Color Country Motel

State Road 148 to stay closed for winter

olwm — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:04:13 +0000

State Road 148 has been a main route through Cedar Breaks National Monument between State Road 14 and the resort town of Brian Head. The S.R. 148 was a particularly significant road that has been used in the past 6 months since the massive landslide closed S.R. 14. This is an annual closure because of deep snows in Iron County.
Cedar Breaks superintendent Paul Roelandt said S.R. 148 was closed after a series of recent storms that moved through southern Utah and could remain that way into June. Roelandt said, “We have reached that time of year when expected heavy snow accumulations and constant drifting of snow across the road have made it unsafe to keep the road open.”

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Although officially closed, the park still offers winter recreation opportunities. Snowshoeing and ski trails will be marked after sufficient snow accumulates along the park’s north rim and along the Alpine Pond Trail.
Guided tours for skiers and snowshoers will be offered Saturdays in January and February.

The park’s snowmobile trail will also be marked once more snow falls. Snowmobilers are required to stay on marked trails.

Questions about conditions for recreation activities can be answered by calling the park’s administrative headquarters at 435-586-9451.

Panguitch Lake receives special attention at the Utah Wildlife Board meeting.

olwm — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:51:30 +0000

During the Utah Wildlife Board meeting at the first of the week, the fisheries side of the DWR wanted to let the Wildlife Board know that the management at Panquitch Lake was still a hot topic.
Panguitch Lake is one of the most important fisheries in the state and the anglers are torn between whether it should be managed as a trophy stillwater trout fishery or a family friendly destination. Drew Cushing, sport fish coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said that the State will likely create a new Panguitch Lake advisory group and will conduct an angler survey on the popular fishery. The survey will include a lot of nonresidents as a large portion of the nearly 90,000 angler hours spend at the lake each year are from Nevada.
Panguitch is currently managed to grow large trout to benefit anglers and to help control populations of Utah Chub. The limit is four trout, but no more than two can be a cutthroat or tuger trout under 15 inches and only one can be a cutthroat or tiger trout longer than 22 inches.
At the same meeting the Utah Wildlife Board approved a number of fishing regulations proposed by the state biologists for 2012. Among some of them are modified tagged fish contest rules, new rules for some specific waters and a strong statement that illegal movement of live fish will not be tolerated. Since species moved illegally moved are hard to remove, the proposed no-limit and mandatory catch-and-kill regulations on certain species can be performed at the following fisheries:

Quail Creek, Sand Hollow Reservoirs and Virgin and Santa Clara rivers : Smallmouth Bass
Deer Creek Reservoir: Bullhead Catfish
Utah Lake: Northern Pike.
Red Fleet Reservoir: No-limit regulation on Walleye

Cushing said,”We need to send a message that we won’t tolerate this anymore and that we aren’t going to reward the illegal stocking of fish”.

Repairs on Panguitch Lake Dam to end by Dec. 1st

olwm — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:09:53 +0000

Panquitch Lake Dam

Panguitch, UT-

A few months ago back in July the release valve that controls the flow of water out of Panguitch Lake in Garfield County failed, sending water out of the reservoir at five times the normal rate.

David Marble, Assistant State Engineer for Dam Safety with the Division of Water Resources, said the structure was designed to handle the high flow of water and that the valve was opened to let out the maximum amount of water to deal with high runoff in the spring.

There was no damage was done to any buildings or property due to the flooding.
The dam repairs are reported to be done by Dec. 1st

: Courtesy of http://farm4.static.flickr.com/

Sierra Club trying to block expansion of Utah strip mine

olwm — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:08:25 +0000

During a meeting in Brighton Resort in the Wasatch Mountains near Salt Lake City, Sierra Club officials focused on many different issues around different states, but one main issue was the Alton Coal Development’s Coal Hollow Project, located in Kane County near Panquitch and 10 miles southwest of Bryce Canyon National Park. The mine now sits on state and private land and would need to expand onto federal land from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Their concern is that the mine is located in a major migration corridor used by a mule deer herd and that it can be seen from Bryce Canyon particularly at night.

Tim Wagner, a regional representative for the Sierra Club said,”It’ll have a direct impact on Bryce Canyon National Park in term of air quality, in terms of nighttime skies”, ..”Bryce Canyon is one of the very famous parks for having some of the darkest skies in the lower 48 states.”

The opposition of the club is part of the groups effort to promote development of clean energy to replace coal which is a major contributor of air pollution. The club also wants to limit the opening of uranium mines, particularly one near the rim of the Grand Canyon.

Sierra Club President Robin Mann

Landslide in Southern Utah closes SR 14

olwm — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:55:10 +0000

Landslide SR-14 | Courtesy of UDOT

Oct 8, 2011

Just eight miles east of Cedar City on S.R. 15 there was landslide of mud, trees, boulders and other debris that stretched approximately 800 feet at milepost 8. Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is addressing safety concerns and assessing repair options. UDOT anticipates the closure to last several weeks.

Anyone that is planning on taking this popular route that goes through Cedar Breaks National Monument should consider S.R. 20 south of beaver as an alternate route.

Duck creek visitors and property owners should approach from Long Valley Junction on U.S. Highway 89.

Casto Canyon ATV Trail in Panquitch, UT

olwm — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:16:19 +0000

Beginning at the Casto Canyon trailhead this takes you into a world of sandstone cliffs of white, pink and green colors. You will be surrounded my beautiful red frock until you reach the ponderosa pines and there are several passages through the usually dry riverbed. The trail goes east about 5.5 miles then it connects to the Sandford Toad and the trail continues northeast about 1.9 miles and is referred to as the Barney Cove Trail. This will also connect to the Limeklin trail which drops back down to the west and ends up near the Panguitch Airport. You eventually connect to the Fremont ATV Trail which you can go south to Tropic Reservoir and the Great Western Trail and north to the Piute AVT Trail system. This is a beautiful trail if you are looking for a fun, scenic trail ride that everyone can enjoy! Check out this video of the trail….

Here is a link to the map of the trail:

http://www.utah-trails.com/Mechanics/Media/Images/Maps/CastoLimekilnMap.pdf

Free National Parks Day!

olwm — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:27:28 +0000

Mark your calendars everyone!! Tomorrow September 24th is National Public Lands Day.

What does that mean for Utah residents?

Any of you can go and enjoy FREE ENTRANCE in many of the National Parks that are participating in this event! Its going to be a beautiful weekend so go out and enjoy the beautiful National Parks we have in our area. The parks that are joining in on this day are:

Arches National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Capitol Reed National Park
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Golden Spike National Historic Site
Hovenweep National Monument
Natural Bridges National Monument
Zion National Park

Remember that it is the Entrance Fee Only. I have heard that they will be having discounts on other attractions throughout the Parks but all of the Reservations, Camping, Concession Fees, Tour Fees and other charges are still in effect so remember.
To Find out more information visit:
http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm
Everyone enjoy the weekend!!!

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olwm — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:06:50 +0000

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