Vermillion Castle

tagged:

Dixie National Forest




First and Second Left Hand Canyon have a few of the hoodoos and other rock structures found in nearby Cedar Breaks National Monument and Bryce National Park, but held in a cozy little canyon. The first one is paved and therefore much more accessible and both have a few trails. This is a short one up to some of the rock formations known as the Vermillion Castle. The first half is a steep warm up while the second half rolls along the views.

signs at the trailhead
A simple sign only showing the trail designations marks the trailhead.

The afternoon is a bit warm and feels even warmer as I climb the western slope of a tributary to get up to the level of the rock formation. The trail has a few little erosion problems, but it pretty easy to climb. A band of hard composite rocks seems out of place among all the much softer and highly colored rocks. It makes a good lookout point where much of the traffic seems to stop for a bit and possibly even finish.

towers of composite rock
A couple towers of composite rocks near the top of the steep climb up the canyon.


Parowan Canyon
The other side of Parowan Canyon at the mouth of First Left Hand Canyon.

Noahs Ark
Noah's Ark on the far side of the canyon.

Turning from the popular view out over the canyon, the trail climbs a little further up out of the composite rocks and past the towers. It almost looks like this might be a use trail at first, but it quickly gets back to looking official. It climbs toward a lump of red rock and then levels off to travel high along the edge of the canyon.

lump of red rock in greenery
Keep on climbing.

along the edge of the canyon
Dropping a little as it travels along the edge of the canyon.

yellow and red rocks
The Vermillion Castle comes into view behind a band of yellow rocks.

The trail comes to a wide platform among yellow rocks. After a couple spots before that looked like the trail was ending, I investigate for more, but it seems to really be the end this time. People have camped here at the base of the castle.

Vermillion Castle
Looking up at Vermillion Castle.

First Left Hand Canyon
Looking up First Left Hand Canyon.

After enjoying the view, it is time to head back the way I came.

lumpy yellow rocks
The yellow rocks are interesting too, even if not so striking a color.

a red flower
A few red flowers to go with the red rocks above.




©2015 Valerie Norton
Posted 21 July 2015
location: Vermillion Castle Trail, Dixie National Forest, Cedar City, UT 84721, USA

Liked this? Interesting? Click the three bars at the top left for the menu to read more or subscribe!


Comments

Post a Comment

popular posts:

California Coastal Trail - Arcata to Crescent City - hiking guide

Image
Little River State Beach, Trinidad State Beach, Sue-meg State Park, Humboldt Lagoons State Park Redwood National Park, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park Introduction The California Coastal Trail (CCT) is approximately 1200 miles of interconnected public trail following the coast from Mexico to Oregon. Or at least that's the dream. Currently, the trail is about 60% complete. In more populous areas, it often takes the form of boardwalks and multi-use paths marked by the swirl of blue wave crest. In rural areas, it may be pushed to the beach when that is usable, or to the nearest public route when that is not. The crest for the CCT marks a coastal access trail at the Lost Coast Headlands. There are thoughts of a route beside the ocean, but the primary route is substantially inland along Mattole Road for now. The beach becomes impassible in several places south of here and above the high tide mark is private property. The hiking trail rout...
read more »

Bluff Creek Historic Trail

Image
Six Rivers National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2 (map link) Bluff Creek Historic Trail gets my attention as I zoom by because it is clearly signed to be visible from the road and the trail is obviously used and in good shape. Also, why is "Historic" stuck in there? (Besides the obvious, the Forest Service simply says, "Gateway to Bigfoot Country" , which doesn't seem particularly unique along the Bigfoot Scenic Byway.) It doesn't get my attention when I'm looking at a map because it just offers about 1.5 miles of connecting the highway to Slate Creek Road, a paved road that leaves the highway a short distance northeast of the trail. However, further along in the same direction and connected by an unimproved road is "Wright Place (site)" which sits next to Bluff Creek. The trail is numbered, the road is not. While it is tempting to think that an old road is bigger and therefore more likely to be passable, it doesn't really work out that wa...
read more »

Jennie Lakes: Belle Canyon and Rowell Meadow

Image
Kings Canyon National Park Sequoia National Forest Giant Sequoia National Monument Click for map. DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4 It was another mild night, but the mosquitoes very nearly vanished early on into it. The sun comes quickly here and the morning golden hour is really quite something. I enjoy it with breakfast and happily the mosquitoes seem to be slow to wake up. Our northerly view from near camp: the morning sun as it hits Ball Dome. Morning over Ranger Lake. We head out to the trail again and wander gently downward, still high above the valley bottom. The air seems a lot clearer today and the snow on the far mountains is much more defined. The snowy distances.
read more »

Loleta Tunnel

Image
Loleta Community Park ( map link ) I've seen that this hike is detailed in a couple news articles and blog posts and YouTube videos and Hiking Humboldt volume 2 and that it even has a geocache along it. It was seeing that the last barrier to the Great Redwood Trail has fallen and the right-of-way is now property of the Great Redwood Trail Agency (GRTA) that got me thinking more about it. It was seeing trucks marked "CCC" out on the rails clearing vegetation from the Humboldt Bay Trail , which is part of the Great Redwood Trail, that got me to come out and do it. On the drive here, I even spotted a sign claiming that the Humboldt Bay Trail - South was now under construction just south of the industrial park at Bracut. The north part of the trail currently ends at a missing bridge just north of Bracut. It all served to embolden me about this other little piece of the same right-of-way. The start of the trail in Loleta. In the newspaper articles, which are only a c...
read more »