After hiking and enjoying our day at Cedar Breaks National Monument, Tom and I drove down the plateau to Cedar City.  The temperature at Brian Head Peak was 68.  The temperature in Cedar City was 98.  Argh!  Let’s go back!  But we had more things to see, so we decided to push onward to the Frontier Homestead State Park.

We were spending the night in Cedar City and decided we had time to visit the Frontier Homestead State Park before supper.  Cedar City is located in Iron County because the Latter Day Saints mined iron in the area.  One of the iron blast furnaces was located in Cedar City.  Today a group of old buildings surrounds the furnace creating a state historic park within the city.

We paid a small admission fee and entered the museum first at Frontier Homestead State Park.  The museum houses an extensive collection of horse-drawn carriages.  We climbed into a replica Wells Fargo wagon and admired the leather-sling suspension system.  The museum also shelters a fiber arts workshop that made me drool.  Lots of spinning wheels and looms of various sizes and types.  The far end of the museum had a display of watercolors by local artists.

The buildings outside were just as interesting as the displays inside the museum.  Most of the buildings had been moved from other sites or parts of town.  We saw a sawmill, a wood cabin, a school house, the Hunter Home, a sheep shearing shed, and a carpentry shop in addition to the blast furnace.  There was also a large shed with blacksmithing materials and items to be repaired or restored.

Most days costumed interpreters demonstrate pioneer crafts.  The fiber arts guild comes in on Tuesdays and Fridays (we were there on Wednesday).  The only interpreter present at the time we visited was the school marm but she was friendly enough.  She was teaching the Deseret alphabet.  Like most state parks, we were free to roam wherever we wanted as long as we left before closing.

Before we left, we checked out the gift shop with crafts made onsite.  Tom climbed in the electric mining shovel that stands along the street in front of the museum.  We enjoyed the park more than we expected and can now recommend it to people who are visiting Cedar City.