April 30, 2023

The Best Places to Visit Near Kanab, Utah

Situated on the boarder of Utah and Arizona, Kanab is a great hub for national park and outdoor enthusiasts. Within close proximity to several national parks along with many other outdoor destinations, the opportunities are endless! Kanab also boasts some great history itself and has many local attractions. After spending a week working remotely from Kanab, here are some tips for your trip planning.

National Parks

Zion – You can get to the east entrance to Zion in just over 30 minutes from Kanab. If you’re looking to get to the main entrance on the Springdale side of the park you have two options. You can go through the east entrance and take the scenic Mt. Carmel Highway through the park (great drive, but often congested). Or, you can loop around to Springdale which will be a roughly 1.5 hour drive.
Bryce Canyon – You can reach the main entrance of Bryce Canyon in around 1.5 hours from Kanab. While in the area you are also close to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument which offers some outstanding hiking opportunities.
Grand Canyon (North Rim) – You can get to the north rim of the Grand Canyon in just over 2 hours from Kanab. Add on another hour and a half if you want to get down to the south rim.

Nearby Outdoor Attractions

Sand Caves – located right on the edge of town and visible from HWY 89 are a series of caves left over from sand mining that took place in the area. There’s a rather short hike with a decent scramble up a rock face to get to the caves. No extra gear needed but we’d recommend stable hiking boots. We thought the caves were fascinating to explore with great views!
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park – Located less than 30 minutes from town, this state park encompasses 3,730 acres and is filled with towering sand dunes. The reddish sand gives the park its name and they are constantly changing with the wind. We unfortunately did not make it to the park on our stay here, it’s on the top of our list for next time.
Belly Of The Dragon – Just over 15 miles from Kanab you’ll find a man-made drainage tunnel under the highway. Doesn’t sound very exciting – right? Well the 0.3 mile tunnel is still fun to explore for a quick stop. It truly does look like you’re walking through the belly of a dragon!
Buckskin Gulch & Wire Pass Trail – The Wire Pass trail system and Buckskin Gulch gorge offer an amazing hiking experience with many slot canyons. Located an hour away from Kanab we’d highly recommend making the trip as it was one of our favorite hikes in the area.
Horseshoe Bend – This breathtaking location is a horseshoe shaped section of the Colorado River leading up to the Grand Canyon. This is located near Page, Arizona and is good to fit in if you’re in the area doing Buckskin Gulch. We got there to relax and watch the sunset while taking in the beauty of the landscape.

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

Make sure to keep Best Friends Animal Sanctuary on the list for your Kanab trip planning. It was one of the highlights of our trip! For more information on visiting the sanctuary check out our post here.

Exploring The Town

While doing your Kanab trip planning, fit in a break from all your adventures, and explore Kanab itself!

There are many museums and galleries throughout Kanab where you can learn more about the history of the region. Kanab is known as “Little Hollywood” because of all the Westerns that were filmed in the region. You can learn more about this movie history plus see a collection of movie sets at the Little Hollywood Museum.

There are also a wide variety of great dining options in Kanab. Our favorite stop was at Peekaboo Canyon Wood Fired Kitchen which was both dog-friendly and offered an extensive vegetarian-friendly menu.