Thunderbird Gardens is an undeveloped area of red rock boulders on the outskirts of Cedar City, Utah. According to Cedar City Mayor Gerald R. Sherratt, the land was given to Cedar City. The undeveloped wilderness area is on the same road as Cedar Ridge Golf Course.

Not many people have heard the term Thunderbird Gardens and almost no one was able to provide directions. To get there our first stop was at Aardvark Paintball at 70 E. 200 North.
This is a paintball shop that is fully stocked and ready to provide a fun extreme sports paintball experience. Aardvark provides rentals in addition to hosting paintball games. They do a fun adventure in and around Thunderbird Gardens for groups and in the past have used the 3 peaks area for fun too. I’m told that they are waiting for some area to be set aside at 3 peaks to be able to fit in better with the multi-use nature of 3 peaks. In Cedar City they can be reached at 435 867-0408. Aardvark also has stores in Saint George and Sandy, Utah

Our trip to Thunderbird Gardens was a pleasant couple of hours hiking and walking around. Here’s a picture.

To get to the outdoors recreation area, just go up to the golf course and continue by following the dirt road to the end. According to the Cedar City website, Cedar Ridge treats golfers to beautiful scenery and some of the most challenging golf southern Utah has to offer. From short par 3s with cliff-top tee boxes to long par 4s into the wind, Cedar Ridge offers players almost every golfing challenge. “Because of the way it’s laid out, it will offer most golfers a chance to use every club in their bag,” says John Evans, Cedar Ridge head pro and former PGA golfer.
The website address is: http://www.cedarcity.org/parks_recreation/golf_course.html

After we parked our auto we started climbing rocks and hills. It’s an undeveloped area, with no trails that we saw. We climbed the hills and enjoyed the high desert climate and Utah blue skies.
While walking around I noticed a natural arch in the hillside. Here is a picture.

On another trip in the hills around Cedar City my friend Slim took a few of us to explore Ghost Towns and Lost Mines. You’ll find more information here at the outdoors recreation message boards

It was a pleasant ride in the high desert hillside around Cedar City. Here’s a picture of old mine shaft.

A lot of caution is required in these areas and we carefully explored a little bit. Here’s a picture taken just inside one of the open mines we saw.

http://www.adventurezonetours.com/index.php?showtopic=3270
The interesting part of riding with my friend Slim, is the history. He shares the stories of the miners that created these towns, that have now fallen down.

There is a lot to do and see in and around Cedar City, Utah. Utah is home to 5 National Parks, 3 National Monuments, State Parks and wonderful Wilderness Areas.

The website at cedarcitytours invite’s Utah groups to forward us their news to share here with our readers as well as at our outdoor recreation message board at http://www.adventurezonetours.com/