Cedar Breaks Hiking

Cedar Breaks is very much like Bryce Canyon. It has a huge amphitheater 3-miles across and 2000 feet deep with hoodoos, spires, and twisting canyons. At over 10,000 feet, it is higher than Bryce and has a more open feel. From our hiking viewpoints we could see all the way to Cedar City and the Great Basin.

The most popular hike in Cedar Breaks NM is about 5 miles: .5 miles from the campground to the trailhead at the Visitors’ Center, 1 mile along the canyon rim to Spectra Point, then another mile (mostly downhill) to the Ramparts Overlook. Then back. Along the entire hike we had fabulous views of the hoodoos and other rock formations in the canyon, ever changing as we walked along and the sun rose higher in the sky.

At the Spectra Lookout are 2000 year-old Bristol Cone Pines. So tortured by the winds and sun. They provided a nice foreground for David’s canyon pictures.

Our trip back was a bit worrisome as a thunderstorm had appeared to the southeast. Lots of thunder with little rain reaching the ground until the last half mile. Even then, it was a two-inch rain — two inches between the rain drops.

An aside: This area is called Cedar Breaks because the Mormon settlers mistook the native Juniper for Cedars, and Breaks refers to a dry, canyonous area that is deemed uninhabitable.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)