Skip to Main Content
Road Scholar logo
Utah

Off the Beaten Path: Backcountry Hiking in Southwestern Utah

Program No. 23226RJ
Take on challenging hikes off the beaten path through the backcountry of Utah with a small group of fellow adventurers, learning about geological and human history of the region.
WishlistShare
Start
  • 23226-hiking-southwest-utah-candy-cliffs-lghoz.jpg
  • 23226-utah-zion-national-park-lghoz.jpg
  • 23226-utah-snow-canyon-1c.jpg
  • 23226-hiking-southwest-utah-squirrel-canyon-c.jpg
  • 23226-hiking-southwest-utah-water-canyon-c.jpg
  • 23226-utah-snow-canyon-2c.jpg
National ParksWalking/HikingOutdoor AdventuresSmall Group
Length
8 days
Rating (5)
Activity Level
Starts at
2,049

Enroll with Confidence

We want your Road Scholar learning adventure to be something to look forward to—not worry about. Learn more

Protecting the Environment

We offset a portion of the emissions created by your travel. Learn more

Itinerary
While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of our published materials, programs are typically advertised more than a year prior to their start date. Read More.
While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of our published materials, programs are typically advertised more than a year prior to their start date. As a result, some program activities, schedules, accommodations, personnel, and other logistics occasionally change due to local conditions or circumstances. Should a major change occur, we will make every effort to alert you. For less significant changes, we will update you during orientation. Thank you for your understanding.
Duration
8 days
7 nights
What's Included
20 meals ( 7B, 6L, 7D )
2 expert-led lectures
12 expert-led field trips
An experienced Group Leader
7 nights of accommodations
Taxes and customary gratuity
Road Scholar Assurance Plan
Expand All
Activity Note
Hotel check-in from 3:00 p.m. Remember to bring your nametag (sent previously).
Afternoon:
Program Registration: 3:00-5:30 p.m. After you check in and have your room assignment, join us at the Road Scholar table in the lobby to meet with program staff, get any updated information, and confirm the time and location of the Orientation session. If you arrive late, please locate your Group Leader and let them know you have arrived.
Dinner:
At the hotel.
Evening:
Orientation. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. Transportation will be provided primarily by passenger vans unless otherwise specified. Hikes will be led by the Group Leader and our instructor. Durations of hikes vary depending on the group. Evenings at leisure offer opportunities to make the program more meaningful and memorable through personal independent exploration, engaging in available activities on your own, or simply relaxing and making new friends among fellow participants. The Group Leader will always be happy to offer suggestions. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local conditions/circumstances. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding. Continue getting to know your fellow Road Scholars, settle in, and get a good night’s rest for the day ahead.
Activity Note
Getting in/out of passenger vans; driving 12 miles one way, under 1/2 hour riding time. Hiking distance for the day is 6 miles, elevation gain/loss about 1,200 feet, elevation of hiking area approximately 3,800 feet. The trail includes a steep ascent and descent with loose rocks and a section of deep sand in the dry wash on our return. The trail to the lava tubes is easy to moderate due to loose cinders and lava rock.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
In the hotel meeting room, our instructor will provide an overview of the local and regional geology. After a short break, we’ll depart via passenger vans for Padre Canyon to begin our hike in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve and Red Mountain Wilderness Area. The trail takes us over a saddle gaining 800 feet on a rocky trail then descends into a beautiful drainage of Snow Canyon State Park that is not visible from any other trails in the park. This route, which requires a good deal of boulder hopping, will take us into the heart of the transition area of Navajo sandstone as it changes from red at the lower end of the park to the white at the upper end. This transition area creates a random lacing pattern of white and red sandstone unique to Snow Canyon State Park and adds further dimension of beauty to this area. Hikers will find the trail challenging, beautiful, and awe-inspiring as it meanders through the drainage complete with fascinating differential erosion and towering 1,400-foot cliffs of Red Mountain beside you.
Lunch:
On the trail, we’ll have box lunches.
Afternoon:
We will continue hiking through a hidden canyon via a large wash and head over to the heart of Snow Canyon State Park. We will walk on petrified sand dunes, observe massive cross-bedding in the sandstone, and see round balls of iron concretions both free and still eroding from the sandstone. Two of the three major lava flows are visible from this area. The most recent flow happened about 27,000 years ago. Time permitting, we will enter a lava tube, a natural conduit formed by lava that flowed beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. We will return by vans to Saint George for dinner.
Dinner:
At a local restaurant.
Evening:
At leisure.
Activity Note
Getting in/out of passenger vans; driving 10 miles, under 1/2 hour riding time from St. George to Leeds; driving 10 miles, 1/2 hour riding time from Leeds to Yant Flats. Hiking distance for the day is 8 miles, about 5 hours in full sun. Elevation gain/loss about 1,000 feet, elevation of hiking area approximately 4,500 feet. This hike is a combination of deep sand on the trail crossing Yant Flats and undulating to steep areas of bare sandstone in the Candy Cliffs.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
We’ll depart via passenger vans to Leeds, Utah for a short hike to look at how quickly a slot canyon can form in sandstone. We will look at a popular canyoneering destination called Yankee Doodle Hollow on our way to the hike for the day.
Lunch:
On the trail to the Candy Cliffs.
Afternoon:
After lunch, we will continue our exploration of the Candy Cliffs. After a 1.3-mile trek across Yant flat, we will arrive at the access point to three bowls of multicolored, swirling patterned Navajo sandstone that includes many unique sedimentary features. We will have time to explore and enjoy about 4 miles of sandstone in three major bowls with incredible views of the surrounding area. We will return via passenger vans to Saint George for dinner.
Dinner:
At a local restaurant.
Evening:
At leisure.
Activity Note
Getting in/out of passenger vans; driving 43 miles one way, under 1 hour riding time. Hiking distance for the day is 9-11 miles, elevation gain/loss about 1,800 feet, elevation of hiking area approximately 5,000 feet. Today's hike requires boulder hopping, rock scrambles, ledge obstacles, steep drop offs and assisted lifts.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
We’ll travel via passenger vans to Hildale, Utah on our way to the trailhead for Water Canyon. This is a narrow canyon with beautiful cascades, pools and slot-like passageways that follow fractures in the canyon wall. This is an amazing and seemingly impossible trail that ascends to the high country of the Canaan Mountain plateau. Some places require scrambling and use of your hands.
Lunch:
On the trail.
Afternoon:
After lunch, we will continue our hiking exploration of the area around Canaan Mountain, which is a plateau of Navajo sandstone, heavily fractured and eroded, forming countless hoodoos, domes, pinnacles, and small ravines. From the top, we’ll have impressive views of the peaks of Zion National Park and spectacular panoramas of the valley 2,000 feet below. This can be an in-and-back hike or a loop hike up Water Canyon, across part of Canaan Mountain and down Squirrel Canyon. We will return via passenger vans to Saint George for dinner.
Dinner:
At a local restaurant.
Evening:
At leisure.
Activity Note
Getting in/out of passenger vans; driving 20 miles each way, approximately 1/2 hour riding time. Hiking distance for the day is 6 miles, elevation gain/loss about 900 feet, elevation of hiking area approximately 4,100 feet. Afternoon hikes include a steep climb up old roadbed; colorful wash and navigate minor obstacles. Second afternoon hike involves some deep sand and steep sandstone inclines and declines.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
In the hotel meeting room, we’ll be treated to an informative presentation by an expert archeologist on the prehistoric civilization of Southwest Utah. After a short break, we’ll depart via passenger vans for Anasazi Ridge and hike to ancestral Puebloan sites that overlook the Santa Clara River and include ancient home sites as well as evidence of farming on the fertile floodplains of the river. We will explore on the rim and over the uplifted ridge for petroglyphs dating back it is thought over 4,000 years. We’ll then return by vans to Saint George for lunch.
Lunch:
At a local restaurant.
Afternoon:
We will once again head out via passenger vans to – and continue our hiking investigations of – a little-known site upstream on the Santa Clara River where pottery pieces are commonly seen as well as rock chippings from tool making. Our last stop will be near Snow Canyon State Park in the 62,000 acres of the Desert Tortoise Preserve. Here there are multiple petroglyph panels that require hiking between each among breathtaking scenery as we navigate from site to site. One site is a slot canyon thought to be a Native American spiritual place. Another is called Newspaper Rock, a state monument. We will return by vans to Saint George for dinner.
Dinner:
At a local restaurant.
Evening:
At leisure.
Activity Note
Getting in/out of passenger vans; driving 40 miles one way, under 1 hour riding time. Hiking distance for the day is 6-7 miles, elevation gain/loss about 950 feet, elevation of hiking area approximately 6,000 feet.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
We’ll depart via passenger vans for Kanarraville, Utah. We begin our hike on a wide trail with juniper and scrub oaks trees. The trail leads us through narrow, red rock canyons with spectacular views. This area provides habitat for various birds of prey to include the bald eagle and peregrine falcon.
Lunch:
On the trail.
Afternoon:
We will continue our exploration in Spring Creek Canyon, then return by vans to Saint George for dinner.
Dinner:
At a local restaurant.
Evening:
At leisure.
Activity Note
Getting in/out of passenger vans; driving 45 miles, approximately 1 hour riding time to/from Zion National Park. Independent hiking in Zion National Park according to personal choice.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
We will take the vans to Zion National Park for a full-day independent exploration. Experience the park and its varied trails at your own pace.
Lunch:
We’ll enjoy a box lunch on the trail.
Afternoon:
We will continue exploring Zion National Park independently. Meeting back up at a predetermined time, we will then return to Saint George by vans for dinner.
Dinner:
At the hotel. Share favorite experiences and enjoy camaraderie with new Road Scholar friends during our farewell dinner.
Evening:
At leisure. Prepare for check-out and departure in the morning.
Activity Note
Hotel check-out by 11:00 a.m.
Breakfast:
At the hotel. This concludes our program.
Morning:
If you are returning home, safe travels. If you are staying on independently, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Don’t forget to join our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. Best wishes for all your journeys!
Please select a day to update the map
Map details are not available for this location.





Recommended For You