The Utah Scenic page is a potpourri of scenery including Aspens in fall color, Cedar Breaks,
Coral Pink Sands, Panguitch, Butch Cassidy’s Boyhood Home near Circleville, and assorted
images from Utah, such as Dinah the Vernal Dinosaur, Cedar City’s Rock Church, and more.

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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection

Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:

Aspens and Utah Scenic

Aspens in Fall Color

These images were taken in three sessions, each two days apart.

Many of the Aspen images are very highly detailed due to the small leaves (note file sizes).

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1537
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Boulder Mountain dominates the eastern edge of Aquarius Plateau at 11,000 feet. Scenic Byway 12
skirts the eastern flanks of Boulder Mountain from the town of Boulder to Capitol Reef National Park.
Covered with groves of Aspens and Evergreens, it offers an extremely colorful scenic drive in the fall.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1535
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The Aspens turn color for a short period in the fall, and range from soft greens and golden yellows through amber, orange, red-orange and a brilliant vermilion.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1542
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The colors are most exceptional just before the leaves start to fall, and there is generally a one or two day window to catch the Aspens in their most brilliant display.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1543
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One nice thing about Boulder Mountain is that there are several Aspen groves at different elevations.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1560
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The Aspens at different elevations turn color at different times within a period of three or four days.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1544
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The Aspens in Utah are Quaking Aspens, and are sometimes mixed in with various evergreens.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1551
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In other places, the Aspens dominate the landscape between a border of evergreens on either side.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1557
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1562
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 1558
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A small stand of multicolored Aspens on the northeast side of Boulder Mountain,
with the Waterpocket Fold and Henry Mountains in the distance in the upper left and
Scenic Byway 12 disappearing into the evergreens in the distance at center right.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection

Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:

Aspens and Utah Scenic

Aspens Boulder Mountain 0810
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A pastoral scene on the southeast side of Boulder Mountain, with cattle grazing
in a meadow beside a huge stand of gold and orange Aspens in full fall splendor.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 0813
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 0816
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 0817
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Aspens Boulder Mountain 0814
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A colony of Aspens surrounding a meadow on the southeast side of Boulder Mountain.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1566
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A vast colony of Aspens punctuated by small groups of evergreens on Boulder Mountain.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1578
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This brilliant red is somewhat unusual... while there are often a few trees that show this color, it is less often that you see an entire group of red and red-orange Aspens.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1583
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As the fall approaches, trees reduce chlorophyll production and other pigments become visible as the leaf uses up the chlorophyll. The reds are caused by several factors.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1584
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An exceptionally dry spring and early summer cause the trees to be stressed.
Strong rainfall in the summer and early fall along with a succession of sunny days
and cool crisp nights cause the leaves to produce sugars to promote rapid growth.
The higher amount of sugars increase the anthocyanin level, making the leaves red.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1581
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Brilliant red Aspens framed by evergreens beside Scenic Byway 12 on Boulder Mountain.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection

Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:

Aspens and Utah Scenic

Pastoral Scene Boulder Mountain 1575
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Cattle graze in a meadow bordered by Evergreens and Aspens on Boulder Mountain.

Scenic Byway 12 Boulder Mountain 1587
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Scenic Byway 12 entering a grove of golden Aspens on Boulder Mountain.

Aspens Boulder Mountain 1592
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An enormous colony of Aspens covering the landscape on Boulder Mountain.

Aspens are clonal organisms. They derive from a single seedling and spread via the root
system. The individual trees can live for 50-150 years, but the root systems can live for many
thousands of years. The Pando colony near Fish Lake (50 mi. northwest of Boulder Mountain)
is the heaviest single organism on Earth and one of the oldest living things at 80,000 years old.

Aspens Cedar Breaks 0370
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This small stand of Aspens was taken a few days earlier, in a somewhat wetter area near Cedar Breaks.

Aspens Cedar Breaks 0373
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These Aspens are just beginning to change color due to the greater amount of rainfall and the earlier date.

Aspens Cedar Breaks 0404
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A colony of Aspens bordering a meadow at a lower elevation beyond Cedar Breaks.
This is off State Route 148 (Cedar Breaks Scenic Byway), a few miles from SR-14.

Cedar Breaks Aspens 0378
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The Pink Cliffs at Cedar Breaks, framed by golden Aspens under a stormy sky.

Cedar Breaks Aspens 0381
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A detail shot of the Pink Cliffs at Cedar Breaks rising above the Aspens and Evergreens.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection

Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:

Aspens and Utah Scenic

Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 0392
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Cedar Breaks Amphitheater is at over 10,000 feet. Breaks is another word for “badlands”,
and early settlers called the Junipers in the area “Cedars”, thus giving the area its name.

Cedar Breaks Amphitheater Hoodoos 0393
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Cedar Breaks Amphitheater has some of the same fin and hoodoo formations
as those at Bryce Canyon and Red Canyon, although they are more eroded here.

Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 0394
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The red-orange color is caused by iron oxides in the rock,
the purple color in the upper left is caused by manganese oxide.

Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 0395
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Detail of hoodoos and erosion features in the Amphitheater at Cedar Breaks.

The 300-400 series images were all taken in the mid-afternoon in late September.

Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 0397
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Indians called Cedar Breaks the “Circle of Painted Cliffs”.

Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 0403
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Detail of erosion features on the side of the Amphitheater.

Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 1354
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The Cedar Breaks Amphitheater shot at mid-morning in late September. Strong shadows outline the erosion features.

Cedar Breaks Amphitheater 1356
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The view from Cedar Breaks towards the Markagunt Plateau in the distance, covered in golden Aspen.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection

Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:

Aspens and Utah Scenic

Coral Pink Sand Dunes X2426
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Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is well known for its pink sand weathered from
the surrounding Navajo Sandstone formations, but on the day I was there, the flat light
caused by the strong overcast made the sand appear to be a creamy salmon-yellow.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes X2421
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The Coral Pink Sand Dunes are the only major dunes on the Colorado Plateau and contain over 2000 acres of sand.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes X2435
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Moquith Mountain (at left) is covered with Juniper and Pinyon Pine, and creates a strong contrast to the sand.

Coral Sands Dune Sunflowers X2389
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Dune Sunflowers, grasses and the occasional tree find nourishment in the salmon sand.

Coral Sands Dune Sunflowers X2390
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Coral Pink Sand Dunes and blooming sunflowers in late June.
The locals call these Dune Sunflowers “Rough Mule’s Ear”.

Coral Sands Dune Sunflowers X2393
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Much of the area is popular with Off Road Vehicle enthusiasts, although the area shown in these images is off-limits to ATVs.

Coral Sands Dune Sunflowers X2400
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This was the most prolifically blooming Dune Sunflower, climbing all the way to the top of the dune.

Coral Sands Dune Sunflowers X2396
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Detail of Dune Sunflowers at Coral Pink Sand Dunes.

Coral Sands Dune Sunflowers X2404
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As the clouds thinned, the color of the Coral Pink Sands began to fulfill its promise.

Coral Sands Ground Beetle X2413
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I hoped to see the renowned Coral Pink Tiger Beetle,
but the only wildlife I encountered was this Ground Beetle.

Coral Sands Ground Beetle X2415
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The little fellow wasn’t happy with the 6000 foot altitude,
and headed for ‘higher ground’ on a Coral Pink clump.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection

Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:

Aspens and Utah Scenic

Behind the Picket Fence Panguitch 2074
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A quintessential country scene in Panguitch Utah. Panguitch is near Bryce Canyon,
and was settled by pioneers in 1864. It is still a small town with a pioneer flavor, with
numerous red brick homes built in the early days from the local brick factory, whose
workers were paid with bricks. Panguitch is at 6600 feet, and snow can get deep in
the winter. Many of the old two story homes have exterior doors on the second floor
that were used as entrances when the inevitable snow drifts blocked the main door.

Panguitch is a Paiute Indian word which means “Big Fish”.

Bishops Storehouse Panguitch 2022
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The Bishop’s Storehouse was built in 1907 to store the tithed grain, flour, produce and livestock, which was given to families in need of food. In 1964 it was acquired by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and converted into a Pioneer Museum.

Pioneer Wagon Panguitch 2023
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Outside the Bishop’s Storehouse is an early Pioneer Wagon. Covered wagons pulled by oxen were the common mode of transportation by Mormon Pioneers, holding 1000 lbs. of flour plus other food, iron, farming and mechanical equipment.

Main Street Panguitch 2075
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Lee’s Indian Store and the Cowboy’s Smokehouse Cafe on Main Street in Panguitch.

Many of the original buildings in Panguitch are preserved, and the entire
community has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home Circleville 5534
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The Parker Ranch House and Granary in Circle Valley, 3 miles south of Circleville, Utah.

At the base of a hill near the mouth of Circleville Canyon is an unmarked rustic cabin built in 1865.
From 1879, it was the Parker Ranch and the boyhood home of Robert Leroy Parker, who would be
known as Butch Cassidy, leader of the infamous Wild Bunch Gang of outlaws in the late 19th century.

Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home Circleville 5544
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Butch Cassidy was born Robert Leroy Parker in Beaver, Utah in 1866 in a block house
which still exists (and still has a family living in it). In 1879, the family moved to the Circle Valley
ranch from Beaver after trading their North Creek ranch to Charles van Fleet, who built the two
room cabin in 1865. Butch learned to ride, rope and shoot from Mike Cassidy on this ranch,
where he lived from 1879 to 1884. He used his mentor Cassidy’s last name as his alias.

Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home Circleville 5530
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Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home Circleville 5539
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The two room cabin and granary on the Parker Ranch, Butch Cassidy’s boyhood home.
5500-series shots were taken in December (X-series shots below were taken in June).

Butch Cassidy left the ranch in 1884 to find adventure, moving first to Telluride, Colorado.
He often returned to Utah. He was at a dance in Panguitch, Utah a few miles from Red Canyon
when he got into an argument over a girl. He knocked the fellow out, but thought he had killed him
and escaped into the wilds of Red Canyon to elude a posse which was sent out. He avoided the
 posse by hiding on what is now the Cassidy Trail in Red Canyon, the gateway to Bryce Canyon.

Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home Circleville 2400
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The Parker Ranch House and Granary in June. Butch Cassidy helped his mother plant the
row of Lombardy Poplars as a windbreak when he lived in the two room cabin from 1879-1884.

In 1889, Butch Cassidy began his outlaw career by robbing a bank in Telluride, Colorado.
He bought a ranch near Dubois, Wyoming near the Hole-in-the-Wall, which he used with the
Sundance Kid, Elzy Lay, Kid Curry and other members of the Wild Bunch Gang as a hideout.
The Wild Bunch was the most successful gang of train robbers in history, popularized by the
1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” with Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch Gang operated in a loose coalition with other gangs
using the Hole-in-the-Wall hideout, collectively called the Hole-in-the-Wall Gangs. One
of the cabins used by Butch Cassidy in his Hole-in-the-Wall hideout is still in existence. It
was moved to Old Trail Town in Cody, Wyoming in the 1970’s with other frontier buildings.

The Wild Bunch also robbed banks and mine payrolls, and also used the Robber’s Roost
hideout in Southeastern Utah’s Canyonlands area, where the gang was originally formed.
Robber’s Roost on the Outlaw Trail was an impregnable fortress of canyons and tunnels
which was never successfully penetrated by posses or infiltrators. The favorite Cassidy
hideout was Brown’s Hole at the border of Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. In the early
days when he was rustling cattle with Mike Cassidy, Butch and other rustlers could
avoid the sheriffs of the three states by simply moving their cattle across a border.
The Wild Bunch even established a town called Powder Springs at Brown’s Hole.

Butch Cassidy Boyhood Home Circleville 2406
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Butch Cassidy’s boyhood home, the Parker Ranch in Circle Valley,
near the mouth of Circleville Canyon, three miles south of Circleville, Utah.

Butch Cassidy enjoys near-hero status in southern Utah. There are numerous
trails, canyons, streets and buildings named after the “Robin Hood of the West”,
and any actual remaining buildings that are associated with him are revered relics.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection

Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:

Aspens and Utah Scenic

Dinah the Vernal Dinosaur 1389
(268 KB)

Dinah is located just outside of the town of Vernal, Utah, a little bit over 200 miles north of Moab depending on your route. Moab is the gateway to Arches National Park.

I drove to Moab, Utah from Yellowstone National Park, where I had just completed ten days of training photographers how to shoot wildlife. It is a long drive (700 miles), and by the time I reached Vernal I had driven over 470 miles (nothing but miles and miles of relatively empty space). Not only was I ready for a short break, but when I saw this from the highway, I simply had to pull off and get a shot of her. I don’t often see a 40 foot tall bubble-gum pink fiberglas dinosaur with eyelashes.

Dinah is sort of the unofficial mascot for northeastern Utah. In 1958, George Millecam, the owner of the Dine-a-Ville Motel, decided to build a dinosaur park to attract customers. His wife Helen designed Dinah and built a 5” model, which was copied to make this 40 foot fiberglas version. Vernal Utah is near the western entrance of Dinosaur National Monument, and there are numerous dinosaur-related statues, diners, shops, etc., as you can imagine. There are also numerous tiny copies of Dinah floating round... she’s quite a popular girl.

The dinosaur park didn’t do that well, and George sold the motel, which eventually folded, and the statue was donated to the city of Vernal and mounted outside of  town. Several of the other denizens of George Millecam’s Dinosaur Park are displayed in other towns in the area as well.

Morris Minor 1000 Traveller 1999
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A Morris Minor 1000 Traveller Estate Wagon in pristine condition, encountered at Sunrise Point in Bryce Canyon.

Morris Minor 1000 Traveller 2000
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The Traveller featured an external structural varnished Ash wood frame in the rear and two side-hinged rear doors.

Morris Minor 1000 Traveller 1998
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The Traveller Estate Wagon was introduced in 1954. It was designed by Alec Issigonis,
who also designed the original Mini. The 948cc engine was introduced in 1956, and this
updated version was dubbed the Minor 1000. The “Woody” Traveller was built until 1971.

Rock Church Cedar City 0366
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Cedar City’s Rock Church contains multicolored stones hand-cut from the surrounding
red rock areas in Utah, Arizona and Nevada. Some contain native silver and copper ore.
The layout of the stones was created by master stonemasons from Germany who laid the
stone out on the ground to finalize the design before mounting it on the front of the church.

Rock Church Cedar City 7488
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LDS Chapel First Ward Church

The Cedar City Rock Church was constructed in 1931. It was built to replace the original tabernacle from 1885, which was demolished in 1932 to build a new Post Office. It was built entirely by local residents, some of whom donated their labor and others gave back 2/3 of their pay to fund the construction.

The Contractor had built the stone lodges at Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon National Parks, as well as the Cedar City Union Pacific Railroad Depot and other significant buildings.

All of the interior fittings were created from local materials, including the 100 wagonloads of stone, the Cedar pews and dais, wool carpets, iron fittings and chandeliers, the stone baptismal font, etc. The Swiss clock from the original tabernacle still keeps time in the spire, although a major rebuild of the works was completed several years ago to replace the manual winding mechanism with automatic winders. A World War II air raid siren mounted in the tower was originally used to summon the volunteer fire department, and it was also set off to mark noon until the late 1960s.

The stonemasons laid the stones in a mirror-image pattern from the center of each wall (note the configuration of the stones above the door in the image at left).

Rock Church Cedar City 1605
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The Cedar City Rock Church has been restored in 2012 with seismic upgrades and
repair of some damaged areas. The original pews and hardwood floor were also restored.

These images were taken during three trips through Cedar City on the way to Bryce Canyon.

Utah Property Rights 7483
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No Trespassing. Violators will be SHOT. Survivors will be Prosecuted.

They take their property rights seriously in Utah. State Route 14 near Highway 89.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Utah Scenic Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

There are 7 Galleries in the Photoshelter Utah Scenic Collection

Direct Link to the Aspens and Utah Scenic gallery:

Aspens and Utah Scenic

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