All the great tips we’ve learned from our yearly trip to St George
Where to Stay in St George
Our family loves to stay at The Inn at Entrada. We have stayed here the past 3 years in a row, and intend to stay here for many more years to come. We get a 3 bedroom casita, which sleeps up to 8. It’s amazing to have our own house and enough space that we aren’t all on top of each other during our trip.
The Inn at Entrada kind of like an AirBnB, only way better because of all the amenities- and there is always someone on site at the front desk, if you need more towels or something.
There is an indoor and outdoor pool, basketball courts, tennis and pickleball courts, sand volleyball, ping pong, exercise room, restaurants, and a golf course on the property. We feel like we could just stay on the property forever and never be bored.
You can read about our past 2 years at the Inn at Entrada here and here.
Fun Parks in St George
St George is always sunny and beautiful. One of our favorite things is to explore all of the different parks they have available. Some of our favorites are:
Thunder Junction– this is an all abilities park with the coolest dinosaur themed playground. They have ziplines, slides, spinners, towers, and climbing walls. The best part is that they have a little train that drives around the park. The train is $1 per person, but the rest of the park is free.
Hidden Valley Park– this park has a splash pad with a big water tank that dumps water out. If you are visiting St George in the Summer, make sure to check our Hidden Valley. So cute and fun.
Downtown Historic St George– this isn’t really a playground type park, but if you visit St George, you need to stop by historic downtown, near the children’s museum (see below). There is a cute little stream that runs through the town square, and a darling little carousel. My kids loved visiting Downtown Historic St George.
Vernon Worthen Park– this is a cute little playground right in the middle of town, close to the temple. The thing that makes this park great is there is a lot of open grass to run or throw a ball. The photos below are from this park.
Sand Hollow State Park
If you are visiting Southern Utah, you have to stop by Sand Hollow State Park. The reservoir is beautiful, with a gorgeous red sand beach. Our kids could have stayed and played for hours. A lot of people come to Sand Hollow to ride jeeps and ATV’s. There are rental places nearby, or just enjoy the beach.
Hiking in St George
The hiking in Southern Utah is fantastic! Every time we visit, we make sure to go on a few hikes. Here are some of our favorites:
Snow Canyon State Park– Snow Canyon is gorgeous and has a lot of different hiking trails for all different levels. There is also a big sand pit, which we lost a few flip flops in. We love visiting Snow Canyon
Pioneer Park– My kids call this place “Dixie Rock”, because of the word DIXIE painted on one of the rock faces. It is such a great place to bring your family for a little rock climbing that isn’t too crazy. My kids beg to visit “Dixie Rock” every time we go to St George. The photos below are from Pioneer Park.
Glitter Mountain
Glitter Mountain is a gypsum mine where kids are free to “mine” their own gypsum. The whole mountain shimmers because of the gorgeous mineral rocks. We stopped at the dollar store on our way down and got some hammers, chisels, and buckets for the kids. Then they were able to dig out and keep their own little treasures.
Glitter Mountain is a little off the beaten path. It’s actually in Arizona, but it’s only about a 25 minute drive outside of St George. Some of the 13 mile drive is on a dirt road. But if you have adventurous little kids, it is definitely worth the drive. Just plug this address into your GPS and it’ll take you there:
Old Gypsum Crystal Mine, Littlefield, AZ 86432
I do want to clarify that this is private property and I’m not 100% sure the rules or if they have changed since we visited in 2017. You may want to do a little more research and make sure they are still allowing people on the property.
******UPDATE: I have received comments that there is no longer public access to glitter mountain. There are reports of the area being unsafe. I’m not sure the exact rules, but it seems like this might be a destination of the past.
St George Children’s Museum
We loved visiting the St George Children’s Museum. It is free to visit, but they do ask for a donation. Our kids had a blast checking out all of the fun exhibits and hands-on activities available in the museum. I would definitely recommend a visit if you are in St George with kids.
Kristie says
Thanks! We spend a lot of weekends down that way. I’m always looking for something fun for the kids to do.
Another suggestion instead of Sand Hollow is Quail Creek State Park. They are super close, but sometimes Quail isn’t as busy. There is also some super cool red rocks, Red Cliffs Recreation Area. Also Leeds has Silver Reef Museum and the old town area. They are super cool to go see.
Now to figure out all the cool places to eat down there!
Natalie Dalpias says
Great idea!! Thanks for the heads up
Sindy Elamrani says
Please do not tell people to bring hammers and chisels to Glitter Mountain. There was a huge sign put up in Dec 2016 that says for safety reasons no one is supposed to be in the pit nor is anyone allowed to chisel off the gypsum! The mine claimant is worried that the over hang in the pit is going to fall and kill people. The over hang is from people using hammers and chisels to take the gypsum. You can any that you want that is on the ground not in the pit. The mine claimant is thinking of fencing off the mine before someone gets seriously hurt or killed. Then no one can go in the pit!
Natalie Dalpias says
Thank you for your comment. I’ll make sure to update my post.