Dave and Jan enjoyed a visit from Dr. Carl and Nancy Laney, friends from seminary days, in mid April. When the Laneys headed back to Oregon they drove west from Cedar City to Panaca, Nevada, then headed north where they passed Cathedral Gorge State Park. Because they sent back a picture of the gorge, reporting on the facilities available for campers at the park, Dave and Jan headed for an overnight visit to Cathedral Gorge with their curiosity aroused.

The park was well-worth a visit, with nice camping facilities and interesting geological formations around most of the perimeter of the gorge – created largely by the impact of water on the fine soil of the gorge over the passing years.

A four-mile hike takes the hiker around much of the perimeter of the State Park with many interesting views.

Some of the most unusual geological features of the park include the narrow “slot canyons” in many park locations.

Some of the slot canyons go back into the rock walls for one or two hundred feet and tower high above the hiker for many feet as well, creating the sense which many people have told of experiencing during their visits to some of the cathedrals in Europe – which may be the reason for the word “cathedral” in the name of the gorge and the park.

From the canyon floor there is also a trail which leads up to the Miller Point Overlook – an overlook which is also accessible from the highway north from Panaca, providing a very nice bird’s eye view of most of the gorge.

We are grateful to Carl and Nancy Laney for the heads-up regarding Cathedral Gorge State Park. It was a nice find! As Dave observed to a hiker we met along the way on one of the park’s trails (and he agreed) – “The Lord does nice work!”