 1879, the family moved to the Circle Valley ranch from Beaver after trading their North Creek ranch to Charles van Fleet, who built the two room cabin in 1865. Butch learned to ride, rope and shoot from Mike Cassidy on this ranch, where he lived from 1879 to 1884. He used his mentor Cassidy’s last name as his alias.
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Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home Circleville 5530 (661 KB)
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Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home Circleville 5539 (630 KB)
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The two room cabin and granary on the Parker Ranch, Butch Cassidy’s boyhood home. 5500-series shots were taken in December (X-series shots below were taken in June).
Butch Cassidy left the ranch in 1884 to find adventure, moving first to Telluride, Colorado. He often returned to Utah. He was at a dance in Panguitch, Utah a few miles from Red Canyon when he got into an argument over a girl. He knocked the fellow out, but thought he had killed him and escaped into the wilds of Red Canyon to elude a posse which was sent out. He avoided the posse by hiding on what is now the Cassidy Trail in Red Canyon, the gateway to Bryce Canyon.
Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home Circleville 2400 (744 KB)
The Parker Ranch House and Granary in June. Butch Cassidy helped his mother plant the row of Lombardy Poplars as a windbreak when he lived in the two room cabin from 1879-1884.
In 1889, Butch Cassidy began his outlaw career by robbing a bank in Telluride, Colorado. He bought a ranch near Dubois, Wyoming near the Hole-in-the-Wall, which he used with the Sundance Kid, Elzy Lay, Kid Curry and other members of the Wild Bunch Gang as a hideout. The Wild Bunch was the most successful gang of train robbers in history, popularized by the 1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” with Paul Newman and Robert Redford.
Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch Gang operated in a loose coalition with other gangs using the Hole-in-the-Wall hideout, collectively called the Hole-in-the-Wall Gangs. One of the cabins used by Butch Cassidy in his Hole-in-the-Wall hideout is still in existence. It was moved to Old Trail Town in Cody, Wyoming in the 1970’s with other frontier buildings.
The Wild Bunch also robbed banks and mine payrolls, and also used the Robber’s Roost hideout in Southeastern Utah’s Canyonlands area, where the gang was originally formed. Robber’s Roost on the Outlaw Trail was an impregnable fortress of canyons and tunnels which was never successfully penetrated by posses or infiltrators. The favorite Cassidy hideout was Brown’s Hole at the border of Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. In the early days when he was rustling cattle with Mike Cassidy, Butch and other rustlers could avoid the sheriffs of the three states by simply moving their cattle across a border. The Wild Bunch even established a town called Powder Springs at Brown’s Hole.
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Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home Circleville 2406 (577 KB)
Butch Cassidy’s boyhood home, the Parker Ranch in Circle Valley, near the mouth of Circleville Canyon, three miles south of Circleville, Utah.
Butch Cassidy enjoys near-hero status in southern Utah. There are numerous trails, canyons, streets and buildings named after the “Robin Hood of the West”, and any actual remaining buildings that are associated with him are revered relics.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection
Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:
Aspens and Utah Scenic
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Dinah the Vernal Dinosaur 1389 (268 KB)
Dinah is located just outside of the town of Vernal, Utah, a little bit over 200 miles north of Moab depending on your route. Moab is the gateway to Arches National Park.
I drove to Moab, Utah from Yellowstone National Park, where I had just completed ten days of training photographers how to shoot wildlife. It is a long drive (700 miles), and by the time I reached Vernal I had driven over 470 miles (nothing but miles and miles of relatively empty space). Not only was I ready for a short break, but when I saw this from the highway, I simply had to pull off and get a shot of her. I don’t often see a 40 foot tall bubble-gum pink fiberglas dinosaur with eyelashes.
Dinah is sort of the unofficial mascot for northeastern Utah. In 1958, George Millecam, the owner of the Dine-a-Ville Motel, decided to build a dinosaur park to attract customers. His wife Helen designed Dinah and built a 5” model, which was copied to make this 40 foot fiberglas version. Vernal Utah is near the western entrance of Dinosaur National Monument, and there are numerous dinosaur-related statues, diners, shops, etc., as you can imagine. There are also numerous tiny copies of Dinah floating round... she’s quite a popular girl.
The dinosaur park didn’t do that well, and George sold the motel, which eventually folded, and the statue was donated to the city of Vernal and mounted outside of town. Several of the other denizens of George Millecam’s Dinosaur Park are displayed in other towns in the area as well.
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Morris Minor 1000 Traveller 1999 (447 KB)
A Morris Minor 1000 Traveller Estate Wagon in pristine condition, encountered at Sunrise Point in Bryce Canyon.
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Morris Minor 1000 Traveller 2000 (597 KB)
The Traveller featured an external structural varnished Ash wood frame in the rear and two side-hinged rear doors.
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Morris Minor 1000 Traveller 1998 (556 KB)
The Traveller Estate Wagon was introduced in 1954. It was designed by Alec Issigonis, who also designed the original Mini. The 948cc engine was introduced in 1956, and this updated version was dubbed the Minor 1000. The “Woody” Traveller was built until 1971.
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Rock Church Cedar City 0366 (548 KB)
Cedar City’s Rock Church contains multicolored stones hand-cut from the surrounding red rock areas in Utah, Arizona and Nevada. Some contain native silver and copper ore. The layout of the stones was created by master stonemasons from Germany who laid the stone out on the ground to finalize the design before mounting it on the front of the church.
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Rock Church Cedar City 7488 (461 KB)
LDS Chapel First Ward Church
The Cedar City Rock Church was constructed in 1931. It was built to replace the original tabernacle from 1885, which was demolished in 1932 to build a new Post Office. It was built entirely by local residents, some of whom donated their labor and others gave back 2/3 of their pay to fund the construction.
The Contractor had built the stone lodges at Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon National Parks, as well as the Cedar City Union Pacific Railroad Depot and other significant buildings.
All of the interior fittings were created from local materials, including the 100 wagonloads of stone, the Cedar pews and dais, wool carpets, iron fittings and chandeliers, the stone baptismal font, etc. The Swiss clock from the original tabernacle still keeps time in the spire, although a major rebuild of the works was completed several years ago to replace the manual winding mechanism with automatic winders. A World War II air raid siren mounted in the tower was originally used to summon the volunteer fire department, and it was also set off to mark noon until the late 1960s.
The stonemasons laid the stones in a mirror-image pattern from the center of each wall (note the configuration of the stones above the door in the image at left).
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Rock Church Cedar City 1605 (693 KB)
The Cedar City Rock Church has been restored in 2012 with seismic upgrades and repair of some damaged areas. The original pews and hardwood floor were also restored.
These images were taken during three trips through Cedar City on the way to Bryce Canyon.
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Utah Property Rights 7483 (878 KB)
No Trespassing. Violators will be SHOT. Survivors will be Prosecuted.
They take their property rights seriously in Utah. State Route 14 near Highway 89.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection
Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:
Aspens and Utah Scenic
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Click the Display Composite above to return to the Southwest Index page
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