UTAH'S DIXIE HISTORICAL SITES
SONS OF THE UTAH PIONEER - COTTON MISSION CHAPTER
A11-TEMPLE QUARRY TRAIL
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UTAH'S DIXIE HISTORICAL SITES A11-TEMPLE QUARRY TRAIL |
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| By TOM PRUDEN St. George Neighborhoods Hike off some holiday. calories. See great views all around. Learn some history. Watch planes taking off and landing at the airport. How? Take the Temple Quarry trail and, if you do it the day after New Year̓s, you̓ll get to do it with Mayor Dan McArthur on one of his regular "Walk With the Mayor" forays. I expect the mayor will provide a history lesson and maybe a song and poem or two. Just be at the trailhead at 8 a.m. on the 2nd. Finding the Temple Quarry trailhead is easy. It̓s on West Black Ridge. the lava-strewn ridge where the big ‘D" and the St. George Airport are. Just head to the airport. Take S. Airport Road off of the Boulevard and shortly before reaching the airport turn right on W. 265 South. Almost immediately you̓ll see S. Donlee Drive. Take a left and you̓ll see the trailhead arch and a parking area on the right just past the large apartment building. In November the trailhead was dedicated after recent landscaping and parking improvements. The sandstone arch and fence work were added a couple years ago. The trail originally was built to provide access to the Temple Quarry during the early 1870s. The lava rocks were needed to build the St. George Temple. The crushed lava provided a solid foundation impervious to the alkali soil. The trail leads down around the tip of West Black Ridge and up to the quarry site. Except for a couple sections the trail is level. It̓s nicely graded and bordered with the vocanic rocks that cover the ridge. On the left as you head south you have good views of the airport and the red cliffs to the east of St. George. You don̓'t really see much of the city as you are looking over it. On a recent late afternoon hike we saw a number of planes and a helicopter taking off and landing at the airport there is a bench to sit on if you want to watch the planes. To the south you see Bloomington and the interstate curving towards the Virgin River Gorge. After about 10 minutes you'll take the bend around the southern tip of West Black Ridge and you start getting spectacular views of Green Valley to the west. As you turn north you̓ll see all the way to Red Mountain and Snow. Canyon Park to the northwest. Continuing north you reach the end of the main part of the trail where it makes a loop that the wagons used to turn around. Nearby is an old and weathered table nestled amongst the lava boulders. What a cool place to sit and have a picuic. As an old sign nearby notes, you can see drill marks and other evidence of quarry activity over 130 years ago. Typical of the panoramas of southwest Utah, the character of the views change with the time of day, seasons and weather. This recent hike was at sunset on a mostly cloudy day. The ridges on the east glowed red when the sun peeked through. On the west side the mountains and ridges were silhouetted by the setting sun. On the return, the peak of Pine Valley Mountain, still in the setting sunlight, seemed to float above a layer of clouds. A morning hike would reverse this and have the mountains to the west standing out in the light of the rising sun. The St. George Parks, Trails and Facilities map marks the trail as potentially being extended down the west side to Shadow Mountain park at 360 N 1050 West. At the turnaround loop we could see a trail continuing down, but it was unclear where it ended up. Exploring that path will be for another day.
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| A path still trod Temple Quarry Trail endures as legacy of pioneer faith BY SHAUN D. STAHLE, ST. GEORGE, UTAH Early settlers in the harsh valleys of southern Utah faced a grave challenge in the 1870s; how to build a sturdy foundation that was capable of supporting a large temple constructed in swampy land. President Brigham Young had conceived the design of the temple. When local leaders could not choose a site, he took them on a wagon ride and designated a place to the southwest of St. George. The leaders protested, saying, "The land is boggy .. There is no place to build a foundation." President Young countered, "We will make a foundation." A solution to such a foundation was found in the volcanic rock located in the black ridge situated immediately west of the temple site. A road, or dugway, was constructed along the ridge to a quarry of large volcanic slabs located on the back side. Two kinds of lava rock were quarried. For the first year and a half, wagonloads of small lava rocks were hauled to the temple site and pounded into the hole where the swamp had been drained, a tedious task that provided a deep, firm foundation. Large lava stones about the size of a coffin were then carved out. Extremely heavy, they could not be lifted onto wagons, but were chained beneath and hauled a few inches from the ground. The slabs were slid onto the bed of lava rock to form the foundation stones. In recent years, St George and surrounding areas have been among the fastest growing locales in the country. Homes and roads have been built to accommodate a burgeoning population. Preserving the pioneer heritage that has long charmed the area has been the focus of many, including Mark H. Greene, who, in the 1970s began acquiring old pioneer homes for restoration. He and his wife, Barbara, preserved many in the ensuing 30 years. Brother Greene felt the Temple Quarry Trail was an enduring legacy of pioneer times, a gentle reminder of how grit, love and faith tamed Utah’s harsh southwest deserts. With development encroaching on the area, Brother Greene felt a determination to preserve the trail. By the year 2000, he had organized the creation of a red sandstone archway to mark access to the trail. Soon after, an Eagle Scout project installed a wrought iron fence. More recently, the City of St. George added to the pleasant setting by creating a trail head park with landscaping and parking. Today, the park, complete with sandstone benches and vegetation, marks a symbolic passage through which outdoor enthusiasts from a modern era connect with a rich pioneer past During dedicatory services held Nov. 9, 2007, Brother Greene’s son, Mark Greene III, in memory of his father, noted how a once dusty and forgotten trail had become a "path to higher ground." The Temple Quarry Trail can be found by following Airport Road in St. George, Utah, to the top of the bluff and watching for signs TRAIL HEAD New trail head park, with sandstone benches and landscaping, marks beginning of Temple Quarry TI used by early settlers to move volcanic rock to build foundation of St. George temple, inset. Etching in large slab of volcanic rock marks years of 1871-1874 when rocks from area were qualified for foundation of St. George Temple. During dedicatory services held Nov. 9, 2007, Brother Greene’s son, Mark Greene III, in memory of his father, noted how a once dusty and forgotten trail had become a "path to higher ground." The Temple Quarry Trail can be found by following Airport Road in St. George, Utah, to the top of the bluff and watching for signs TRAIL HEAD New trail head park, with sandstone benches and landscaping, marks beginning of Temple Quarry TI used by early settlers to move volcanic rock to build foundation of St. George temple, inset. Etching in large slab of volcanic rock marks years of 1871-1874 when rocks from area were qualified for foundation of St. George Temple.
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