At the beginning of October, we took a vacation to Utah to see the fall colors.
Our first stop was in St. George at Pioneer Park or the Dixie Sugarloaf. It's a beautiful sandstone park and even has slot canyons.
I think this cute little critter is a ground squirrel. He was eating his brunch while overlooking the city of St. George. It made us happy to see him.
Fun fact: I twisted my ankle here but it wasn't bad.
The most impressive panel is named The Zipper. It is located on the northeast side. Recent studies have put forth the idea that it is a map, a calendar of solar alignments, and a system of outer cairns. The Zipper is thought to be an inverted man with an arrow in his skull.
The Parowan Gap Petroglyphs are a nationally recognized extravaganza of petroglyphs-- a superb gallery of Native American rock art. Here one can witness what is at least a 1,000-year accumulation of artwork pecked into the rock. Geometric designs, images of lizards, snakes, mountain sheep, bear claws, and human figures adorn the smooth canyon walls of the pass.
Next up.. Parowan Gap! To visit them, you have to drive through the narrow, 500-foot deep pass through the Red Hills in the Escalante desert. The gap was created by erosion due to wind and rain. 15 million years ago, a stream ran through but it disappeared creating a waterless wind gap.
We visited this dinosaur track site while in Utah but it was a little underwhelming. I did not understand what I was to be looking at. They try to mark the dinosaur tracks with signs, but they don’t provide any more information. Is it on the rock? The ground? The tracks have been left to the elements so they have become weathered and worn which doesn’t help.