Cedar Canyon Nature Park

Our Property in Cedar Canyon is for sale!

In October of 2000 this land was donated to us by Rocky Mountain Power to build a wildlife rescue facility and nature park.

For decades we were happy to share this property with local residents and did our best to preserve the beauty and natural state of the land for everyone to enjoy.

Over the years, in cooperation with the federal, state, and city resources, we installed a bridge, built a trail, outdoor meeting areas, bathroom and tended to all maintenance needs.

We will always treasure the time we shared this beautiful land with so many people.

We are very grateful to all our sponsors, donors and volunteers who helped us make the park enjoyable by all.

Critters First!

Over twenty years however, many things have changed and plans we once had for the land are no longer viable in this location.

Our first priority is to native wildlife and we've opted for a smaller location away from so much urban activity.

The City of Enoch has leased us an acre of land all ready for us to build on for only one dollar a year!

As sad as we are to leave the Cedar Canyon Nature Park behind, we are incredibly grateful for such a wonderful and amazing offer from the City of Enoch that puts Critters First!

The profits from the sale of the land will go to our foundation and fund programs for Native Wildlife Rescue, Rehabilitation and Education decades into the future!


Sale Information

If you would like more details about the sale of this land, you are welcome to contact us at [email protected].

You are also welcome to visit the MLS page about this land by clicking here.


Archived Information about the Park

In October 2000, Rocky Mountain Power/PacifiCorp donated 22.6 acres of majestic canyon property in Cedar City, Utah to create a permanent wildlife rescue facility and nature park.


Nestled between beautiful red sandstone mountains, our goal is to provide a public educational facility dedicated to the environments represented by the Colorado Plateau and the Great Basin.

The Cedar Canyon Nature Park sits on the transition point between these two unique ecosystems.


This site is the historical site of Southern Utah Power Co. which was built in 1952. Coal Creek flows through the center of the property year-round and includes a waterfall built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's.
1310 East Highway 14 Cedar City, UT 84720

The Bridge

In the spring of 2003 a paved walking and bicycle trail was built through this property with matching funds from Utah Division of Parks and Recreation and Cedar City, connecting the 23-acre nature park to the city’s existing trail system. Boy Scouts from Utah and Nevada have worked on a number of projects, including rehabilitation chambers, trail improvements, signs and a campfire program area. Each summer the SWF property is host to a free Campfire Concert in the Canyon series showcasing the Nature Park property and local musical talent in Southern Utah. In 2012, over 320 volunteer hours, a Cedar City RAP tax donation of $15,500, a $10,000 George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation grant, and many other donations were gathered to build and install a 96' long pedestrian bridge crossing Coal Creek connecting the Cedar Canyon Nature Park trailhead to the existing trail system. This was the creation of our Memorial Bridge.

The Information Destination

With generous donations from The Home Depot, Utah Recreational Trails Program, Rocky Mountain Power, Geroge S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, Cedar City RAP Tax, Subaru of America and Findlay Subaru St. George, TriMetals Mining Inc., and the Bureau of Land Management, our Information Destination and ADA Restroom Facility was completed in September of 2017. It is located along the existing Coal Creek pedestrian trail just south of our footbridge and west of our campfire program area. Construction began in October 2016 with a Groundbreaking Ceremony. Our Ribbon Cutting Ceremony took place on the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the Southwest Wildlife Foundation. Construction and Development Committee members, retired NASA architect Roy Tryon, owner of Terrapeutic Tractor Services and green builds enthusiast Ben Herring, Environmental Specialist and permits expert Alysen Tarrant, and local General Contractor Roger Thomas from Choice Builders, and a number of other volunteers, donated countless hours of their time and expertise towards this project, saving us tens of thousands of dollars.

Trails

Additionally, our trail head was paved with hydro-thermal coils installed inside to provide ice-melt in the future, a retaining wall, landscaping and planting beds were built by volunteers using donated railroad ties, and the ground next to the Information Destination was leveled and covered with wood chips in preparation for a picnic area.

Gardens

We have partnered with the BLM, Southern Utah University's Garth and Jerri Frehner Museum of Natural History, and the Paiute Tribe of Utah to create sister gardens! Funding for this project is currently being provided by Bureau of Land Management Heritage Resources program, Bureau of Land Management Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program, and private donor Deborah Long. The Cedar Canyon Nature Park's Native Plant Garden project includes raised beds and wicking beds for hands-on planting projects, a large metal arch for native vines, a maze-like butterfly-shaped trail with native plants in a more natural setting with identifying informational plaques, interpretive displays and signage about pollinators, native plants and growing methods, and a native plant greenhouse where native plant starts can be grown to transplant throughout the CCNP and to provide native plants for home gardens and landscaping projects for the public. We are still gathering some funding for this project.

Projects

A couple fundraising opportunities are available for this project. These include a $500 donation for a sandstone landscaping stone engraved according to your preference to be placed somewhere among the landscaping of our trail head or among the plants in our Native Plant Garden, or you can choose to sponsor one of the native plants in our Native Plant Garden for a donation of $750. The sponsor's name will appear on the identifying informational plaque found in front of the native plant. We also have room for a few customized granite or sandstone garden benches in our Native Plant Garden. There will also be various spots throughout the CCNP to add more as it becomes more developed, such as around our trail head, in front of our Welcome Center and Museum of Natural History, near our waterfall, etc. If you are interested in having a customized bench that will be at the CCNP forever, a $25,000 donation will get you just that and you can specify which project you want the remainder of your donation to go towards at the CCNP! In March of 2018, Gilbert Development Corporation donated a 24ft x 60ft mobile office to the Southwest Wildlife Foundation's Cedar Canyon Nature Park! This building is being transformed into our First Phase Welcome Center so that the SWF will have a regular presence at the CCNP, allowing us to provide the CCNP with security, begin training more volunteers, educators and wildlife rehabilitators, begin providing our rescue and rehabilitation work on-site, provide regular tours and educational programs, and have office space for our staff. The First Phase Welcome Center will have a porch with steps and a ramp leading up to a double door entrance for easy accessibility, a public restroom inside, a bird of prey feature wall, hands-on and visual educational displays about geology, paleontology, archaeology, native plants and wildlife, a children's corner, a gift shop, and an office and wildlife triage area for staff. We will also be expanding and paving our parking lot.