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Show QCross Country Skiing Festival In February Cross country skiers from all over the world come to Bryce to take part in the world's most beautiful cross country ski races held on the President's Day holiday each February. In its fifth year, this February festivities will once again draw cross country skiers of all ages whose priorities include a well groomed ski course and some of the nation's most incredible scenery. The electronically timed five mile race begins and ends at Ruby's Inn, with participants arriving days early and staying days afterwards to enjoy their winter vacation time experiencing southern Utah's fabulous fabu-lous plateaus by cross country skis, snowmobiles, and automobile. Back country skiers have hun-"N hun-"N drcds of square miles to explore. V Dixie National Forest adjoins Bryce Canyon National Park and offers miles of logging roads and trails. A variety of terrain and elevation makes for great cross country for beginners to experienced tele-markers. tele-markers. Some local resorts maintain groomed and tracked trails for skiers. Trails in Bryce Canyon National Park are not groomed but arc still good. For the snowmobiler, looking for new, undiscovered and un-crowded un-crowded scenic destinations, area plateaus are perfect Known for years to afford temperate tem-perate winter conditions, southern ) Utah snow has never been touted until recently. Plateaus ranging from 7,000 to over 11,000 feet offer of-fer some of the best snowmobiling in the west. Skiers have discovered the snow of Brian Head and Elk Meadows which in some years has attained depths greater than Utah's famous northern ranges, yet hundreds of these plateaus remain virtually unexplored un-explored in the winter. Southern Utah's plateaus embrace em-brace some of the most varied and colorful scenery in the world. They are visited by millions of travelers each year, with less than 1 percent coming in the winter. Visitors have found their way up Cedar Canyon from Cedar City on 1-15 or from Parowan to enjoy the open meadows and rolling terrain of the Markagunt Plateau, Cedar Mountain. They have thrilled to down hill skiing at Brian Head, moving gradually eastward on Highway 143 to the Panguitch Lake area for ice fishing and snowmobiling and more cross country skiing. Past Panguitch Lake, Panguitch offers motels and restaurants, a take off point to even more winter fun. Leaving US 89 at Scenic Highway 12, the traveler experiences Red Canyon, known as "Little Bryce", then pops out Paunsagunt Plateau at East Fort in Bryce Canyon country for more winter recreation, motels, restaurants and sightseeing. Past Bryce Canyon on Highway 12, the winter recrcationist drops into charming Bryce Valley, home of the three picturesque communities communi-ties of Tropic, Cannonville, and Hcnrieville. Still eastward some thirty miles lies Escalante with motels and restaurants, the center of mid-county winter activities on the highway between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef national parks. Thirty miles northeast of Escalante, the small town of Boulder is the gateway to the Burr Trail and winter snowmobiling on Boulder Mountain. East to west, west to east, the sights in southern Utah's Color Country are unexcelled. Winter's the best time to explore, with caution cau-tion and without crowds, the serene and special areas that are rarely seen by the average summer visitor. Its always a good idea to let someone know where you're going, to check on road conditions before going there, and to dress appropriately appropri-ately for the activity period. Try something new this time, whether its snowmobiling or snowshoeing for the first time or tubing down a nearby hill. |