S.Calif Trip Day 3- Cedar City, UT to Cedar Breaks National Monument

CedarCity, Utah - Spent the night at The Bard’s Inn in Cedar City, Utah.

Woke at 7 AM MT and showered. At 8:30 AM MT, Lotte, Carol and I went to dining room where the B&B owner, Susan had prepared breakfast of sausage, frittata (egg & potatoes), fruit, OJ, pastries, coffee, etc.

I was interested in checking out a local rock shop. So, after breakfast, we drove to the nearby Cedar Rock and Bead Shop where we spent about 30 minutes looking at their huge collection of rocks and beads. Lotte and Carol spent time looking at the beads while I checked out the rocks. The store also had an interesting collection of plants for sale.

There was a huge collection of rocks upstairs and I was somewhat amused and dumbfounded by a sign on one of the shelves that said “If you are caught licking any of the merchandise in the store, you will be required to purchase the items and you will be banned from the store”. Apparently there have been enough cases where people have licked the halite (salt) rocks to see if they taste like salt to justify posting a sign 😂. I resisted licking any rocks and ended up buying some petrified wood and locally collected agate that I wanted to tumble and give as gifts. Carol also bought a few rocks for gifts and Lotte bought some beads she said she would use to make some custom bookmarks. Before leaving, I asked the owner how he got into the rock, bead and plant business and he said it was just a hobby that became a business. 

After leaving the rock shop, we drove to CedarBreaks National Monument east of Cedar City, Utah. While driving on Hwy 14, we stopped at a beautiful vista point where we took some photos and selfies. The view was amazing and with the help of the info signs, we could actually identify Zion National Park in the distance. While we were at the vista point, there was a guy with an antenna and some tracking gear. We asked what he was doing and he said he was trying to locate CaliforniaCondors that had been tagged with radio tracking devices. His name was C.J. and he said he was a biologist who works for The Peregrine Fund which is a non-profit organization that is trying to conserve threatened and endangered birds of prey worldwide. He said in 1987 California Condor essentially went extinct in the wild when the remaining 27 wild condors were captured and taken to the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo to attempt breeding them in captivity. Thankfully, through the captive breeding program, biologists have been able to reintroduce Condors to the wild and there are now approximately 500 living in the wild or captivity. C.J.s enthusiasm for the program was so positive that we all pledged to donate to the fund as soon as we can. We continued our road trip and somehow missed the Hwy 148 turnoff to Cedar Breaks National Monument and didn’t realize it until we came to the end of Hwy 14. We turned around and retraced our route and, but for a very inconspicuous sign, we almost missed the Hwy 148 turnoff again!

The visitor center and main overlook were under renovation so we weren’t able to stop there. However, we were able to see several other overlooks with amazing views of the canyon below. According to Wikipedia, “breaks” are a form of badlands composed of steep canyons, spires, walls, and cliffs.

The name “Cedar Breaks” was given to the area by early settlers who combined the word “breaks” with “cedar” based on the many juniper trees (incorrectly called cedars) that grow in the area.

After taking a few photos, we drove a few miles back to a picnic area where we enjoyed some snacks and drinks. We returned to The Bard’s Inn and a little later, walked a couple blocks down the street to Centro Woodfired Pizzeria where sweet Lotte treated us to dinner.

We each got a single serving pizza with the idea that we would all share. The place was jammed with young college aged kids out for the night. After dinner, we walked up to Main Street and checked out some of the shops. Many of the shops had signs advertising the CedarLivestock and Heritage Festival scheduled for the end of October. According to the signs, the highlight of the festival is the sheep parade where approximately 1,000 sheep are herded from Cedar Mountain pastures down Cedar City’s Main Street. The parade also includes horses, wagons, antique tractors, bag pipe bands, youth groups, and stock dogs. We then returned to the Bard’s Inn where we chatted and sipped vino before hitting the hay.

Things I Learned On This Day (#TILOTD)

• California Condor have been brought back from the brink of extinction due to captive breeding programs and groups like The Peregrine Fund
• Cedar City has an annual sheep parade