Thirty miles on Highway 14, about forty five minutes, and 2,600 feet of elevation between the village and town. The road climbs to just under 10,000 feet before it drops into Cedar Canyon.
How Far Is Duck Creek Village From Cedar City? Thirty Miles, and the Road Climbs First
Duck Creek Village sits 30 miles east of Cedar City on Highway 14, about 45 minutes from our front door to Main Street. The two towns stand 2,600 feet apart in elevation. The road never runs downhill the whole way to town, though. It climbs for the first nine miles, crests just under 10,000 feet, then gives back close to 4,000 feet through Cedar Canyon.
| Measurement | Number |
|---|---|
| Inn to Cedar City Main Street | 30 miles, 45 minutes |
| Elevation, inn to town | 8,445 ft down to 5,844 ft |
| High point on Highway 14 | just under 10,000 ft |
Distances come from routing the drive door to door. Elevations come from the USGS elevation service sampled along that same route, not from a town sign.
Highway 14 climbs before it drops
Leaving the inn at 8,445 feet, Highway 14 runs west and gains about 1,400 feet across the first nine miles. The crest lands near milepost 17, a shade under 10,000 feet, close to the turn for Cedar Breaks. From that point the road sheds almost 4,000 feet over 21 miles, and the steepest share of it comes in the last stretch through Cedar Canyon, where the switchbacks and rock walls drop you into the valley.
Two things follow from that profile. Your brakes carry the load for a long, continuous descent, so drop a gear and let the engine hold the car instead of riding the pedal to the bottom. And a vehicle that feels gutless pulling out of the village has thin air to blame. An engine without a turbo gives up about 3 percent of its power per 1,000 feet of climb, which leaves you down some 12 percent between Cedar City and the crest of Highway 14.
The whole road carries a name most maps skip. Highway 14 runs 40.995 miles from Cedar City to Long Valley Junction at US-89, and the state calls it the Markagunt High Plateau Scenic Byway.
Cedar City holds what the mountain lacks
Duck Creek Village covers the essentials and stops there. Cedar City covers the rest, and these four are the reasons our guests point the car downhill.
The hospital. Intermountain Cedar City Hospital sits at 1303 North Main Street, 435-868-5000, a Level IV trauma center with the emergency department staffed around the clock. Door to door from the inn runs 32 miles and about 50 minutes. Worth knowing before you need it, with kids or older parents in the group.
Real groceries. Lin’s Fresh Market at 150 North Main Street opens at 6 in the morning and runs to midnight six days a week, with an 11 p.m. close on Sunday. The village general store handles the forgotten items. A week of food for eight people comes from town.
The airport. Cedar City Regional Airport, code CDC, sits 35 miles and about 55 minutes from us. Delta Connection service on SkyWest regional jets links it to Salt Lake City, and that single route is the entire commercial schedule. Most guests still land in Las Vegas or St. George and drive from there, but CDC works when the connection lines up.
The theater. The Utah Shakespeare Festival runs its 2026 season from June 18 through October 3. An 8 p.m. curtain in Cedar City means a dark drive back up Highway 14, so read our guide to doing the festival from Duck Creek before you book seats.
Highway 14 at the edge of the village on a late September evening. The climb back up from Cedar City finishes in the dark this time of year. Photo: Duck Creek Village Inn.
Winter stretches the forty five minutes
UDOT plows Highway 14 all year and closes it on rare occasions. That said, it stays a mountain highway with a canyon at the bottom. Storms bring temporary closures and traction requirements, and the canyon grades ice before anything else on the route does. From October through April, all wheel drive or chains earn their keep on this road.
The autumn of 2011 makes the point better than any warning. A mountainside near milepost 8 let go and took about 1,300 feet of roadway with it, closing Highway 14 for more than seven months. Limited traffic returned on May 12, 2012, and the road opened in full that August. Cedar Mountain gets to vote.
Check udottraffic.utah.gov before you drive, or read our live SR-14 road conditions page, which pulls the cameras along the corridor. Both beat guessing from the weather app.
Plan the town run once per stay
Forty five minutes each way turns any Cedar City errand into a 90 minute round trip before you park. Stack the errands and you get your vacation back.
The pattern that works: buy the week’s groceries in Cedar City on the drive up, keep the village store for milk and firewood, and schedule at most one deliberate trip down mid stay. Pair that trip with something worth the drive, a matinee, a real restaurant meal, a run through the Cedar City events calendar. Driving down for a single forgotten item costs you a chunk of the afternoon and a tank of the climb back.
Groups running the parks have a cleaner option. Cedar City sits on the way to almost nothing you came for. Zion and Bryce Canyon both pull you east and south, away from town, which is one more argument for loading the car once and staying up on the plateau. See where to eat in the village for the nights you skip the drive.
Quick answers for the Cedar City drive
How long does the drive from Cedar City to Duck Creek Village take? About 45 minutes for the 30 miles on Highway 14 in good conditions. Add 15 to 30 minutes in snow, and more behind a slow RV in the canyon.
Is Highway 14 open in winter between Cedar City and Duck Creek? Yes. UDOT plows it year round and closures stay rare, though storms can shut it for hours and can trigger traction requirements on the canyon grades.
What is the elevation difference between Cedar City and Duck Creek Village? About 2,600 feet. Cedar City sits near 5,844 feet and the inn sits at 8,445 feet, with the road topping out just under 10,000 feet in between.
Can you reach Duck Creek Village through Cedar City Regional Airport? Yes. CDC sits 55 minutes away and takes Delta Connection flights from Salt Lake City. Las Vegas offers many more inbound flights and a longer drive.
Is there gas in Duck Creek Village? One station, the Phillips 66 on Movie Ranch Road. Fill up in Cedar City on the way up and treat the village pump as a backup.
Ready to stay on the mountain
Book a cabin or room at Duck Creek Village Inn and make the Cedar City run once, on the way in, with a full trunk.
Related reading from the Duck Creek Journal
