Browse, UT



Browse is an unincorporated area of Washington County in southwestern Utah near Interstate 15. Browse is in a transitional climate zone as it is located between St. George, Utah at about 2800 feet above sea level in the Mojave Desert and Cedar City, Utah in the Great Basin at nearly 5900 feet. The Hurricane Cliffs, part of the Colorado Plateau, are directly to the east. This area contains species of desert plants and animals in one location that otherwise would be unique to each of the three above-mentioned desert regions.


There are no services in Browse. The area is used by ranchers to graze cattle. Hikers, campers, mountain bikers, and wilderness enthusiasts visit due to its close proximity to Interstate 15.

Currently the United States Bureau of Land Management is attempting to allow natural plants and animals to return after a large wildfire burned much of the area in 2003.



Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1934 during the Great Depression, the guard station is a two-room “Plan 5” guard station, according to the Washington County Historical Society.

Originally, the site had been developed in 1921 as an experimental study area where researchers were looking at the possibility of using browse vegetation as forage for cattle. By the time the guard station was built by the CCC, however, the plan to graze cattle on the land had been discontinued and the new cabin was built in order to support deer management studies.


Probably the coolest thing about the station, however, is the giant sequoia standing in a grove of trees maybe 100 feet behind the station.  According to the U.S. Forest Service, the tree was planted in either 1933 or 1934 as a sapling by one of the directors of the research station. It’s been cored numerous times and the tree rings match the 1933 or 1934 estimate of when the tree was planted.


Take a break and spend a couple of minutes with the sounds of nature as Mill Creek babbles through a canyon in the Dixie National Forest.

http://www.thespectrum.com/videos/life/outdoors/2016/08/24/89304950/