Temple Quarry Trail is a 2.3 mile hike that offers scenic views of the St. George area and ends at an old quarry site. We had a hard time finding the trailhead, but eventually located it in a small parking lot off South Donlee Drive (GPS Coordinates: 37 06 10.31 North, -113 35 45.78 West). Once you find the right parking lot, the trailhead is marked with a nice arch surrounded by desert plants.
The trail winds around the hills with only a 190 foot elevation change, so this is an easy hike for families with young children. There are various information signs along the way explaining the area's history, which gives one a greater appreciation for the amount of work involved in the quarrying process over 100 years ago.
Dugway Trail (later renamed Temple Quarry Trail) was in operation from 1871 to 1874 and was used to access a Quarry on the southwest side of Black Hill. (The hill received its name because it is covered with black lava rock.) Large slabs of lava rock were used for the foundation and basement of the LDS St. George Temple because lave rock was "impervious to the alkali soil" at the Temple site.
A sign at the quarry states: "The stone was quarried into slabs averaging ten feet long, forth-two inches wide, thirteen inches thick, and five thousand five hundred pounds in weight. The unique method of loading them for hauling was by placing the stone on six inches of soil, straddling it with the wagon, securing it to the undercarriage, and then removing the dirt from under the rock."
The St. George Temple can not be seen from the Quarry, but it is visible from the top of the hill. Fortunately, I had a telephoto lens for my camera, so I was able to take a picture of the Temple that was about 1.5 miles away.
The Little Black Mountain Petroglyph Site is typically associated with St. George, but it is actually located just across the border in Arizona (GPS Coordinates: 36 58 59.12 North, -113 30 02.33 West).
Over 500 petroglyphs have been identified at the site and Archaeologist believe that the drawings were made over an 8,000 year period by members of several different American Indian groups that practiced religious, ceremonial, and seasonal observations at the site.
The Western Sky Aviation Warbird Museum is located at the St. George Airport and we were fortunate that they were having a Wardbird fly-in and open house on the day we there. They even had a training program for three young pilots!
Although it seemed as though we were flying part of the time, Andrew gave everyone a thrilling ride around the desert near their vacation house near Sand Hollow State Park.
Whenever I'm in the area, I always have to stop at Lonny Boy's BBQ Restaurant in Hurricane, The BBQ pork is some of the best that I have ever tasted. They even have a bottle tree growing in the building!
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