Cedar Breaks National Monument
Hidden gem on the Grand Loop Tour
Cedar Break National Monument was one of the stops advertised on the Grand Loop Tour. It was established in 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to preserve a natural, geologic amphitheater three miles long and 2000 feet deep. It’s located near Zion and Bryce Canyon National Park but isn’t visited nearly as much.
Last week, I introduced the Grand Loop Tour created during the 1920s by the Union Pacific (UP) and their subsidiary bus and hotel management company, the Utah Parks Company (UPC). Their goal was to promote train travel to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks and Cedar Breaks National Monument in southern Utah, as well as the north rim of the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona. From Cedar City, Utah, tourists were taken in touring cars or buses (depending on what was most efficient for that year).
From what I can tell, it seems that Cedar Breaks National Monument was visited last on the loop before returning guests to Cedar City and the Union Pacific Railroad. It appears they did some sightseeing, had dinner at the lodge and then returned to Cedar City for the night.
It just makes sense for me to introduce this lesser-known park since we discussed Cedar City in the last post.
Cedar Breaks National Monument
The park, which sits above 10,000 feet approximately 20 miles east of Cedar City, is one of the least visited NPS units in the area. Because of its elevation, it is often 10-20 degrees cooler than the surrounding parks. Snow often makes part of the park inaccessible to vehicles from October to May (they get around 245 inches per year on average).
It is an area of stunning pink cliff formations within a geologic amphitheater very similar to those in Bryce Canyon National. Iron oxides provide the red, orange and yellows in the rock/soil, while manganese oxide is responsible for the shades of purple.
The area got its name from early settlers misidentifying the juniper trees as cedars. In addition, “breaks” are the name for the steep, heavily eroded terrain. The native Americans of the area named it “circle of painted cliffs”.
Cedar Breaks Lodge
In 1923, noted architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood was commissioned by the Utah Parks Company to build a lodge in the national monument to serve travelers embarking on their Grand Loop Tour.
UPC tour buses stopped at Cedar Breaks for dinner before heading back to the train depot in Cedar City. A dollar twenty-five bought a chicken dinner, complete with mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade bread and dessert. The Lodge only seated 120 people at a time so on some nights the tables were set up to three times to accommodate all of the tour buses and locals who had come for dinner. There were also small cabins to accommodate overnight guests.
After World War II, the increase in automobile travel led to a decline in rail travel. The lodges were never profitable on their own, so they became a drain on UP resources. The UP attempted to sell its park operations in the late 1960s. Finding no buyers willing to expend large sums of money on updating the facilities, the UP donated them to the NPS in 1970. It was determined that Cedar Breaks Lodge which was the smallest of all the lodges was uneconomical to maintain, and it was torn down in 1972. Public outcry from the demolition caused the National Park Service (NPS) to reexamine their policies concerning lodges in other parks which contributed to their preservation.
The Civil Conservation Corp in Cedar Breaks
As part of the New Deal Program, to help lift the United States out of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933. The CCC encouraged single men between the ages of 18 and 25 to enlist in work programs to improve America’s public lands, forests, and parks. They received room, board, clothing, technical training and agreed to send $25 of their $30 monthly paycheck to their families back home.
On July 4th,1934 the Civil Conservation Corp (CCC) made their first appearance at Cedar Breaks, “acting as traffic directors, assisting in getting many of the stalled cars up to the Breaks and serving a barbecue to some 3,000 people” at the official dedication ceremony and celebration for the new national monument. That was just the beginning of the CCCs involvement at Cedar Breaks National Monument.
Due to the high elevation, the CCC camp at Cedar Breaks was only occupied during the warmer months of the year. During the colder months, CCC workers worked at camps in lower elevations such as Zion.
In 1937, a group of 27 men from the Zion CCC camp were brought in to begin construction of a visitor center and ranger cabin. These buildings were one of their most lasting accomplishments at Cedar Breaks. Both of the buildings are listed on the national register of historic places.
How to Visit
Cedar Breaks National Monument is located north of Zion and west of Bryce Canyon and not far from either. From Springdale, just outside of Zion, it's 79 miles. From Bryce Canyon, it's 60 miles. It’s a 23-mile drive from Cedar City and it’s just 3 miles south of Brian Head Resort.
Visiting is a great way to avoid crowds as the monument only has a few hundred thousand people visit every year (compared to five million visitors flock to nearby Zion National Park each year).
Cedar Breaks has been designated an International Dark Sky Park and Dark Sky Tours are conducted every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (even during the winter).
Between mid-October and late May, access to the national monument is limited to snowmobile, snowshoe, or cross-country ski access only. These dates vary each year, visit the park's current conditions page for more information.
Next Time
In the next post, we’ll continue along the Grand Loop Tour and take a look at the historic Zion Lodge and the equally historic Zion-Mount Carmel Highway Tunnel built 94 years ago to help shorten the travel time between the Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks.
Very nice write-up! My older son worked at Cedar Breaks for 3 years and was instrumental in getting their Dark Sky designation. It is a beautiful place.
I’m almost ashamed to admit I’ve never heard of Cedar Breaks, and now I’m disappointed I never visited! This looks every bit as spectacular as Bryce Canyon and I’m sure much less visited. I used to drive from Flagstaff to Salt Lake once a month for a year and passed basically right next to Cedar Breaks and never made the time to stop… I always loved the drive and scenery in southern Utah. I will absolutely need to visit sometime!