Duck Creek-gids
Trail-by-trail distances, elevations, seasons, and exactly where each trailhead is — from a 1.1-mile family waterfall walk to 32 miles of rim trail
When people search for Duck Creek trails, they almost always mean one of three: the short walk to Cascade Falls, where Navajo Lake pours out of a cliff; the Navajo Lake Loop, which you can walk for an hour or circle in a day; and the Virgin River Rim Trail, the 32-mile rim route that the Forest Service splits into three shorter hiking trails. Add the half-mile walk to Aspen Mirror Lake five minutes from the inn, and the rim trails at Cedar Breaks twenty minutes up the road, and that is the honest shortlist.
Every trail below sits on the Markagunt Plateau in Dixie National Forest, all of it between about 8,400 and 10,500 feet. Trail numbers, distances, and open seasons come from the Cedar City Ranger District, the National Park Service, and Recreation.gov, with the source linked under each trail. Where the Forest Service does not publish a figure, we have left it out rather than guessed.
Snow closes most of this high country until late spring. Check Dixie National Forest alerts and our road conditions and weather pages the morning you go.
Pick by how much day you have, not by how tough you are. The altitude does enough of that on its own.
| Trail | Distance | Difficulty | Drive from the inn |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cascade Falls #32055 | ~1.1 mi round trip | Easy to moderate | ~20 min |
| Aspen Mirror Lake | ~0.5 mi each way | Easy | ~5 min |
| Navajo Lake Loop #32022 | 11.5 mi full loop; shorter sections available | Easy (rated by the Forest Service) | ~15 min |
| Virgin River Rim #32011 | 32 mi in three shorter trails | Varies by segment | ~15–30 min to the access points |
| Alpine Pond Loop (Cedar Breaks) | 1–2 mi loop | Moderate | ~20 min |
| South Rim Trail (Cedar Breaks) | 5 mi; 2 mi round trip to Spectra Point, 4 mi to the Ramparts | Moderately strenuous | ~20 min |
The one most people mean, and the right first hike with kids
This is the hike guests come back talking about. A waterfall pours straight out of a hole in the Pink Cliffs, and the water is Navajo Lake — the lake has no surface outlet, so it drains through sinkholes at its east end, runs underground, and reappears here as the headwaters of the North Fork of the Virgin River. The Forest Service notes the lava tube itself is closed to entry because of low oxygen and high water flows, so the show is from the rim.
The path is short, well built, and mostly gentle, with stairs doing most of the work and benches when you want them. Two viewing platforms — one at the halfway point, one at the falls — give you the falls and a long look south toward Zion. Flow tracks the lake level, so late spring and early summer snowmelt is the showstopper window; by a dry September the falls can shrink to a trickle while the cave mouth and canyon views still earn the walk.
Steep drop-offs edge parts of the rim, so keep kids close. There is no shade and no water on the trail — carry your own, including for the dog.
Source: USDA Forest Service: Cascade Falls Trail (accessed 12 August 2026)
We keep a longer page on this one — the geology, the flow through the season, and what the platforms look like: the full Cascade Falls Trail guide.
A full lap of the lake, or any bite-sized piece of it
The loop circles Navajo Lake and splits its personality between the two shores. The south side runs above the water with views down onto the lake; the north side threads beautiful, open aspen stands — the reason this is a September favorite when the leaves turn.
You do not have to commit to all 11.5 miles. Walking out along one shore for an hour and turning around is a perfectly good afternoon, and the trail is shared with mountain bikers and horses (motorized use is closed), so expect to step aside now and then.
Pair it with Cascade Falls and you get the whole geologic story in one day: the lake that disappears, and the cliff where it comes back out.
Source: USDA Forest Service: Navajo Lake Loop Trail (accessed 12 August 2026)
More on the lake itself — fishing, paddling, and the sinkholes that drain it — on the Navajo Lake page. If you would rather sleep at the trailhead, see camping near Duck Creek.
The big one — 32 miles along the rim, hiked in pieces
This is the trail that makes the plateau feel enormous. It skirts the Virgin River rim with Zion in the distance, and along the way the Forest Service calls out the Cats Den, hoodoos, fins and windows, bristlecone pine, and wildflowers. Almost nobody walks all 32 miles; almost everybody who stays a week walks part of it.
From Duck Creek the easiest way on is through the Navajo Lake basin. The Lodge Trail (#32015) is a short access trail that climbs from the basin up to the rim, and the Forest Service points you at the Navajo Lake Loop Trailhead for parking and a pit toilet. From Te-Ah Campground, the rim trail is reachable on foot or bike just outside the campground boundary — and the campground's own Pinks Trail runs a half mile from the upper loop to Pink Cliff.
If you want the trail's western end, Deer Haven Campground is where it begins: 16 miles east of Cedar City on Highway 14, then three miles of dirt at the Webster Flat road turnoff. That is a longer drive from the village than the Navajo Lake access points, but it puts you on the quieter half of the rim.
Source: USDA Forest Service: Virgin River Rim Trail (accessed 12 August 2026)
The closest real trail to the village — half a mile to still water
If you have one hour and a camera, this is the walk. A 15-acre lake sits hidden in the aspens, and on a still morning it does exactly what the name promises. The Forest Service carries an Aspen Mirror Trail (#32029) on the Cedar City Ranger District trail list; on the ground, what most guests do is the short, flat forest path in from FR-057.
Go early for the reflections and the wildlife along the shoreline. In late September the aspens turn red, orange, and yellow and the place gets genuinely crowded by Duck Creek standards — which still means a dozen cars.
Source: Duck Creek Village Inn: Aspen Mirror Lake (accessed 12 August 2026)
Cedar Breaks National Monument has a small trail system but a high hit rate, and every trail starts above 10,000 feet. The Park Service is blunt about it: the trails "can be more difficult then they appear for those not acclimated." There is no maintained route below the rim — the Park Service asks visitors not to attempt hiking down into the amphitheater.
We keep dedicated pages for the monument: every Cedar Breaks trail ranked by difficulty, the Alpine Pond Trail in detail, the overlooks along the rim, and current Cedar Breaks conditions.
Source: National Park Service: Hike a Trail, Cedar Breaks, Spectra Point, and Ramparts (accessed 12 August 2026)
These are real, numbered Forest Service trails, but the agency does not publish driving directions for every trailhead. Ask at the Duck Creek Visitor Center or call the Cedar City Ranger District at (435) 865-3200 before you go looking.
Sources: Lodge Trail, Bristlecone Pine Trail, Hancock Peak Trail, Dark Hollow Trail, Te-Ah Campground, and Strawberry Point Overlook (accessed 12 August 2026)
There is no one Duck Creek trailhead. There is a string of them along Highway 14, and knowing which is which saves you a wrong turn onto a dirt road. Mileages below are measured from Cedar City on Highway 14, the way the Forest Service publishes them — the Duck Creek Visitor Center sits at mile 28, so you can place everything else relative to the village from there.
Turn off Highway 14 onto Navajo Lake Road (FR-053), then follow FR-054 to a large trailhead lot — about three miles of dirt forest road in total. Usually fine for a careful passenger car when dry; rough or slick after storms. Pit toilet at the lot. This is also a Virgin River Rim Trail access point.
From Cedar City, go 25 miles east on Scenic Byway SR-14 to the Navajo Lake road turnoff to the south, then five miles to Navajo Lake Campground. Parking and a pit toilet at the loop trailhead; the campground has drinking-water spigots, flush toilets, and an accessible vault toilet. Recreation.gov notes the 32-mile Virgin River Rim Trail passes a short distance from the campground.
25 miles east of Cedar City on Highway 14, then about 4.5 miles on Navajo Lake Road — all paved. Flush and vault toilets, potable water, 40 campsites plus a group site, open late May to early September. The Virgin River Rim Trail is reachable on foot or bike outside the campground boundary, and the Pinks Trail runs a half mile from the upper campground to Pink Cliff.
16 miles east of Cedar City on Highway 14, turn off at the Webster Flat road and go three miles on dirt. The rim trail starts near the campground entrance. Flush and vault toilets; potable water Memorial Day through Labor Day; dogs must stay leashed.
Small parking area on Forest Service Road 057 off Highway 14, just north of the village, with vault toilets. Half a mile of flat forest trail to the lake. This is the closest trailhead to the inn.
From Main Street in Cedar City, head east on UT-14 for 32.6 miles, then turn onto Strawberry Point Road — roughly four and a half miles east of the Duck Creek Visitor Center. The overlook has a small parking area and a walk of under five minutes.
28 miles east of Cedar City on Highway 14, at 8,600 feet. Porta-potty restrooms and picnic tables; no potable water. Open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Memorial Day through Labor Day, then weekends only through September — with Friday-to-Monday hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. noted for 2026. It is the right stop for a current district map and honest answers about which roads have dried out.
Reached on Highway 148, which the Park Service says closes each year for snowpack — typically mid-November to mid-May on average. Paved lots at the visitor center and trailheads.
Sources: Recreation.gov: Navajo Lake Campground, Te-Ah Campground, Deer Haven Campground, Duck Creek Visitor Center, Uinta Flat (Strawberry Point Road directions), and Cedar Breaks conditions (accessed 12 August 2026)
You are hiking between roughly 8,400 feet in the village and 10,500 feet at the Cedar Breaks rim. Nothing here is technical. The altitude is what makes an easy mile feel like a hard one, and the Park Service says it plainly: these trails can be harder than they look for anyone who is not acclimated. Go slower than you think you need to, especially on your first day up from Zion or Las Vegas.
Before you drive, check current road conditions and the Duck Creek forecast. In shoulder season the snow report is often the deciding factor.
August 2026
Trail numbers, distances, seasons, and trailhead directions on this page come from the Dixie National Forest, the National Park Service, and Recreation.gov, verified on 12 August 2026 and linked beside each trail. We write it from the front desk, so drive times are ours — but conditions change fast at 8,400 feet. Check the official sources here the morning you go.
What guests ask at the desk before they head out.
The four most-hiked trails from the village are the Cascade Falls Trail (Forest Trail #32055, about 1.1 miles round trip), the Navajo Lake Loop Trail (#32022, 11.5 miles for the full loop with shorter sections available), the Virgin River Rim Trail (#32011, 32 miles broken into three shorter hiking trails), and the half-mile walk in to Aspen Mirror Lake. Cedar Breaks National Monument adds the Alpine Pond Loop, the South Rim Trail out to Spectra Point and the Ramparts, and the paved Sunset Trail about 20 minutes away.
There is no single Duck Creek trailhead — there are several, all off Highway 14. The closest is the Aspen Mirror Lake trailhead on Forest Service Road 057 just north of the village. The Cascade Falls Trailhead is reached by taking Navajo Lake Road (FR-053) then FR-054, about three miles of dirt road. The Navajo Lake Loop Trailhead is at Navajo Lake, 25 miles east of Cedar City on SR-14 then five miles south. Te-Ah Campground (25 miles east on Highway 14, then 4.5 paved miles on Navajo Lake Road) and Deer Haven Campground (16 miles east, then three miles of dirt at the Webster Flat road) are the two main access points for the Virgin River Rim Trail.
The Dixie National Forest trails are. Dogs are welcome on leash on the Cascade Falls, Aspen Mirror Lake, and Navajo Lake trails, and the Forest Service requires leashed dogs at campgrounds such as Deer Haven. Cedar Breaks National Monument is the exception: the Park Service allows pets on the paved Sunset Trail only, not on any other monument trail. Carry water for your dog — most of these trails have no potable water and Cascade Falls is fully sun-exposed.
The Forest Service gives the same general window for the trails on this district: roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day each year, weather permitting. Snow lingers into early summer on the higher and north-facing sections of the Virgin River Rim Trail, and the dirt access road to Cascade Falls stays snowed in through winter and early spring. At Cedar Breaks, Highway 148 closes each year for snowpack, typically mid-November to mid-May. Check Dixie National Forest alerts and the Cedar Breaks conditions page before you drive.
Yes. Cascade Falls is the best one: about 1.1 miles round trip on a well-built path where stairs do most of the work, ending at viewing platforms above a waterfall pouring out of a cliff. The half-mile walk to Aspen Mirror Lake is flatter and shorter, though lava rocks on the trail make it a poor stroller route. At Cedar Breaks, the Alpine Pond Loop Trail is one to two miles and the paved Sunset Trail is two miles with gentle slopes and rest areas. Remember that every one of these starts above 8,000 feet, and Cedar Breaks above 10,000 — kids tire faster than you expect.
Almost never. The Forest Service lists no potable water on the Virgin River Rim Trail, the Navajo Lake Loop, the Bristlecone Pine Trail, or the Hancock Peak Trail; some seasonal streams and the lake can be filtered. Potable water is available at Te-Ah and Deer Haven campgrounds (Memorial Day through Labor Day) and at Navajo Lake Campground spigots. There is no water at the Duck Creek Visitor Center. Carry everything you plan to drink.
Start from the broader guide hub if you want the bigger set of destinations, activities, and planning pages first.
The lakes, viewpoints, and day trips that pair naturally with a hiking day.
Kolibries bij de voederbak, herten in de weide en bergwild overal rond het dorp
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Klein alpenmeer tussen espen met reflecties en wilde dieren
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Vissen, kajakken en ontspannen aan een bergmeer
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Alpien amfitheater, uitzicht bij zonsondergang en een International Dark Sky Park, 20 minuten van de inn
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Korte wandeling naar een schilderachtige waterval op Cedar Mountain
Bekijk gidsTurn a trail list into an actual itinerary.
Choose the stay type that matches the trip you are building.
Book your room or cabin at Duck Creek Village Inn — Aspen Mirror Lake is five minutes away, Cascade Falls twenty, and the Cedar Breaks rim about the same.
