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Trip Report

Best Hikes near St George Utah

A month full of weekend backpacking trips into Utah's national parks. We think St George is best place to stay in Utah to see national parks and make day trips from there.

  • Jacob Hamblin Arch+ 4
  • Sunset over the canyon
  • Kolob Arch
  • Best Hikes near St George Utah
chaynes
About Me:I'm a travel enthusiast with a passion for food, good hikes, and adventure. read more

North AmericaUnited States3 days / November 2020

Highs & Lows

Jacob Hamblin Arch

Our tent filling with sand

Itinerary Overview

For a month, my girlfriend and I worked remotely from southern Utah and explored the state's national parks. Each weekend, we picked a park, packed our backpacks, and ventured into surreal landscapes. The parks are fairly close together, making it easy to stay in one place and take excursions. Our itinerary included Zion National Park,  Bryce Canyon, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The landscapes of each of these areas are truly breathtaking. The time of year was perfect as well: not too busy, not too hot, not too cold (well, Bryce was a little chilly), and beautiful fall foliage. Needless to say, by the end of the month, all of our shoes and gear were stained red from the rocks and clay. There are plenty of places we didn't make it to - Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, the list goes on... - but it's always better to leave wanting to come back for more (at least in my opinion).

  • 1 Night: Zion National Park
  • 2 Nights: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Zion National Park - null
1

Zion National Park

Zion National Park - null - Sunset over the canyon
Sunset over the canyon
Zion National Park - null - Kolob Arch
Kolob Arch
Zion National Park - null - null1+

Zion, in my opinion, is among the most beautiful of all the parks in Utah (and that's a pretty high bar). Unfortunately, our timing would have it that certain noteworthy hikes like Angel's Landing were closed due to covid, and others like the narrows were advised against because the waterways were blooming with toxic algae. The silver lining is that these restrictions led us to explore some other less-visited hidden gems of Zion: namely, Kolob Canyon. Kolob intersects Zion's main canyon, and you can hike from one to the other, but we opted for a single night in Kolob. Due to the algae bloom, we had to port in our own water. That meant that on top of our camping gear, we each had to haul two jugs of water all the way to our campsite. As we dipped into the canyon, the red canyon walls grew taller and taller and we found ourselves surrounded by beautiful fall foliage. After we set up camp, we hiked a few miles farther to catch a glimpse of Kolob arch, the sixth-longest natural arch in the world (several of the even longer arches are nearby). We passed only a few other groups of hikers and backpackers, so it felt like we basically had the canyon to ourselves. Next time, we'll probably head for the main canyon, but we were happy to experience something off the beaten path and still truly amazing!

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument - null
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Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument - null - Jacob Hamblin Arch
Jacob Hamblin Arch
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument - null - Fall colors in Coyote Gulch
Fall colors in Coyote Gulch
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument - null - Slot canyon
Slot canyon

Unrighteously overshadowed by its more famous National Park neighbors is Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Not quite a national park, it's an enormous swath of public land with "national monument" designation littered with slot canyons, river canyons, and beautiful landscapes. We were drawn to this location by pictures of Jacob Hamblin Arch in Coyote Gulch. To get there, we drove a couple of hours down a bumpy washboard dirt road to a sandy washout where the trail starts. We began hiking down the washout, following cow tracks to keep from getting lost. Gradually, the landscape shifted and we found ourselves deeper and deeper in the canyon, with red and gray walls, a sandy floor, and a shallow stream bed with a trickle of water.

By the time we rounded a corner and set eyes on Jacob Hamblin Arch, we were already immersed in unbelievably high canyon walls that made us feel small. But the arch was something else. It towered over us and left us in awe. With few other campers in the canyon, we decided to make camp on the front side of the arch, the part with the best view. Later that night, though, we regretted our choice of location. When the winds picked up around 2am, they swept heaps of sand under our rainfly, through the mesh walls of our tent, and all over us and our gear. Sleepily, we picked up our tent and moved it behind a grove of trees that protected us from the wind and sand.

While Coyote Gulch and Jacob Hamblin Arch were the highlight of our trip to Grand Staircase, the slot canyons were a close second. We hiked a series of two slot canyons called Peekaboo Gulch and Spooky Gulch. The canyons were so narrow in parts that we had to turn sideways to squeeze ourselves through. It was quite an adventure!

Q & A

  • What would you have changed?

    I would have stayed another week or two to visit more parks.
  • Tips you would give a friend?

    Always check the weather forecast (and history) before entering a slot canyon. You don't want to be surprised by a flash flood!
  • Packing tips?

    Pack for hot days and cold nights.
  • Transportation Tips?

    If you don't have an SUV, rent one if you want to drive in Grand Staircase. The roads are pretty unforgiving.
  • Any surprises?

    National parks are free on national holidays, and we just so happened to visit Bryce Canyon on Veterans Day.

Lodging