BEAT SUMMER HEAT AT CASCADE FALLS

Hello readers! Welcome to another GUEST POST WEEKEND here on A Loco Viva Voce. Today’s Guest Post is a Hiking Story written by Tom Garrison. Tom is an independent writing professional who has had his stories published on a number of other blogs including thespectrum.com.

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Read Tom’s story below and enjoy!

Beat summer heat at Cascade Falls

Southwest Utah — home to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks and many wonderful national monuments and state parks — delivers major-league scenery, places you should visit. It also contains many seldom visited jewels awaiting your footsteps. One of the overlooked natural wonders is Cascade Falls.

Even desert dwellers are familiar with waterfalls — a stream or river cascading down a plateau. Cascade Falls is a geologically unique feature in that the water tumbles out a cliff side cave. How can that happen?

Water flowing out of the cave originates in Navajo Lake, more than a mile away. The water drains through a series of sink holes in the southeastern end of the lake and travels through underground lava tubes until it splashes down a steep cliff face — Cascade Falls. The flow continues down the mountain and forms the headwaters of the north fork of the Virgin River.

Depending on the water level in Navajo Lake, the waterfall ranges from a raging torrent to a small trickle. Lucky for us the lake was relatively high and the falls were gushing.

Cascade Falls is located in the Dixie National Forest. It is part of the Markagunt (a Native American word meaning highland of trees) Plateau which is itself part of the larger Colorado Plateau. In addition, due to the elevation, clear vistas extend scores of miles.

As do most people who are not half lizard, we needed a break from the summer heat in St. George. (It reached 108 degrees the day of this hike.) Since Cascade Falls is much higher elevation and not too far away, it became our destination. (Be advised the trail is generally inaccessible from late fall to late spring due to snowpack.) On an early July morning, my wife Deb, our friends Rob and Janet, and I began our journey.

From St. George we drove north on Interstate 15 and took Exit 57 (Main Street) at Cedar City. We continued north on Main Street for two miles until reaching University Boulevard/Center Street and turned right (east) onto Center Street/Highway 14. After setting our odometer at this intersection and driving 27.5 miles, past Navajo Lake, we turned right (south) onto the signed Duck Creek Visitor Center turnoff. At the Visitor Center we confirmed there is no fee for this hike.

Passing the Visitor Center, we continued west on Forest Road 370, a good dirt/gravel road (which except when wet is fine for a regular car), for 1.7 miles and met an intersection. At the intersection we took the left fork (Forest Road 054) for another 1.7 miles (a total of 3.4 miles past the Visitor Center) to the trailhead. The Forest Road is well marked with signs.

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