This 80 mile an hour round trip follows the rugged canyon which leads into Jones Hole. Diamond Mountain, to the north of the road, was the center of a scandal in the 1870's, when two swindlers salted the area with diamonds, and netted $300,000 selling mining claims. Also the well known William Ellsworth "Elzy" Lay and Matt Warner both outlaw's who rode with Butch Cassidy in 1876 and ranched here The prize at the end of this trail is the hatchery, which is open from 7 am - 4 pm daily. Address: Vernal Field Office Bureau of Land Management 170 South, 500 East Vernal, UT 84078 Phone: 435-781-4400... read more

Kolob Canyons There are two Kolob sections in Zion National Park; Kolob Canyons located 18-miles south of Cedar City and Kolob Terrace accessed from the town of Virgin, 12-miles from the south entrance of the main section of the park. Both Kolob sections can proudly boast of their magnificent mountains of red sandstone, however the two are as different from each other as they are from Zion Canyon or Zion’s east side. Kolob Canyons is a remote 30,000 acre block of the park which is located northwest of Zion Canyon. Its set at a higher elevation than the main park, in fact, it boasts of having the parks highest peak - Horse Ranch Mountain at 8726 feet and some of Zion’s youngest strata. Directions - To get to it from Cedar City, travel south on I-15 ... read more

The Late Jurassic age Mygatt-Moore Quarry is located in the middle Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation. Located in western Colorado, this quarry has been worked since the early 1980s, producing a large sample of fossil vertebrate material consisting mostly of dinosaurs. For this study, 796 identifiable bones were counted from the Museum of Western Colorado's collections with the goal of characterizing the vertebrate fauna from this site for the first time. The bone sample consists of 50% sauropod bones and 30% theropod. A minimum number of 21 individual dinosaurs are represented. The most abundant taxon at the quarry is the theropod Allosaurus (29%), which is represented by 233 skeletal elements indicating a minimum of 6 individuals (5 adults, 1 juvenile); in addition, more than 190 mostly shed teeth of Allosaurus have been recovered from ... read more

Rifle Falls State Park's lush vegetation and waterfalls have attracted photographers and movie crews from around the country who come to capture the area's unique scenery. The falls is a lush area of trees and greenery kept moist by the spray of the cascading triple waterfall. Picnicking near the falls is very popular. Mysterious limestone caves beneath the falls entice spelunkers and other curious visitors to explore their dark depths. Because of its dramatic setting, many weddings and events have been held at Rifle Falls. Rifle Falls State Park has 13 drive-in and seven walk-in campsites that sit to the south along East Rifle Creek. In 1998, the park underwent a facelift: new pavement, picnic tables, interpretive signs and increased handicapped access. "Roughing it" is a little easier with electricity at many campsites. Walk-in tent sites ... read more

The Independence Pass corridor was probably once a summer hunting ground for primitive man in prehistoric times. In more recent times, the Ute Indian people inhabited the Roaring Fork Valley and undoubtedly roamed the Pass and surrounding peaks and valleys in the course of their seasonal travels and hunting trips. Such sites as the Ice Caves near the Grottoes recreation site may even as served as primitive refrigerators for the preservation of food. As white settlers began moving into the Colorado Mountains during the mid-1800's the Utes were gradually forced onto reservations and were finally removed from the western slope in the 1880's after the Meeker Massacre. In 1873 the Roaring Fork Valley was first surveyed by the Hayden Geological Survey and was praised in the Survey Report for its great mineral potential. In 1879 the ... read more