Heading back toward Colorado, I stopped in St. George, UT to wrap up my "to do" list from October, when the Senior Games prevented me from staying longer. One thing on my list was to visit Santa Clara, an historic Mormon town that really is a suburb of St. George. The main street through town is lined with sycamore trees, colorful this time of year, but not nearly as colorful as the cottonwoods that grow along the Santa Clara River.
Even downtown, a few cottonwoods can be found, such as these by the local farmer's market.
As in most small Mormon towns, there are places to remember their heritage and pay respect to their pioneer ancestors.
There are some beautiful homes in Santa Clara, but in typical Mormon fashion, original homes can be found close to the more expensive neighborhoods.
Well beyond the downtown area, I stopped at a place called Anasazi Ridge. I had read a couple websites describing the hike to petroglyphs found here. As sometimes happens, the descriptions contained conflicting information. One said the hike was 1.8 miles round trip with a gentle grade and rated it "Easy". Another said it was 2.4 miles without saying whether that was round trip or one way, but called it "Moderate" because of the grade. The kiosk at the site indicated a 3.5 mile hike, not saying if it's one way. It further showed the petroglyphs were somewhere along the trail, and that Anasazi ruins were also on the trail. Not knowing what to expect, I set out to see for myself.
I could see right away the trail was not a gentle grade, but wasn't too bad. After a while, it became steeper and I was feeling it. Some folks on the return trip pointed out the ruins on a hill above us and estimated that was half way to the petroglyphs. I pushed on and finally came to the ruins, which were simply a few rocks claimed to be the remains of Indian food storage structures. Pretty disappointing.
I scoped out the trail as it continued, even steeper than before, and decided it was too much for this old geezer. It had also been written on one web site that petroglyphs could be found on boulders along the river at the bottom of the ridge. This would be level hiking, so I went for it when I got back to the parking area. My attempt ended after about 200 yards when I came to a fence. Beyond that, I could see signs of major earth moving operations, as in mining or a quarry.
Despite my fruitless wanderings, there was some decent scenery and the exercise probably did some good. At least the fall color was good.
One of the web sites noted that petroglyphs could also be found on boulders along the highway as it continued to the village of Gunlock. Not wanting to be shut out, I drove on, stopping at every place where boulders were located near the road. I should mention, this was now on the Shivwits Paiute Reservation and fences just beyond the highway shoulder were labeled "No Trespassing". Although many likely looking boulders were on the other side, I kept to my side of the fence. And I did find some boulders with petroglyphs, along with more modern inscriptions.
There was also a stone structure whose age was a mystery, as well as its purpose. It was on Indian land, so I left it alone.
When I reached Gunlock Reservoir, I called it a day and headed back to St. George.
Along the way, I explored several side trails that led to campsites used by locals, as well as some nice fall color along the river.
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