10 reasons why you need to visit southern Utah

Explore ancient sandstone canyons, yodel with cowboys and camp in splendour away from the crowds, says Beverley Watts
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Beverley Watts14 July 2019

With so much remarkable scenery, Utah is renowned for its glorious but well-trodden ‘Mighty 5’ national parks, but there’s plenty of room to find adventure – and serenity – outside their boundaries.

1. Capturing Peekaboo Slot Canyon

Peekaboo Slot Canyon
Kane County Tourism

There’s no admission fee for Peekaboo Slot Canyon, sited about 10 miles north of the town of Kanab, but with deep sands around the entrance and seasonal flash floods, visiting with a local guide in a 4x4 is a good idea. We went with Brent Johnson from Forever Adventure Tours, who’s happy to advise on just how to photograph the amazing spears of light within the deep canyon and its narrow curving walls. Carved into the red sandstone are Moki steps, vertical indentations just big enough for alternate finger and toe holds. The locality was once the home of Ancestral Puebloans – an ancient Native American culture – and these stairways led to granaries where corn was stored.

2. Quad biking in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
Kane County Tourism

The undulating drifts in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park were formed by the high-wind erosion of pink-coloured Navajo sandstone and the peaks can fluctuate up to 50ft a year. Coloration is due to iron oxide and these dunes are between 10,000 and 15,000 years old. The park is a fun place to hike, sandboard or, better still, hire a quad bike with Coral Pink ATV Tours. There are 1,200 acres of dunes, at an elevation of 6,000 feet, open for ATV riding. If you prefer your exhilaration as a passenger, rather than at the wheel, some of the vehicles have rear seats (I’m a cissy, I wimped out).

3. Iconic Hollywood film locations

Snow Canyon State Park
Beverley Watts

Utah’s Valley of the Gods - known as 'Miniature Monument Valley' - is easily recognisable in Easy Rider, The Lone Ranger and Forrest Gump. The isolated buttes and towering pinnacles form extraordinary shapes against the deep blue sky. Nearby Monument Valley requires a permit but Valley of the Gods is open for visitors.

We drove down the 17-mile gravel lane that winds through the valley and it was completely deserted. Nearby on Highway US 163, southwest of Mexican Hat, is the sweeping highway that became a pivotal location in 1994 comedy-drama Forrest Gump. It’s illegal to stand in the road but everyone wants an Instagram snap of themselves in the spot where the slow-witted but kind-hearted Forrest suddenly ends his cross-country run.

Put on your hiking boots to clamber over the Petrified Dunes at Snow Canyon State Park in Washington County where there are 38 miles of walking trails around the lava flows. The canyon was used in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

4. A helicopter trip over Zion National Park

A ride with Zion Helicopters
Beverley Watts

To get a real feel of the region’s dramatic geography, take a flight across Southern Utah with Zion Helicopters. Cross the Virgin River Valley and fly over The West Temple, a prominent 7,810 ft landmark summit, to Crater Hill, the remains of a volcano cinder cone which last erupted 100,000 years ago. In the US, there are always waiver forms to complete so once you’ve booked a slot, arrive in plenty of time for the admin and the pre-flight safety briefing. It’ll be worth it.

5. Camping and horse riding

Glamping tents at Under Canvas Zion
Beverley Watts

I wasn’t sure I’d love glamping but staying in a tent at Under Canvas Zion, 15 minutes from the tiny town of Virgin, was fantastic. Even on scorching days the evenings can be chilly but I had a king-size bed and my own little wood-fired stove, which I was shown how to light (it did, of course, have a chimney outlet). There are showers and toilets in the tents and though no power sockets, battery fans and lanterns have USB plugs for mobile phone charging.

In the morning, Blue Sage Adventures met us to go horseback riding through the wild Kolob Terrace expanse of Zion National Park. Max, my docile steed, stayed tranquil on our ride to scenic South Point with cowboys Derek and Dale who helped us mount, dismount and get the tension on the reins just right. They told us tales about rattlesnake encounters, the coyotes who tried to ambush their puppy (unsuccessfully) - and yodelled us back to camp.

6. Cliffside steaks and farm-to-fork salads

Cliffside Restaurant
Beverley Watts

A pistachio croissant at Kanab Creek Bakery is a breakfast treat with coffee. The sharing plates at Sego Kanab include Chinese BBQ pork with crispy noodles and shrimp with mango puree. Perfect if you like lots of little tasters. In St George, nothing beats the Cliffside Restaurant for location, the homemade lemonade comes in a jar with a sugar rim and the steak is succulent. Painted Pony’s seared ahi tuna is creatively presented and the frozen lemon soufflé, garnished with rhubarb, a delight.

An hour away in Springdale (where Kevin Costner has recently been location scouting), the house speciality burger at Oscar’s Café is a half-pounder topped with pastrami. The braised bison at Zion Mountain Ranch’s Cordwood is served with vegetables fresh from the orchard garden and the colourful Sunshine Salad – with blue cheese, strawberries and candied pecans – at Comb Ridge Eat & Drink in Bluff looks as good as it tastes.

The Mormon Church advises against the consumption of alcohol for its members but alcohol is available in Utah restaurants.

7. Panoramic views to petrify

Goosenecks State Park
Beverley Watts

At Goosenecks State Park, there’s an impressive viewpoint overlooking 300 million years of geological activity. The meandering San Juan River has carved out a looped 1,000ft deep canyon on its way to Lake Powell, which is picture-perfect. Brave the Moki Dugway switchback mountain road that twists around Cedar Mesa for more spectacular scenery. The trail was constructed in 1958 by a mining company to transport uranium ore and its now part of Utah’s state highway system.

8. Petroglyphs, Pueblo ruins and millions of stars

Petroglyphs
Beverley Watts

Bears Ears National Monument, just outside Bluff, is a protected archaeological zone created at the request of Native American tribes. The Sand Island Petroglyph Panel, carved by Ancestral Puebloans, depicts horned animals and hunters. The broad shouldered, small headed figures of men are estimated to date from 500 BC. At this spiritually significant rock wall, there are also later designs by Ute and Navajo people.

To get to River House Site, where prehistoric homes are built into Comb Ridge, you can hike but we travelled in ATVs with Wild Expeditions. Crossing streams and rugged terrain, we passed the steep track up San Juan Hill where Mormon pioneers first struggled with oxen and wagons in 1879. They added their own graffiti to the area for prosperity by scratching ‘We thank thee O God’ at the summit.

As the sun goes down, the stars are startlingly bright in this Dark Sky wilderness and you can pick out the illuminated constellations with ease, though a phone app helps.

9. Jeep tours and ghostly Utah Junipers

Jolley Gulch
Beverley Watts

If you like getting muddy, take an East Zion Jeep Tours trip around the East Rim Trail beside Zion National Park after a few days’ rain. The terrain is often arid, though, and the Utah Juniper tree thrives in baking heat, sharp winds and bone-chilling cold. It can appear to have died, with leafless branches, but its hidden secret is 100ft roots. You’ll see this hardy specimen appearing to grow straight out of rock.

At beautiful Jolley Gulch, there’s now a gushing waterfall but when you stand at the edge to take that Instagram selfie, watch out. It’s said the wind blowing at your back could be the ghost of a desperate cattle farmer who lost all hope during a drought.

10. Buffalo ranch stays and boutique hotels

Zion Mountain Ranch
Beverley Watts

There are 59 cabins (from cosy to huge lodges) at Zion Mountain Ranch where the only wild buffalo herd left in the US have 300 acres to roam around. The brand new Bluff Dwellings resort (opening 2019) is designing its accommodation to look like ruins next to Bluff’s boulders

Conveniently situated for Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Canyons Boutique Hotel in Kanab has a plunge swimming pool and Desert Rose Resort & Cabins, Bluff, has its own pleasant restaurant, Duke’s. The Inn on the Cliff looks out over the St George Valley with picture windows facing the view.

For more information on the state of Utah, go to visitutah.com.

Virgin Atlantic flies daily from London Heathrow to Las Vegas. virginatlantic.com/

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