This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Thousands of Wasatch Front residents head to St. George, Mesquite and Zion National Park each winter to play golf, walk trails, participate in soccer, softball and baseball tournaments or to simply enjoy the sunshine.
Officials said those activities are still plentiful despite this week's flooding.
"The number one reason [people] come down here is for sunshine and warm weather," said St. George Assistant City Manager Mark Mortensen. "They are still going to have that."
As floodwaters receded Friday, authorities were assessing damage to golf courses and trails often situated along rivers as open space that can also be used for flood control.
But St. George City Manager Gary Esplin said all city recreation facilities are up and running, 90 percent of the city's 30 miles of recreation trails are open and all golf courses in the county are open for play with no damage, except for the front nine at Southgate and Sunbrook's Black Rock Nine. Southgate, which opened up its redesigned front nine in October after being closed for months, sustained the most damage due to flooding of the Santa Clara River.
Pro Scott Draper said that while the back nine is untouched and open for play, there was damage to holes one, two, four and seven, and major damage to nine.
Damage was significantly less than in 2005, but it will still take at least 2½ months to repair the front nine. Draper is hoping to have the front nine open for play at the end of February during the busiest part of the St. George golf season.
Draper said in the meantime the golf course will look at offering special rates and incentives to keep some of its regular crowds coming to the course. There was a 35 to 40 percent drop in revenue after the flood of 2005, but he hopes the drop won't be as substantial this year because the extent of the damage is more manageable.
But golfer Chad Miller said Thursday the course should have learned more from the flood of 2005.
"I would have thought they would have thought it through and built the course farther back than what they did," he said. "They basically put it on the river edge [when they renovated it]. I mean think about the '05 flood and how much it ruined everything."
Miller and friend Chris Atack from Springville did play the back nine Thursday but said they will look to other courses until the front nine opens.
The big problem at Sunbrook is that a bridge on the Black Rock Nine that connects the number one hole tee to the rest of the course was knocked out. While 18 holes of the 27 will be open, assistant pro Aaron Deming said course managers were waiting for the water to recede to see what they have to work with.
At Beaver Dam, Ariz., where flooding in 2005 severely damaged the 18-hole course, which has now been replaced by a par 3, spokesman A.J. McCleoud reported no major damage and said the course would reopen Tuesday.
In Mesquite, Nev., some courses had cart-path only rules in effect due to standing water. Marty Rapson of the Casa Blanca course said the Virgin River damaged the fifth hole. Though the course was open Thursday, golfers were diverted around that hole while heavy equipment was repairing it.
"We are definitely open, fully functioning and ready for business," she said. "Other than a few households, the flood had no effect on the community and especially not the tourism. The town is dry and everyone is OK."
The only other golfing concern in Mesquite was the Coyote Willows nine-hole layout, much of which lies along the Virgin River.
It was heavily damaged in 2005. No one answered the phone at the course Thursday or Friday.
Larry Shane, parks and facilities manager for St. George City, said parks came out of the incident with little damage.
"We have a few little holes to fill in and spots on the trails that will have to be repaired, but it is nothing like 2005," he said.
Utah State Parks spokesperson Deena Loyola said the four state parks in Washington County received little damage. Gunlock State Park, which has primitive facilities, was impacted since road closures made it difficult to access. But as of Friday partial access had been restored. This isn't a busy time at the reservoir-oriented park.
Loyola said ATV riders using the sand dunes at Sand Hollow State Park liked the rain because it made the sand firmer and that many were using the area.
Fishing at Quail Creek Reservoir remained good, though runoff caused some dirty water, especially on the upper part of the reservoir.
At Zion National Park, spokesman Ron Terry said both the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway scenic drive into Zion Canyon and Kolob Canyons scenic drive have reopened. The Zion Canyon scenic drive does have a section of one-way traffic, located south of the Court of the Patriarchs.
The West Rim Trail from Grotto to Scout Lookout was checked and open, though hikers needed to be aware of icy and slick areas, Terry said.
The East Rim Trail is clear to Echo Canyon, but visitors are being advised not to travel beyond the mouth of Echo Canyon for the next few days.
Travel is also not advised beyond the mouth of Hidden Canyon. Additional open trails include Weeping Rock and Pa'rus.
The Lower and Middle Emerald Pool trails were closed. The Riverside Walk was closed to wheelchair access, and due to flood damage so was the area two-tenths of a mile from the end.
The Watchman and Sand Bench Trails remain closed. The Zion Lodge and Watchman Campground were both reopened.
Salt Lake Tribune reporterCimaron Neugebauer contributed to this report.