Take a little break from the hustle and bustle of Zion National Park to explore the ascending red cliffs and trails of nearby Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. This public land is sure to be a rewarding detour! Check out Red Cliffs National Conservation Area as well as other neighboring attractions: https://on.doi.gov/SideTrips

Photos by Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management (@mypubliclands).

Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in Utah protects a unique transition zone – the meeting of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin Desert and Mojave Desert. Where these distinct landscapes overlap, unusual plants and animals have evolved, including flowers like the dwarf bearclaw poppy and Shivwits milk-vetch that grow nowhere else on earth. Explore the area’s flora, wildlife and spectacular desert scenery with more than 130 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails. Photo by Bob Wick @mypubliclands

Through the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, Congress designated the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (NCA) in Washington County, Utah “to conserve, protect, and enhance the ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, cultural, historical, natural, educational, and scientific resources” of public lands in the NCA.  

The approximately 45,000 acres of public land in the NCA are located in south-central Washington County. The towering Pine Valley Mountains and Dixie National Forest lie to the north, while the communities of Ivins, Santa Clara, St. George, Washington, and Leeds ring the NCA. The NCA is an important component of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, a multi-jurisdictional land base that has been collaboratively managed by BLM, the State of Utah, Washington County, and local municipalities since 1996 to protect populations and habitat of the threatened Mojave Desert tortoise and other at-risk native plant and animal species.

More than 130 miles of non-motorized recreation trails (hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian trail riding) are available for public use in the NCA. The Red Cliffs Recreation Area offers camping and day use areas, in a developed site where fees are collected. 

Photo: Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management