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One of our most extended stays during our three years of full-time RV’ing was in Leeds, UT, a small town just north of St. George and Hurricane, UT. We spent around 45 days there from March to May 2016. While there, we took the opportunity to visit much of the local area.
One such area was the Quail Creek State Park, between Leeds and St. George, UT. Quail Creek State Park offers a variety of amenities, such as picnic areas, campgrounds, and hiking trails. The park is open year-round but with limited facilities during winter.
Created in 1985 by constructing a dam on the Virgin River, Quail Creek Reservoir is part of the park located 10 miles northeast of St. George. The reservoir has a surface area of about 600 acres and can hold up to 40,000 acre-feet of water. It is a popular recreational spot for fishing, boating, swimming, and water sports. The reservoir is stocked with rainbow trout, smallmouth bass, and crappie, making it an excellent spot for fishing enthusiasts.
Quail Creek Reservoir is a critical water source for the surrounding communities, including St. George and Washington City. The Utah Division of Water Resources manages the reservoir and is part of the larger Virgin River Basin.
The general area is arid, mostly sand and red rock. Seeing a large body of water in such an environment is striking. I’ve posted a version of the first photo above before but decided to re-crop and post it again.
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I find it so interesting that we have all these beautiful locations in our parks, some quite near us, yet we never know about them. That is true of the Red Desert area in Wyoming a friend pointed out to me a couple weeks ago. This is another area I’d like to visit and photograph. Just maybe…. I’m also so glad you were able to experience those three years in your RV.
I agree; there are “wonders” everywhere if we take the time to stop and look. Hopefully, you’ll soon be able to visit some of those areas near you. Thanks, Monte. 😊
I’ve never spent 45 days anywhere except home, so such an experience, especially in a place like this, triggers curiosity, appeal, wonder. Would I find it to be enough, not enough, too much? Sometimes I would like to take such an RV adventure, but know it is impossible with our dogs – which I know is a familiar story.
One benefit of RV’ing is that you can always move down the road to somewhere else if you don’t like or aren’t comfortable where you’re stopped. There were a few places where we did just that, but then there were other places where it never seemed enough. We saw people RV’ing with more than one large dog. The record was a couple in a 45′ Motorhome traveling with nine Greyhounds. I think they were fostering retired racers from Florida. Of course, Greyhounds are couch potatoes, quite different than Huskies. 😀 And as our early ‘ RV retirement’ indicates, even one large unagreeable dog can make it impossible.
I’ve been thru Hurricane and St George a few times going to and fro Zion and Bryce but never stopped. There are many, many places like Hurricane that should be explored (and discover places like Quail Creek) but the big names have that draw and the possibly more interesting and intimate spots remain hidden.
Bonnie and I enjoyed taking the less traveled paths while RV’ing and often found wonder less crowded destinations to explore. Timing is everything if you want to visit the big parks.