If you love Red Rock and Mount Charleston and Lake Mead and Black Mountain, then you’ll love Utah’s State Route 14. Features from Las Vegas’ best outdoor destinations converge on this 41-mile stretch of scenic highway, boasting craggy forest, a natural sandstone amphitheater, a lake, a waterfall and a striking lava field that blankets the floor of an aspen grove. Best of all, it’s only two and a half hours from Vegas, and the area can be surveyed in as little as a day.
To get to State Route 14, head north on Interstate 15 and exit on Main Street in Cedar City. Turn right, and follow the road to the UT-14 East intersection. Make another right, and you’re on your way.
The gray desert landscape quickly rises into low mountains in reds and tans dotted with vibrant plant life. Soon after, the scenery narrows into a rounded, tree-topped limestone canyon and then flattens to a forest floor. Pine trees spring up as you enter the Dixie National Forest.
Cedar Canyon Campground is the first campsite on the route driving east, and has stunning red-rock views of an eroded cliff face, but the $15 sites can be noisy because they’re close to the road.
About halfway to Duck Creek, the highway’s end point, is Route 148, which leads to Cedar Breaks National Monument. Cedar Breaks’ most memorable trait is its red-and-white striated geologic “amphitheater,” which is half a mile deep and beautifully carved by the elements. At 10,000 feet above sea level, the park, open May through October, is considered a sub-alpine forest, with ancient bristlecone pines and wildflower fields during spring.
Continuing east, you’ll find Navajo Lake, open in June and home to three $12 campgrounds, fishing, boating and a handful of hiking trails for all ability levels. One of the easiest, Cascade Falls, is a scenic walk on the south-facing side of a red mountain to a waterfall. The water feature is small, but the hike is still well worth it for the sweeping valley views. Beyond the lake are lava fields created by ancient volcanic activity. Mammoth Cave, a quarter-mile-long lava tube, is located near Mammoth Creek Road and is safe to explore, but just driving past presents a breathtaking view of white aspen trees and jagged black rocks. Finally, the highway ends at Duck Creek, a small town with campsites, cabins and various recreational rentals.
If you’re lucky, you’ll spot deer, porcupine, pikas, marmots and several kinds of squirrels. (Several kinds of squirrels!) Though it’s possible to cover the sights in a day, you’ll want to stay longer to experience them.
