Gunlock Lake State Park

Located in Southern Utah just 14 miles northwest of St. George is a reservoir surrounded by mountains and desert chaparral.

My wife Jackie, myself and our two cocker spaniels departed Las Vegas, NV on a Friday evening, April 30, 2010 about 4:30 and headed north on I-15. Traffic was not bad and we maintained a speed of 65 mph past Mesquite, NV and into a small section of Arizona to Littleton where we exited. At the point we converged onto highway 91 which is a two lane road leading us thru the small town  of Beaver Dam, AZ. The 91 starts out flat and gradually climbs from sparse grassland to Joshua trees and rolling hills. Apparently, there was a fire in a section of this area a few years back as one can see scorched joshua. However, the undergrowth has been renewed with fresh grasses and wildflowers. All along the sides of the roadway yellow flowers illuminate our path. By now the sun is setting along the western sky that is lined with cotton-like cumulus clouds that are bathed in the orange glow from the evening sun.
About 20 miles or so up the 91 we enter into the private lands of the Paiute Indian Reservation and the roads reaches its summit and then we descend thru gently winding bends amid a small forest of scattered pinion trees. To our surprise and delight we witness a range of redish orange sandstone mountain to the north as the sun washes its southwestern shear cliffs. The range is tall and is wide and it is contrasted with blue skies, whitish orange clouds, and a mix of desert green shrubbery. One immediately senses the reasons why the Paiutes chose to inhabit this area.

Shortly upon leaving the Paiute reservation the 91 bends to the east towards the towns of Ivins, Santa Clara, and finally leads into St. George. However, since we are heading to the state park we need to take a road north for 6 miles. It’s fortunate for us as we are arriving tonight as there are decorations along the roadway and also a sign indicating that this road will be closed on Saturday to northbound traffic from 8:00 am til 5:30 pm due to the St. George ironman triatholon taking place along this route.

Pulling into the state park we view the blue waters of the mile long lake and come to the realization that the park only has a few trucks and campers on the north end. We have RVed here 6 years back and so we chose to set down the jacks of our rig on the southern end of the park overlooking a cove to our south. Once the jacks our down we now extend our living room / kitchen area and we also pop out the bedroom.
It’s been a comfortable 2 hour drive from Las Vegas and now it is time to feed our two cockers spaniels. Then my wife, Jackie and myself can enjoy the fried chicken and potato salad that we prepared before leaving home. All we have to do is mix a dinner salad, pop a beer open, and pour a glass of wine and we are ready to enjoy the evening at Gunlock Lake State Park.