Our Greatest Snow on Earth!

Snow Canyon State Park, with its splendidly eroded red and white Navajo sandstone contrasted by large masses of black lava, has been a favorite backdrop for Hollywood movie hits such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Electric Horseman, and Jeremiah Johnson and for countless TV commercials.

Named for Erastus and Lorenzo Snow, two early settlers to the area - rather than for the fluffy white precipitation which rarely falls there - Snow Canyon State Park also attracts hikers, rock climbers and photographers to its extinct cinder cones, lava tubes, and lava flows where the terrain is easy to climb and provides numerous vantage points for photography. In addition, sand dunes are scattered around the edges of the valley, and several locations on the enclosing cliffs have examples of ancient Indian petroglyphs. Discovered in 1850 by local cattle ranchers and originally named Dixie State Park, the canyon was designated as a Utah state park in 1959.

Wildlife in Snow Canyon includes three endangered species: the Gila monster, peregrine falcon, and desert tortoise. Small fences to keep the ground-dwelling creatures from accidentally wandering onto roads can be seen across Snow Canyon and along many highways in the St. George area. Other notable wildlife include the giant desert hairy scorpion, coyote, Mojave sidewinder, red-spotted toad, Utah banded gecko, and the side-blotched lizard, among many others.

Located only a few minutes from downtown St. George, Snow Canyon State Park is one of Washington County’s most popular tourist attractions and a must-see for Rotarians visiting the area during the week of the Utah Rotary District Conference on May 13-15, 2010.