Dixie National Forest is a

United States National Forest In the United States, national forest is a classification of protected and managed federal lands. National forests are largely forest and woodland areas owned collectively by the American people through the federal government, and managed b ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

with headquarters in Cedar City. It occupies almost two million acres (8,000 km²) and stretches for about across southern Utah. The largest national forest in Utah, it straddles the divide between the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California. It is noted fo ...

and the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

. In descending order of forestland area it is located in parts of

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his hum ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

, Kane, Wayne, and Piute counties. The majority (over 55%) of forest acreage lies in Garfield County. Elevations vary from above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...

near St. George, Utah to at Blue Bell Knoll on Boulder Mountain. The southern rim of the

, near the Colorado River, provides spectacular scenery. Colorado River canyons are made up of multi-colored cliffs and steep-walled gorges. The Forest is divided into four geographic areas. High altitude forests in gently rolling hills characterize the Markagunt, Paunsaugunt, and

Aquarius Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainment ...

Plateaus. Boulder Mountain, one of the largest high-elevation plateaus in the United States, is dotted with hundreds of small lakes above sea level. The forest includes the

Pine Valley Mountains The Pine Valley Mountains are a mountain range in Washington County, Utah, United States, spanning the county north of the city of St. George. The highest point in the range is Signal Peak at . The mountains are part of Dixie National Forest a ...

north of St. George. The Forest has many climatic extremes. Precipitation ranges from in the lower elevations to more than per year near Brian Head . At the higher elevations, most of the annual precipitation falls as snow. Thunderstorms are common during July and August and produce heavy rains. In some areas, August is the wettest month of the year. Temperature extremes can be impressive, with summer temperatures exceeding near St. George and winter lows exceeding on the plateau tops. The vegetation of the Forest grades from sparse, desert-type plants at the lower elevations to stand of low-growing

pinyon pine The pinyon or piñon pine group grows in southwestern North America, especially in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. The trees yield edible nuts, which are a staple food of Native Americans, and widely eaten as a snack and as an ingredient in ...

and

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arc ...

dominating the mid-elevations. At the higher elevations,

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (C ...

and

conifer Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All ext ...

s such as

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfam ...

, and fir predominate. The Dixie Forest Reserve was established on September 25, 1905 by the General Land Office. The name was derived from the local description of the warm southern part of Utah as "

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cove ...

". In 1906 the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

assumed responsibility for the lands, and on March 4, 1907 it became a National Forest. The western part of

Sevier National Forest Sevier National Forest was established as the Sevier Forest Reserve by the U.S. Forest Service in Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its ea ...

was added on July 1, 1922, and all of

Powell National Forest Powell National Forest was established by the U.S. Forest Service in Utah on July 1, 1908 with the renaming of Aquarius National Forest for John Wesley Powell. On July 1, 1922 the eastern division of Sevier National Forest was added to Powell. O ...

on October 1, 1944.

Visitor centers

There are local ranger district offices and visitor centers in *Cedar City, with Duck Creek Visitor Center * Escalante, with Escalante Interagency Visitor Center *Pine Valley, in St. George, with Pine Valley Heritage Center *Powell, in

Panguitch Panguitch ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Garfield County, Utah, United States. The population was 1,520 at the 2010 census, and was estimated in 2018 to be 1,691. The name Panguitch comes from a Southern Paiute word meaning “Big Fis ...

, with Red Canyon Visitor Center

Wilderness areas

There are four officially designated

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

s within Dixie National Forest that are part of the

National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the Na ...

. * Ashdown Gorge Wilderness * Box-Death Hollow Wilderness * Cottonwood Forest Wilderness *

Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness is a wilderness area located in the Dixie National Forest in the U.S. state of Utah. It is the fourth-largest wilderness area located entirely within the state (following the High Uintas Wilderness, Zion Wildern ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control 1905 establishments in Utah Protected areas established in 1905 Protected areas of Garfield County, Utah Protected areas of Washington County, Utah Protected areas of Iron County, Utah Protected areas of Kane County, Utah Protected areas of Wayne County, Utah Protected areas of Piute County, Utah

Visitor centers

Wilderness areas

See also

References

External links