Sunstone Knoll and Clear Lake, near Delta, Utah

This last weekend we decided to have a volcanic theme and visit several volcanic areas. First up was Sunstone Knoll, about 13 miles south on Highway 257 from Delta (near mile marker 56). A BLM sign helpfully points out the turnoff. Right after the turnoff you cross the railroad tracks, and we noticed a train was coming. The kids were delighted.

After watching the train go by, we parked next to several other vehicles. An extended family was out for a morning of fun. Sunstones are a slightly yellow, nearly transparent semi-precious gem. They were extruded from volcanic vents and are found with the basaltic lava and volcanic breccia. If the sun is shining, it is easy to find these labradorite crystals, as they sparkle in the sunlight. They are generally quite small, but they can be abundant and it is like a treasure hunt to find them.

We were also on another treasure hunt: to find the geocache at Sunstone Knoll. We had success, and the kids are getting better about really watching their surroundings.

I got distracted by this pretty hemiptera, a true bug. I liked the reddish markings.

Of course, Desert Girl was hiking in style. I made her wear her new hiking boots and pants, but she figured out a way to liven up her outfit.

We were all entranced by a horned lizard.

The kids followed it to a bush and then decided they had to catch it. I wasn't so sure they could...

…but they did!

After Desert Boy's inspection (he now wants to be a zookeeper when he grows up, but he doesn't want to clean the animal pens), it was time for the handoff.

Desert Girl was happy to hold the lizard. She later caught one all on her own.

Then it was time to leave Sunstone Knoll and its interesting geology and head to nearby Clear Lake Waterfowl Management Area (go 1.5 mile further south on Highway 257, then 6 miles east on the signed road). This area consists of 6,190 acres of open water, wetlands, and uplands. It was purchased in the 1930s primarily to provide bird habitat. In February and March, it hosts thousands of snow geese. During spring and fall, it is an important migratory stop. Clear Lake is pretty primitive, with no facilities.

 The first sign we saw was next to a dried out area, so it didn't look too promising. Fortunately down the road we found some water.

We did see our next destination, Pahvant Butte, the prominent volcano south of Delta. Our big plan for the day was to hike it, so we didn't spend much time at Clear Lake.

But there is a geocache hidden at Clear Lake, so we went in search of it and found some additional wet areas.

On the way, we found this awesome truck.

 "Clear Lake-Greatest Wetland in the World"

Sand Springs, near Kanab, Utah

 On our way to and from the South Fork Indian Canyon Pictographs, near Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, we passed a huge hill of sand. This was the northeast side of the sand dunes, a place called Sand Springs. No one was there, and on our way back from the pictographs, we stopped to play in the sand. Desert Boy was the first to leave some tracks up the big hill.

 Old tracks had been blown over. It was quite a steep hill, steep enough that it was easier to go up on all fours than walking.

But once you got to the top, the fun began: running and jumping down the dune.

Desert Boy went really fast, leaping, and bounding.

I guess he went a little too fast!

 Fortunately he was fine and repeated his running down the dunes many more times (with just one more face plant).

To access Sand Springs, you turn off the Hancock Road, which connects US89 near Kanab, Utah to Coral Pink Sand Dunes, and take a 4WD road a couple of miles. The turnoff is not marked, but does have a stop sign. The 4WD road has one part that is really deep sand, right below the big play area. It's best to go fast through here.

The spring of Sand Springs still runs. It's to the north of the big sand hill where the corral is located. The spring has been improved so water runs into a trough all the time.

The kids continued to climb and run while I looked at the spring. At the beginning the hill had no fresh tracks. At the end, it was covered with tracks. I'd say we got our exercise!

The joys of a sand dune! We managed to take home just a little sand with us.

If you have the right vehicle to get to this spot, I highly recommend it. We were lucky not to have anyone else there during the hour we were there, and it was so much fun to have a big dune all to ourselves. Camping is available in the same area, but it's primitive so you need to bring everything.

South Fork Indian Canyon Pictographs

 So on our awesome trip to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, it was getting a little loud one afternoon with ATV traffic, so we decided to go on a little adventure. Plus I'm not very good at sitting still for long. And I had done a little research beforehand, and found out that there were some nearby pictographs, and that sounded cool.

I loaded up the kids, and we drove about 10 miles on the highway, then turned off on a 4WD road that was very sandy. The park ranger at the dunes had circled the spot on the map where most people get stuck and told me to just 'gun it' through that area, so that's what we did. It's right before the Sand Springs area (which is super cool and will be the subject of the next post). We were basically driving on the northeast side of the sand dunes, and it was very remote compared to the other side.

Eventually we got to the sign pictured above, and the lone tracks that had preceded continued on straight, while we made the turn onto a road that hadn't been traveled for awhile. The ranger had warned that the road was a "Utah striper," meaning that the shrubs were close enough they scratched your vehicle. Fortunately our 4WD truck isn't too pretty and already has lots of scratches, so it was okay. At the end of a fun 2-mile long road with lots of twists and turns and banked curves, we reached this sign:

 It said the hike was 1.5 miles round trip. Perfect, my kids can do that. But then I read the next line: elevation change: 1700 feet. What? 1700 feet is like a mountain. I knew the kids could go down, but I wasn't so sure about up, especially Desert Girl. But we were there, and we couldn't just leave without giving it a try, so we packed lots of snacks and water and I packed the Beco carrier for Desert Girl, just in case I would have to carry her. Then I tried not to think too far ahead and just live in the moment.

The hike started out with just a gentle downhill. I had kept looking for the canyon as we drove, as I'm used to living in the Basin and Range, where you drive to a mountain range to enter a canyon. Out in southern Utah, you start out on the mesa and the canyons drop away from the land.

Before long the trail got steeper. It even had switchbacks, which the kids love.

I saw several flowers and had to photograph them. This purple one is probably an Arabis in the Mustard Family.

As we continued, we walked over more and more Navajo sandstone.

The kids couldn't resist doing some extra climbing.

Then we got to the part of the trail that my husband would have hated: on the side of a cliff with a long fall and nothing but a flimsy fence to keep you from pitching over.

 It didn't seem too bad to us.

We found some cool places along the trail.

And if Desert Boy does it, Desert Girl has to also.

A game of hide-n-seek developed.

 And then, suddenly, we were there. We weren't at the bottom of the box canyon, we were part way up the canyon wall, next to maple trees, and then suddenly an alcove appeared with a fence and boardwalk and sign.

The kids spent less than a minute looking at the pictographs and then promptly found some nice sand to play in.

I took my time taking photographs (so at least they'll see what they ignored some day!).

There was a sign saying that there had been some recent vandalism, and I had read earlier that there had been some older vandalism, so I wasn't entirely sure of what I was looking at. This pictograph looked authentic, though, like one the Basketmaker people would have painted 2,000 years ago (wow, that's old!).

As I looked closer, the newer vandalism, done in pencil, became very obvious, and the way it was done, I was guessing ignorant teenage boys who think adding body parts to figures is funny. Stupid.

Then it was time to head back up. It sure didn't seem like we had come down 1700 feet. In fact, we had only hiked half an hour from the trailhead to the pictographs. On the way up we took rest breaks whenever the kids wanted, and they found some different holes to climb in.

 Bubblegum was a special treat for the trip, and we got a lot of mileage out of it!

Desert Girl also started singing, and once she starts, she doesn't stop!

It took us 40 minutes to hike back up at a relaxed place, and it turned out the elevation change for the hike was only 170 feet. Somehow an extra 0 got added to the sign.

The hike was lots of fun, and the pictographs were a great bonus. The last people to sign into the trail log had been there two days previous, so we had it all to ourselves. It was really peaceful and a perfect afternoon outing in the spring.

Fifteen Things To Do at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is full of activities for the whole family! This great place is between Zion National Park and Kanab, Utah. I had seen the turnoff to it before, but had always been in a hurry. Finally we decided to plan a four-day, three-night vacation centered on the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. That was a great plan, as there was so much to do.

1. Play. This is one of the biggest sand boxes around! 

2. Sled down the sand dunes. We had some snow that made sledding down the dunes even easier, but you can use sleds anytime. The state park as well as area businesses even rent out sand sleds and and sand boards for an even smoother ride. 

3. Junior ranger program. The Coral Pink Sand Dunes junior ranger program is lots of fun, with a booklet of activities and picking up trash earning the kids cool badges.

4. Look for tracks. Many animals that live in the dunes are nocturnal, so it might be hard to see them. But it's not hard to see their tracks the next morning--or other tracks, like plants that the wind has blown.

5. Photography. Photographers will have a field day at the dunes--so many colors, textures, and patterns! Here are four photos of the dunes from the overlook, just a short walk from the parking lot. You can see how different the dunes look even though it's nearly the same shot, without any editing.

Early morning with snow

Just after sunset

About 8 am with a little frost

About 5 pm

6. Geocaching. We've recently discovered the fun of geocaching and were happily surprised to find that one of the geocaches on our list was an Official DNR Geocache. 

7. Look for tiger beetle. Coral Pink Sand Dunes has its very own tiger beetle, found only in the dunes and nowhere else in the world. It's best seen on warm afternoons from April through June. We didn't see one in person, but we did see a beautiful example in the visitor center. We also read the Coral Pink Sand Dunes Tiger Beetle brochure.

8. Look for ponderosa pines. Seeing ponderosa pines scattered in the sand dunes came as quite a surprise. Apparently they've been able to do well, as they are numerous. Some have been dated, and the state park has a fun challenge: Locate selected ponderosa pines using your GPS and find a sign at the bottom telling about what was going on in the year the tree started growing. You can pick up a brochure in the visitor center or download it here.

9. Run down (or roll down) the sand dunes. This is an easy and free activity, especially fun for kids! Did I mention that the state park has hot showers? And Kanab has a wonderful swimming pool in the summer.

10. Nature trail. The state park has a half-mile nature trail that gives a great introduction of what lives on part of the dunes and the adaptations they make to live in such a harsh place. The nature trail is a non-motorized part of the state park, as is the conservation area a bit to the north. Also, no ATVs are allowed on the dunes until 9 am, so it's nice and quiet for sunrise.

11. Bike ride.  The extremely slow speed limit and gentle terrain in the state park makes it a good place for kids to bike ride. 

12. Camp and/or picnic. The campground has 22 campsites, most of which are reservable in advance. But even if the website says they are all full (like it did for us), you may still be able to get a spot (like we did). There's also the nearby Ponderosa Grove campground, Sand Springs campground (4WD access), and dispersed camping on BLM land. The state park has several picnic tables near the nature trail.

13. Check out the visitor center. The visitor center, located right at the park entrance, has a cool exhibit of sands from around the world. There's also a snake and a few other things to look at. The best resource is the park ranger, who can answer questions about all sorts of topics.

14. ATVs  The sand dunes have long attracted all-terrain vehicles (or OHVs - off-highway vehicles). While we didn't bring any, if we went back we would consider renting them. It looked like so much fun to take a dune buggy, 4-wheeler, or dirt bike out on the dunes. And ATVs are one of the main reasons that the area was set aside as a state park. ATVs are allowed on the dunes from 9 am to 10 pm and can get noisy, so if you want quiet, try the off-season (late fall to early spring), the dunes on a moonlit night, or sunrises.

15. Visit nearby attractions.

Besides Zion National Park and Kanab, you might also want to check out the Moccasin Mountain Dinosaur Trackway and South Fork Indian Canyon Pictograph Site. 

Coral Pink Sand Dunes are a great place for either a relaxing or an exciting vacation. For more information, check out the Coral Pink Sand Dunes website.