Just north of Washington County, there is a fantastic way to step back in time — back to the days of the pioneers who settled this part of the state at the Frontier Homestead State Park in Cedar City.
Frontier Homestead State Park
Formerly known as the Iron Mission Park, Frontier Homestead State Park has been part of the Cedar City, Utah landscape for 45 years. However, what was once mostly a museum-style somewhat two-dimensional experience has become a hands-on, interactive way to appreciate the history of Southern Utah. It’s a way to learn how the pioneers lived, and to have fun while doing it.
A little history
According to brochures provided by Frontier Homestead State Park, settlers who arrived in Utah Territory in 1847 had a few concerns. Chief among them was a need for iron. The discovery of iron ore in southern Utah answered that problem. So, in 1850, Brigham Young (leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time) called for volunteers to settle the Cedar City area. As part of their task, these Cedar City settlers were to develop and iron foundry.
The foundry was a success. However, eight years later, in 1858, after some years of difficulty, the iron works was closed.
The Iron Mission State Park (now called Frontier Homestead State Park) was established in 1973 to preserve the history of this iron endeavor.
Finding Frontier Homestead State Park
If you’re coming from the St. George area, you’re closer to this bit of pioneer heritage than you think. Just hop on I-15 northbound and take exit 57. It’s just under an hour. Turn right off the freeway (which will put you on Main Street). Stay on Main Street for several miles. The park is located between the visitor center and the cemetery.
During your visit
When you arrive at Frontier Homestead State Park, the fun begins before you even get inside the museum to pay the admission.
Situated in front of the museum are several pieces of mining equipment. Plus, the caboose from a train. All are available to explore. Children and adults love the chance to see inside a real train caboose. And taking pictures by some of the large machinery gives perspective on how large some of the later equipment was. Most notable is the 250,000 pound electric ore shovel used in the early days of the iron mines.
Inside the gift shop you pay a nominal fee for admission. $4 per person over age 6. $2 for Iron County residents.
Inside activities
The indoor portion of the museum features stage coaches, old cars, mining and general pioneer relics. People are allowed to sit inside one Wells Fargo stage coach — which is a great photo opportunity.
In addition, the museum includes art and history exhibits that change periodically. Often, volunteers and community members are on hand demonstrating some of the pioneer era tasks. For example, during a recent visit, three women sat spinning wool into yarn and were more than happy to explain the process and allow visitors to touch the wool in its various stages.
Outside exploration
Stepping outside the back of the museum, the world of early pioneer settlers to Cedar City opens in a whole new way. Approximately 12 hands-on activity stations are set up. The list includes the following:
- Wood cabin
- Line shack
- School house
- Hunter House
- Pioneer garden
- Jones sheep sheering shed
- Wagon barn
- Native heritage exhibit
- Jensen sawmill
- Nelson carpentry shop
- Palisade
- Blast furnace
At each of these stations there are a variety of activities. Some may wonder what various daily survival tasks were like during pioneer times. Washing clothes, for example. Well, now you can try it out. Real clothes, in wash buckets with scrub boards and a line to hang clothes on are situated outside the wood cabin. Children get a real feel for how long laundry could really take. Plus, getting your hands in the water is a great way to cool off on a hot day at the Frontier Homestead State Park.
Another favorite activity is inside the pioneer schoolhouse. Ever wonder what it would be like to sit with people of all ages in a single classroom, learning a whole new alphabet? Visitors see what the Deseret Alphabet looked like, and can try writing in this formerly-used language. Upstairs in the school house is the teachers’ quarters. So you can see what the housing accommodations were like for teachers in those days. They really did live at the school in some cases!
Other highlights at Frontier Homestead State Park
Everyone’s favorite part of the Frontier Homestead State Park will be different, but a few other highlights include:
* Panning for gold in the mining area.
* Exploring the way the native people lived — in stick huts and semi-underground mud homes.
* Roping “cattle”
* Loading a pioneer wagon with the barest basic necessities. And seeing just how heavy those necessities could actually be!
* Building your own miniature cabin with Lincoln Logs. 
* Playing a trivia game where your wagon company is faced with different real-life scenarios along the trail.
* Going inside the sheep sheering station, touching the wool and seeing a video on the process.
Frontier Homestead State Park mission
The mission of Frontier Homestead State Park is simple: To connect people to traditions, knowledge and ideas. Once you know the history of an area, its even easier to fall in love with a place and want to make it better.
If you think you’d love living just a few freeway miles south of this pioneer exploration site, check out the great home listings here. And don’t worry, you won’t have to worry about using a scrub board and clothes line in these places.