FALLS PARK – SHEEP BRIDGE – VIRGIN, UT
Location: South side of Virgin River, just off Sheep Bridge Road, Virgin, UT
SITE INFO
Falls Park (Sheep Bridge to the locals) was established by the BLM to accommodate the growing number of people visiting the popular swimming and tubing area of the Virgin River. There is about a mile stretch of river that can be enjoyed, with sandy beaches, fun tubing rapids and even places to jump off the rocks into the river. Be sure to always check the depth of the water before jumping in! Because of the nature of the Virgin River, and its flood cycles, there may be sand and other debris under the water that are not visible. There is fun to be had by all ages at this park. Small children can catch frogs and splash in shallow parts of the river, older children can ride the rapids and swim, and adults can get in on the fun as well! Check this park out!
Sheep Bridge was originally built by Allen Stout, who was a sheep herder. It was used to move the sheep back and forth across the river to other grazing. For many years, the bridge was an old, one lane bridge, barely wide enough for a large truck to pass. In the year 2000, Utah Department of Transportation built the current bridge that is much wider and more stable. The old bridge still remains just to the east of the new bridge.
HikeStGeorge is a project that began as a seedling for Tim LeBaron in the early part of 2008, but really didn’t begin to blossom until the latter part of 2011. The original idea behind the site was to bring to light all of the harder to find, or “less known” hidden gems of the area. It was more of a pet project than anything. As excitement about the site began to spread, there was more of a push to develop information about all hikes in the Southern Utah Region.
