Hiking with Kids near St. George, Utah
- Alexis Bennett
- May 26, 2023
- 5 min read
We absolutely love hiking near St. George, Utah. There are an abundant supply of hiking trails from easy to hard, most have some climbing rocks, which our kids love and beautiful views are everywhere. From state parks to National Parks, Hiking in St. George, Utah, is a great place for a family adventure.
St. George, Utah Hiking Trails We Loved
Snow Canyon is a beautiful hiking area in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. The 7,400 acres of sand and beautiful red sandstone canyons are unbelievable. With 38 miles of hiking trails this a great place to spend the day.
Johnson Canyon Trail is an easy 2 mile out and back hike that explores lava flows, canyons, and an arch at the end. This hike typically takes a little less than an hour so we decided to take the hike for sunset. The canyon was amazing, the lava rock surrounding was a reminder of the life that existed so long before, and the sunset was gorgeous over the canyon and mountains. Note that this trail is closed March 15th - September 14th.
This is another short hike at 2.5 miles. It is considered moderate because of some rocky, uneven surfaces, but our kids had no problem with these. Hiking through a lava field was a unique experience of walking through history of an eruption over 27,000 years ago. Our kids had a blast climbing through the lava tubes and rock formations throughout the hike.
Over 45,500 acres of land with 130 miles of hiking. The Red Cliffs National Conservation Area has something for every style of hiker. The landscape includes the Colorado Plateau, Mojave Desert, ad Great Basin as well as the Pine Valley Mountains and Dixie National Forest. So many different things to see and explore. We had a blast hiking in the Red Cliffs.
At 3.8 miles, this was one of the longer trails we took. It is considered a moderate trail, but our 5 year old had no problem hiking it with us. There was one area where you had to shimmy across a rock, but it wasn't too bad and there were other routes you could have taken to make it through. The terrain is very sandy so it makes for a good workout. We actually saw some fresh mountain lion prints, but never spotted one on our hike. Our kids loved climbing the red rocks and the elephant arch at the end was beautiful.
The Red Reef Trail is only 2.2 miles out and back, making it a quick trail taking less than an hour. There is a more advanced climb over a rock with a waterfall on one side, my youngest and I stayed behind, but the other three climbed over to see what beauty was on the other side. There were plenty of rocks to climb on while we waited on the other three. They said the climb was definitely worth it. Maybe next time we will conquer that now that she is older.
This was another longer trail we conquered. We started on the Chuckawalla Trail (1.7 miles) which naturally led us to Turtle Wall Trail was 3.8 miles out and back, but we combined it with Paradise Rim to make a loop which was the same distance but with different views. The trail is rated easy/moderate, but, again, my 5 year old had no trouble with this one either. The views were spectacular and it was a fun trail overall.
This was a fun trail to see the city of St. George. At 2.7 miles it takes a little over an hour. This was one of our kids favorite trails, as they had a blast climbing over the rocks at the top. If you have kids that love to climb on rocks, this is a perfect place to take them!
This was a very easy, quick trail of less than a mile. It makes a great trail to add to another longer trail, if you are looking for a way to spend a half hour or so. There are marked areas for the dinosaur tracks of Grallators from the Early Triassic through the Early Crustaceous Periods. The kids had fun exploring and looking for more tracks throughout the hike. If you have a dinosaur lover with you they will love this trail.
There are so many beautiful National Parks, but Zion holds a special place in my heart. There is no way not to feel small in this magnificent park. There are so many things to see in Zion and we only scratched the surface. Being winter, it was a bit more difficult to get to everything, but we did have a great time exploring.
This trail is extremely busy and paved throughout. We prefer trails with less people, but it was the first one we did and it was still pretty. If you are looking to see wildlife and take an easy hike, albeit 3.2 miles, this is an good trail to take. It was pretty, but I don't think we would venture on this again.
This was a good trail to get the full Zion feel from the bottom. The trail is 8.9 miles but we did not do all of that. Most of the trail is paved which makes it nice, however as with the Pa'rus Trail, it was very busy even in January. We ventured off toward the river to give ourselves some space away from the crowds. If you continue through the trail or more appropriately, wading through the water, you can see the narrowest place in Zion. Unfortunately, we had to stop at the water as it was much too cold to venture further.
We had a hard time finding the start of this trail, so we made our own and I believe we started in the middle, which was fine as it was near sunset and the trail itself was full of snow and ice. We all had a blast walking through the ice and avoiding frozen puddles. Due to the conditions, we were the only ones on this trail so it was a nice change from the previous trails. We would love to do this again when it is not ice and snow covered. The terrain was beautiful.
There are unlimited trails in St. George, Utah. The city is adorable, lots of small town charm and the numerous hiking trails make it a great vacation spot. We highly recommend taking some time to explore in the St. George area, it will not disappoint.
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