St. George, Utah is primarily known for its proximity to Zion National Park, but being “stuck” there for two days, we discovered it flies modestly under the radar and has its own unique charms.

Snow Canyon State Park

Snow Canyon exceeded our expectations. Just outside of downtown St George, this state park is designed with several small pullouts for cars along the main roadmaking it easy to stop and explore each area.

Petrified Dunes at Snow Canyon

Our first stop was at the Petrified Dunes. What are petrified dunes? Rolling mounds of red stone seemingly designed by an artistic and creative heavenly hand. I’d been to the Petrified Forest in Arizona, but these were magnificent hillish mounds of decorated red rocks that were textured and not slippery to climb on. Petrified usually refers to wood that is slowly changing to stone. The dunes are simply sand that has been cemented into rock.

The swirling grooves and jagged stripes etched into the dunes created easy walkways to scamper on–virtually slip-proof. Like a sculptors’ installation, each dune visually mesmerized. Even though there are no established trails, it’s fun to forge your own and explore. We stopped at almost all the pullouts because most had a trailhead for a hike with different terrains leading to spectacular views.  After the Petrified Dunes, our favorite was Jenny’s Canyon a .5 mile hike to a slot canyon easy to navigate.

Pioneer Park

Smack dab in the center of St. George is Pioneer Park, an area of red sandstone perfect for hiking, climbing, and exploring. The red petrified rock again makes scampering easy and safe. With lots of trails, views and rocks for lizard yoga , this is a super user-friendly park. The Botanic Gardens are right next door with free admission.

Downtown St. George: Historic District

The term Downtown St. George might be a bit of an exaggeration since it is rather small. Most people flock to Ancestor Square, a tightly packed block of restaurants and shops including our favorite restaurant in St. George–Benja Thai and Sushi. It had the best mango curry I’ve ever tasted and I’ve been to Thailand. The Painted Pony, a bit more upscale, was perfect for our splurge dinner.

A cute outdoor sculpture gallery focused in and around Main St. made it fun to explore the nearby streets. Thomas Judd’s Store Co built in the late 1800s and converted to a general store in 1911, still features an old-fashioned gas pump in front. The Historic part of downtown refers to the LSD temple and the winter home of Brigham Young, but both were closed because of coronavirus restrictions.

For more Lessons and Insights at Zion National Park, click here