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Southern Utah
Hiking Forum
The Ultimate Southwest Vacation includes Cedar Breaks National
Monument!
Experience the Spectacular Canyon Country Tour
Stay in Mt. Carmel Jct., the heart of the parks, and visit
the treasures of the Southwest.
Mileage: Mount Carmel Jct.
Cedar Breaks 45 miles
Dixie Forest 22 miles
Zion National Park 12 miles
Bryce Canyon 60 miles
Grand Staircase 9 miles
Red Canyon 47 miles
Sand Dunes 11 miles
North Rim 85 miles
Toroweap 90 miles
South Canyon 75 miles
Plan your Cedar Breaks Vacation with our Utah
Maps and Information
In these pages you will find insiders information on Cedar
Breaks National Monument. This detailed guide includes road maps, park maps,
pictures, trail beta, backpacking, history, fees, geology, flora, fauna, campgrounds
and things for kids to do.
Making summer memories in the Utah national parks and Utah
national monuments.
Utah!
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Cedar
Breaks Road Map
Cedar Mountain Map
Directions to Cedar Breaks
U-143 Closure
Dates. U-143 to Cedar Breaks closes at times in the winter, due to snow depth.
From Las Vegas: Take I-15 north to Cedar City. Take U-14 east
from Cedar City to U-148 and turn left to Cedar Breaks.
From Arizona: Take US-89 north through Mount Carmel Junction and turn west on
U-14. Turn right at U-148 to Cedar Breaks.
From Salt Lake City: Take I-15 south, exit at Parowan. Take U-143 to Cedar Breaks.
From Mount Carmel Junction: Take US-89 north to U-14. Follow U-14 to U-143 and
Cedar Breaks.
What do Cedar Breaks and Bryce Canyon have in Common?
Cedar Breaks resembles Bryce Canyon in that its hoodoos appear similar and both are at high elevations; but this is where the similarity ends. The parks are very different.
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Cedar Breaks Geology
Are there "Hoodoos" at Cedar Breaks?
Yes! Hoodoo's are pillar-like rock formations of various shapes and sizes.
Cedar Breaks National Monument will cast a spell over you with the magnificence
of its rock temples, spires and domes. These tall, elegant formations are called
hoodoos. In the Cedar Breaks amphitheater they literally crowded together to
form magnificent castle-like scenes. Hoodoos are found in Cedar Breaks, Zion,
Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon. The limestone hoodoos of Cedar Breaks and
Bryce Canyon appear similar, but the sandstone hoodoos in Zion National Park
look like fossilized sand dunes.
Geology of Cedar Breaks
Sixty-million years ago the area where Cedar Breaks now stands was not the
highest point, but rather it was the lowest and the bottom of a seventy mile
long lake. As time passed, more changes occurred until sand, gravel and sedimentary
deposits filled the ancient lake. The lake dried over and over again for a period
of about twenty-five million years and each time the cycle resulted in laying
down more layers of material. These materials compressed and hardened into sedimentary
rock. The rock "rusted" when iron, oxygen and water combined, giving
the coral color to the sediments. It's these sediments that became the siltstone,
sandstone and limestone of the Claron formation of Cedar Breaks.
Over time, uplifting occurred to form the gorgeous amphitheater seen at
Cedar Breaks National Monument today. The Cedar Breaks hoodoos are over 60-million
years old. The rock statues are sculpted claron rock formations which consist
of sandstone, limestone, dolomite and siltstone layers. The sedimentary layers
contain lignite, coal and fossils, including evidence of the lush mesozoic period,
when the now cool climate of the mountain was tropical and different plants and
animals flourished.
How does the Weather shape the Hoodoos at Cedar Breaks?
Cedar Breaks is located at the Markagunt Plateau rim were conditions are ideal
for hoodoo formation. The steep slope gives the environment
required where faults and joints from compressional forces guide patterns
of erosion. The yearly weather cycle aids in the process. During the cold months
of the year a cycle of freezing and thawing loosens the slope surface, allowing
debris to be sluffed away by runoff. The material carried works on the softer
rock to create gullies, and ultimately canyons. The hard rock left behind
is further eroded along its vertical cracks, again subjected to the freeze -
thaw cycle, carving the hoodoos.
From Hoodoos to Sand
The showcase of Cedar Breaks Hoodoos will ultimately turn to grains
of sand. The patterns of rock formations show off their unique crisscross design formed
through the long process of freezing and thawing. The process
continues today, and rock formations continue to be designed by nature.
When water seeps into the fractures of the rocks, it dissolves the calcium carbonate
that holds the small rock particles together. In cold weather the water turns
to ice as temperatures drop, then the ice expands pushing the fractures open.
The overnight freezing and daytime thaw are abundant, occurring two to three
hundred times a year. Since different rocks are of varied hardness, erosion
takes place at different rates. Just like Zion National Park, erosion will continue
until the plateau is flattened and the rocks turn to sand.
Where does the beautiful coral color at Cedar Breaks come from?
Rock formations dating from the late Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic periods
include dakota, tropic shale, straight cliffs and Cedar Break's dominant soft,
calcareous claron formation. Claron is a colorful combination of pinks and oranges
caused by trace amounts of iron oxide. The white formations you see in the park
are lacking the iron oxide. The pink limestone from the claron formation, with
its iron and manganese oxides is responsible for the reds and pinks that we see
in the rocks today. Comparing the Claron of Cedar Breaks and Bryce Canyon shows
that the Claron of Cedar Breaks is thicker and more colorful. Cedar Break's smaller
amphitheater is three miles wide and two thousand feet deep.
What is the elevation at Cedar Breaks?
Cedar Breaks sits at 10,350' and nearby Bryce Canyon ranges between 6,600'
to 9,100' elevation.
Zion National Park is the warmest of the Southwest National Parks and Monuments
with an elevation range of 3,700' to 8,726'. Cedar Breaks is the coolest
with Bryce Canyon being a close second.
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