Cedar Breaks National Monument in the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area

Discovery Road – Winner of Best In State 2022 – Best Documentary

Since its debut in 2012, Discovery Road has produced over 60 episodes, taking viewers on immersive journeys down U.S. Highway 89 through six historic counties in central and southern Utah.

 

Each 30-minute episode blends history, mystery, heritage, and natural beauty into family-friendly storytelling that educates as much as it entertains.

 

Broadcast locally on KUED-TV and across the country through the National Educational Television Association, or NETA, the series has become a public media touchstone for anyone seeking a deeper connection to the region’s past. It is also used in classrooms across the state as part of Utah’s history curriculum.

Mormon Pioneers traveling to the west Covered Wagons Courtesy of Shaun Messick

The Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area is the only National Heritage Area designated and named for a specific people, the Mormon Pioneers – as they forged to the west. Their remarkable story of dedication, fortitude, and extraordinary efforts offers one of the best features of the Mormon colonization experience in the United States. The Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area has been identified by Congress as a factor in the expansion of the United States and contributing to the United States.

Districts

travel planner for the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area

Cowboys, Outlaws, and the Movies 

The unique landscape features a geological wonderland that has been the backdrop for feature films including; “Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid,” and “Jeremiah Johnson.” While traveling through the picturesque scenery, you might recognize a scene or two. Included in the heritage area is the birthplace of Utah outlaws, Butch Cassidy and Matt Warner. Matt was a lifelong friend and a gang member alongside of Butch.  Many movies were filmed in the scenic Under the Rim District of the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area.

Mormon Colonization 

In the later part of the 1800s the Mormon pioneers began their great relocation to the west. They trekked 1,400 miles from Illinois to the Great Salt Lake. This mass-Exodus brought about colonization in Utah, Nevada, the southwest corner of Wyoming, the southeast corner of Idaho, southeast Oregon, and a large portion of southern and eastern California.

log cabin with Mormon Pioneer Family Echo City Utah
Family Portrait of Mormon Pioneers in Echo City, Utah

Cedar Breaks National Monument

A Natural Amphitheatre

Eroded out of the variegated Pink Cliffs (Claron Formation) near Cedar City, Utah is an enormous natural amphitheater. Millions of years of sedimentation, uplift and erosion have created a deep canyon of rock walls, fins, spires and columns, that spans some three miles, and is over 2,000 feet deep. The rim of the canyon is over 10,000 feet above sea level and is forested with islands of Englemann Spruce, Subalpine Fir and Aspen.  These landscapes are separated by broad meadows of brilliant summertime wild flowers.
Learn More about the Park

Phone Number(s):
Call (435) 586-9451 for more information.

Visitor Center and Park Operating Hours by Season:

  • June to early September –  8:00 am – 6:00 pm
  • Labor Day until mid-October – 9:00 am – 5:30 pm
  • Mid-October – late May – All visitor facilities are CLOSED

Visitors traveling north/south on U.S. Highway 89 can take either Utah Highway 143 from Panguitch to Cedar Breaks, or Utah Highway 14 west, to Utah Highway 148, and north to Cedar Breaks National Monument.

Cost:

Individual, $2, 7 days. Vehicle, $4, 7 days.

(All prices listed are subject to change without notice. For exact current rates call the numbers listed above.)

Follow Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area’s board Cedar Breaks National Monument on Pinterest.

This program receives Federal financial assistance for identification and protection of historic properties. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, the U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability or age in its federally assisted programs. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to: Office for Equal Opportunity, National Park Service, 849 C Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20240.

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