Lava Flow Overlook Trail - Snow Canyon State Park
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Exploring the Lava Tubes
Exploring One of St. George’s Gems
With five National Parks to explore, Snow Canyon State Park simply isn’t going to make it into the itinerary of your first trip to Utah. That’s ok because Utah is an amazing Spring Break destination, and you can keep coming back. Put this park on your agenda for a second trip.
Snow Canyon (named after a person with the last name of Snow - not because it snows here; it’s hot here) sits on the edge of St. George, UT. St. George is a nice medium-sized city with tons of great hotels, restaurants, and places to restock on food or replacing anything that may have broken on your trip thus far (for me that’s been an air mattress - I don’t understand why boys can’t share a hotel bed but mine simply cannot, and a pair of shoes as my then 8-year-old had literally walked through his during our distance learning adventures of 2021.)
Snow Canyon State Park has gorgeous red cliff canyon walls and petrified sand dunes, but what makes this park stand out is its explorable lava tube caves, which is a relatively unique feature in the US. Make sure you bring an actual flashlight (not just your phone light) or a headlamp so you can fully enjoy the experience. Once you are here, if you’ve got time to enjoy more of the park, there are some other fantastic hikes noted below.
Scout Cave - Snow Canyon State Park
Planning Your Trip
Give yourself at least a half day if not a full day to explore Snow Canyon. On our first trip in March 2021, I crammed in visits to Pioneer Park and Red Reef on the same, which only left us time to explore the lava tubes. When you reflect back on your trip, it’s not great when you are sitting in Minnesota and realize you are yearning to go back and see more of the place that you were just at, and you end up back here in two years to explore the rest of the park like we did in March 2023. In the long run, it’s cheaper to limit the number of places you go, and take the time to fully explore them just once.
There are so many other nearby places to hike (see my recommendations at the end), that I would spend the night in the city of St. George, and if you’ve got time, plan to spend a couple of nights here.
Due to the larger size of the city, the hotels are going to have breakfast options, and there are lots of places for supper, so the only thing you need to consider if you want to spend the whole day at Snow Canyon is packing a lunch. This park is so close to the city though, you could leave for a bit, get fast food, and had back.
On both of our trips in March, the weather was fantastic, if not actually on the side of being too warm. I was talking to a park ranger, commenting that I should just move to Utah as I enjoy hiking this state so much, and he told me that I should stay in Minnesota because the summers are terribly hot. The southwest is not on my list for any summer trip, so I laughed when he said this, but I’m sharing this anecdote with you in case you haven’t had the opportunity to be in UT, AZ, or NV in the summer - hot doesn’t begin to describe it. Pick this destination for a Spring Break trip.
Jenny’s Canyon - Snow Canyon State Park
Hiking
Below is my attempt at providing a map of the park. If you’ve got a full day, enter into the park on the North entrance and start with the Lava Flow Overlook Trail (purple), which has three different caves to explore (marked with stars). Head south on the park road. I’ve marked the visitor center because it has bathrooms. There isn’t much of a store to buy any souvenirs.
Next head to Jenny’s Canyon (orange). If you’ve been in slot canyons before, this one is so small, it won’t impress you - skip it. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see a slot canyon, then this is a great place to explore your first one.
If you have younger kids with you, after Jenny’s Canyon, keep your car parked where it is and walk across the street to the sand dunes. These are not big enough to sled on, but it’s a great place to play and dig in the sand.
The last hike I would recommend is Scout Cave (blue). I would not recommend this hike for younger kids simply due to the longer distance and elevation gain. If you head to Scout Cave, you might as well stop at Johnson Arch (red) first. This is a big arch, but it’s a little difficult to see with the surrounding hills. (If you are looking for a more scenic arch, the smaller one at nearby Pioneer Park is better for pictures). I enjoyed the leisurely hike out to Johnson Arch though through the canyon.
There are lots of other trails to explore (marked in brown), but there are so many amazing places to visit in Utah, I think a day is enough to feel like you’ve fully explored this park.
Snow Canyon State Park Map
Lava Overflow Trail
2.5 miles out-and-back / elevation gain - 174ft
Beginning of the Lava Overflow Trail
Parking can be a bit hard to find in Snow Canyon simply because the lots are small, but there are several larger parking areas for the Lava Overflow Trail. The trail starts out a little underwhelming. There’s no sign of lava, you aren’t near the canyon walls, and even the vegetation lacks a little excitement. There are several intersecting trails and you’ll initially wonder why you are here and where you are going. Just keep walking.
I simply love taking pictures of Cholla Cactus - and you can see the scenery quickly gets more impressive
You won’t need to walk too far and you’ll notice the dramatic change in the ground, and all of a sudden you see the left over evidence of a volcano.
Lava rocks are scattered over the terrain of this trail in Snow Canyon
The basics of lava tubes, if you haven’t explored one before - hot lava flows down the hill from the volcano. The top part cools the fastest as it’s exposed to the air. This hardens into rock. Hot lava continues to flow underneath down the hill. Eventually there isn’t any more lava coming out of the volcano, so the lava flows out and leaves behind an empty tube just under the surface. When parts of the rock degrade over time with water erosion, the rock gives way and collapses, creating an entry point to explore the lava tube. So as you hike, you are looking for holes in the ground. There are three entry points along this trail, and spoiler alert, the holes are all huge, plus they are marked with signs and therefore easy to find.
One of the lava tube entrances
Once you find an entrance, climb in and explore as far as you can. There are some tighter squeezes for those interested in crawling through a bit further. This was the perfect type of hike for my 8 and 12 year old boys! Make sure you are wearing shoes or hiking boots. The floor that you’ll be moving over is made of boulders that have fallen down from the ceiling. This would be an easy place to hurt a foot only wearing sandals.
Exploring the lava tubes
Each lava tube cave is very different, both in terms of the entrance and what it looks like inside, so have fun checking them all out.
This was the most dramatic entrance with a very large hole in the ground, although the access point to the lava tube was smaller.
This is the actual entrance to the lava tube
Although the hike is only 2.5 miles, we spent a little over two hours enjoying this part of the park, so make sure to give yourself enough time. One of the caves, I can’t remember which one, does have a spot you can squeeze through to get into another room. The other two weren’t as big.
Entering another lava tube
I tried to take pictures inside the caves but it’s really dark, so this is the best I could get to show what the inside of a lava tube looks like. You can see that the ground is not flat. Exploring requires a lot of crawling on large boulders, which is why this is fun.
Lava Tubes at Snow Canyon State Park
At the end of the lava tube caves, the trail keeps going and you can walk a loop hike before returning the way you hiked in, to enjoy more time in the canyon and walking past the petrified sand dunes. This was our third hike of the day, and the boys were done walking, so we skipped the loop and just went back to the car to enjoy some pool time at the hotel, but I have no doubt that this would be a beautiful hike to complete.
Views of the petrified sand dunes inside Snow Canyon at the end of the Lava Overflow Trail
Jenny’s Canyon
0.5 miles / elevation gain - 125ft
Note: Jenny’s Canyon closes each year from March 15-June 1 to protect nesting falcons.
The red color of the canyon walls at Snow Canyon State Park is incredible
If you are driving through Snow Canyon from north to south, the next place I’d recommend stopping is at Jenny’s Canyon. There is a very small parking lot at the trailhead. There is a larger parking lot on your right-hand side before you reach Jenny’s Canyon. This is the parking lot for the sand dunes. If you see an open spot here as you are driving, just stop here and park. It’s much easier than having to turn back around after you realize there is no place to park at Jenny’s Canyon trailhead. This doesn’t add much mileage to your trek, and you can enjoy walking through the wash.
Wandering through the wash on our way to Jenny’s Canyon
You can see the entrance to Jenny’s Canyon from the below picture. The rock in front on the left doesn’t quite connect to the rock just behind it, and in the middle is a small slot canyon.
Jenny’s Canyon Trail
Here are a couple of pictures inside the canyon. As I mentioned earlier, if you’ve hiked slot canyons before, this one is so short, it may be a bit underwhelming. If you haven’t had the opportunity yet to see a slot canyon, you’ll love Jenny’s Canyon! Because it’s so short, there’s no need to worry about flash floods. You would be able to get out of the canyon the moment you saw water.
Jenny’s Canyon - a slot canyon in Snow Canyon State Park
This is the view of the end of Jenny’s Canyon.
Jenny’s Canyon - Snow Canyon State Park
For those mountain goats in your family, the walls in the entrance provide a fun challenge.
Entrance to Jenny’s Canyon
Sand Dunes
Distance / Elevation gain - N/A
For our Spring Break 2023 adventure, I purchased plastic disc sleds and snowboard wax, and I was looking for any trail that had “sand dune” in the description where we could try sledding. Snow Canyon has sand dunes, but they are very small and would not be possible to sled down. But if you are hiking with littles, this would be a fantastic place to play for a bit! These dunes are at the same parking lot that I recommended to stop at for Jenny’s Canyon. This is the view from the parking lot, so you can see how close it is.
If you plan to spend some time playing in the sand, an insider mom tip - check out “Sandproof Beach Blanket” on Amazon. These blankets are huge, plenty big enough for a family of four and all of your stuff. When you are done, you just shake the sand off the blanket (which is made out of material similar to a windbreaker) and stuff it into the bag. I bring ours on all of our trips, and it helps keep sand out of the car and luggage.
Sand dunes at Snow Canyon
Johnson Arch and Scout Cave
5.75 miles out-and-back / elevation gain - 570ft
The trail to Johnson Arch is closed March 15-Sept 14 for wildlife and habitat protection.
South Entrance to Snow Canyon State Park
If you are hiking with younger kids, skip Johnson Arch and Scout Cave, and check out Pioneer Park in St. George instead. This is a longer hike, and to get to Scout Cave, there is a decent uphill steep ascent towards the end. This was a trail we hiked in 2023, when my boys were older.
There is a parking lot just inside of the park entrance. If that’s full, drive back out of the park. You can park along the roadside. I’ve also read of a shorter trail to get into Scout Cave that starts in a neighborhood. I didn’t check that out as sometimes neighbors aren’t super friendly to vacationers…
Trail to Johnson Arch / Johnson Canyon
When my boys were younger, we park-hopped a lot. Meaning we would hike shorter trails and then drive someplace else for another short hike. You get to see a lot of different things this way, kids can nap in the car in-between, and everyone can enjoy some air conditioning. As they’ve gotten older though, I love the days where we can just stay put and spend less time in the car. This was one of those hiking opportunities. I’ve already dealt with finding a parking spot - why not explore every inch available before going back to the car?
In that line of thinking, although our intended destination was Scout Cave, we first hiked to Johnson Arch. Being honest, I liked Johnson Canyon and was not at all impressed by Johnson Arch. If you have other things you want to explore, I would recommend skipping Johnson Arch and simply check out Scout Cave. Or maybe spend some more time hiking past the Lava Overflow Trail (now that I’m thinking about it again, I really do wish I could go back and hike the rest of that loop…sigh).
Hiking through Johnson Canyon
The trail out to Johnson Canyon / Johnson Arch is very easy and flat; a nice wide sandy path. Below is Johnson Arch. You can see the outline of the arch, but as it’s situated, there just isn’t a great way to tell it’s an arch due to the canyon wall behind it.
Johnson Arch
The trail keeps going into Johnson Canyon. I liked this trail, despite not being impressed by the arch.
Johnson Canyon Trail
The trail pretty much ends here. There were some people down by the water playing in it. That’s pretty stagnant water, so that didn’t appeal to any of us. We did see some rock climbers here and enjoyed watching them for awhile.
End of Johnson Canyon
Hiking back out, we noticed a smaller arch on the top of the canyon, that you can actually see is an arch. I’m not sure if the formation has a name.
Johnson Arch Trail
Instead of heading back to the car, now take the trail fork to Scout Cave. This trail starts off gorgeous. Then it develops into an urban hike, and it follows along the edge of a neighborhood. The trail is at the bottom of the canyon, the houses are at the top. I didn’t realize how close this hike was to the city from the blogs I’d read. If you are looking for seclusion, I would pick a different hike inside of Snow Canyon.
Scout Cave Trail
The trail to Scout Cave follows along this canyon. It starts along the top, descends to the bottom, and then to get to Scout Cave you will need to climb back up.
Scout Cave Trail
You can see Scout Cave in the wall of rocks in the back in the below picture. Once you climb up out of the canyon, the ascent is pretty gradual. Due to the length of this trail and the down up, down up nature of the hike, I would rank this one as moderate, and that’s why I wouldn’t recommend it for younger children.
Just off to the right of the picture is a neighborhood of homes along the edge of St. George.
Scout Cave Trail
Below is the view from inside the cave. Depending on how you stand inside, you can enjoy the views of the distance mountains or the views of the nearby neighborhood and the city of St. George. The cave itself is pretty small. It looks like there may be other caves nearby to explore, but we were pretty much beat by this point in our day due to the heat and sun exposure even though it was was only early March, so we chose just to head back.
Scout Cave
Other Places to Hike
My next blog will cover where else to hike in/near St. George, but in the interim, here are some suggestions:
1) Pioneer Park - This is literally a playground of rocks. There are arches, caves, and a slot canyon simply known as the “the Crack.” There’s foot holes to climb up rocks, bridges connecting the tops of rocks, and this park is right in St. George. This is a fantastic place to play for a couple of hours with younger kids.
Pioneer Park in St. George
2) Red Reef Trail - This trail is about 30 minutes outside of St. George on Bureau of Land Management land. The trail is a little over 2 miles and involves some sketchy navigation on the rocks using a rope and some foot holes. At worst case though you slip in and enjoy some cooler water. This was a fun place to spend a couple of hours.
Red Reef
3) Kolob Canyon - Zion National Park Entrance - Zion has a part of the park that is separate from the main trails which is known as Kolob Canyon, and it’s best accessed from St. George (30 minute drive) or Cedar City (20 minute drive). I’ve tried hiking here 3 times all in March and all in weather like the below picture. While I wouldn’t recommend hiking Snow Canyon State Park in the summer months, I can’t recommend hiking Kolob Canyon in March. I think these places are hiked on separate trips.
Zion - Kolob Canyon
4) Kanerra Falls - This slot canyon you’ve probably seen pictures of with the ladder you climb up to get past the waterfall. Same as Kolob Canyon, even though it’s only a 40 minute drive, March is not the right time of year to hike this slot canyon as the water is super cold, the air temp is going to be cold, and your chance of snow is extremely high.
5) Sand Hollow State Park - This park is just 25 minutes away from St. George. If you are here on a warmer day, there is a large lake to swim or kayak in and cliff jump from, as well as sand dunes to that you can take off-highway vehicles across.
5) Yant Flats - The trailhead to Yant Flats is 50 minutes from St. George. I tried getting here on our March 2023 trip, but the dirt road was so muddy, despite renting a 4x4 truck, I was bottoming out in the tire ruts. I was traveling without another adult in the car, and I chickened out, not having a clue what I would do if I actually were to get stuck in the mud. As long as the roads are dry, this hike could be done on a Spring Break trip. I’ve also read on AllTrails that accessing Yant Flats from the east is easier and not as muddy.
6) Toquerville Falls - This hike is just 45 minutes outside of St. George, but I haven’t had a chance to check this place out yet.
7) Glitter Mountain (also know as the Old Gypsum Mine) is in Littlefield, AZ - This looks like a fun place to take younger kids, just 30 minutes outside of St. George, to look for rock crystals (gypsum). This hike is on private land that the owner allows the public to enjoy. People are no longer able to walk into the gypsum mine pit, but can collect small piece of gypsum lying on the ground.
8) Zion National Park (Springdale Entrance) - The main entrance to Zion National Park is about an hour drive from St. George. If you plan to spend more than one day of hiking in Zion, move to a hotel in Springdale to avoid traffic. Here is a link to my blog on Zion:
Zion National Park - View from Angel’s Landing
9) Cathedral Gorge NV State Park - This park involves an hour and a half drive from St. George, but there isn’t really a closer option for hotels. This is a remote and stunning place to spend a half day of hiking. Here is my blog post on Cathedral Gorge State Park.
Cathedral Gorge - Cathedral Cave
Other Hiking Options
If you are looking for more hiking suggestions, please check out my below map with more of my posts linked to each pin.