Get out of the gym and into nature with these trails fit for the whole family. Harmony Walker with the Salt Project Blog shares her picks:
#1 MONTICELLO
When people say "Southern Utah" we always assume St. George or Zion National Park, not many of us think about the whole eastern side of Utah. Everyone knows about Moab, but hardly anyone goes south of there. Well my friends, I'm about to change all of your minds.
Visited Newspaper Rock
Hiked Butler Wash
Hiked Natural Bridges National Monument
Take the drive back through starry skies. (Starry Sky photo from Canyon Country Discovery Center. Because I can't take night photos.)
#2 RED FLEET DINOSAUR TRACK HIKE
Hiking Red Fleet Dinosaur Track was AMAZING! This 3 mile roundtrip hike is well marked and so fun.
The coolest part of this trail is that it has dino tracks printed along the entire thing. At first we thought it was a real track, but then we realized it was a trail marker. So clever. This trail is very hard to follow, not a clear path, so these footprints saved us when we were hiking back in the dark.
As I said, the trail is marked really well, The trail is a mix of fine dirt/sand and rock. Although this is a very easy hike, it might be hard for some that need even footing
The flora was so beautiful. We just love desert flowers.
At the water's edge, there are over 100 dino tracks! We only found one because the water level was so high, but it was totally worth the short hike and the views! Oh my goodness, so beautiful!
#3 THOR'S HIDEOUT HIKE IN CEDAR CITY
Thor's Hideout is a new trail located in the Thunderbird Garden in beautiful Cedar City! It's part of the new Thunderbird Gardens, literally tucked on the east side of Cedar City.
Thunderbird Garden is a trailhead for mountain biking, OHV riding, horseback riding, hiking and apparently, you can also do some climbing and repelling there too! Next time!
We packed all 9 of our kids and then also brought along the cousins, so we had 15 kids under the age of 14!
The trail is well marked, maybe even a little too well. There's a few spots that are confusing because there's Thor's Hideout Trail for hiking and biking and then there's Thor`s Hideout Trail for ATVS.
You guys, it's so beautiful back there. You`ll hike through red rocks, honeycomb rocks, sand, and all sorts of beautiful desert scenery.
There are some switchbacks, but our 2-year did 90% of the hike herself, albeit a very slow pace, but she did do it.
You'll also cross over some creek areas (barely running now in March, so I can't imagine it's got much water in the dead of summer.)
Once we got to the end of Thor's Hideout you'll be rewarded with a BEAUTIFUL view of snowy capped mountains and desert.
#4 PEEK A BOO SLOT CANYON IN KANAB
We were super excited for our first guided hiking tour! We loved partnering with Kane County, they know ALL the things to do! I mean...who wouldn't love a guided tour! Not only that, but we got to ride around in a high clearance vehicle! While you can drive out to Peekaboo Slot Canyon trailhead, you do need a good 4WD.
Once we got out to the trailhead, we were the only ones! It had just snowed that night, so there was plenty of mud. Luckily, I had packed all the kids some boots, unlucky for my husband and I...I forgot our boots. So we were just going to have to do some light footwork.
Peek a Boo or "Red Canyon" is a .7 mile hike one way. It's very kid friendly with only a few small spots to climb over smaller boulders.
The kids were already scrambling all around. Since it was a slot canyon and in the middle of winter, I wasn't too worried about them getting lost.
The kids were having a blast. They literally just ran back and forth, climbing and throwing rocks into the water. They were in heaven when we found some dry sand. The hike was only .5 miles one way and really a breeze. We saw icicles, some of them were huge, so don`t stand under them for too long.
