Just north of St. George, next to Ivins, Snow Canyon State Parks is closer than Zion National Park or Bryce Canyon National Park. Easier to get to if the urge strikes you, or if the kids want somewhere exiting to hike, bike, or have a picnic, this is definitely the place!

Snow Canyon State Park Kids Activities

Become a Junior Ranger!

Snow Canyon State Park offers a Junior Ranger program at the park. While the program is aimed at children six to 12, everyone is welcome. Please check with a park ranger upon your arrival at the park.

Kid Fun Hikes in Snow Canyon

Jenny's Canyon

Trail Information

Length: 0.5 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Easy

This trail is closed annually from March 15th, to June 1st.

Jenny’s Canyon Trailhead
The trail leads off of the right (east) side of the road as visitors enter from the south.

Mouth of Jenny’s Canyon
The route up to the slot canyon is somewhat steep, and has steps in some areas.

End of Jenny’s Canyon
Jenny’s Canyon narrows and becomes impassable rather quickly, making this a short hike overall.

Sand Dunes
The Sand Dunes and its picnic area lie just across the road from Jenny’s Canyon. The dunes here are a popular way to relax, take your shoes off, and enjoy the beautiful red sand of Snow Canyon.

Jenny’s Canyon is a fun, short slot canyon located almost at the mouth of Snow Canyon, across the road from the Sand Dunes. At only a half-mile roundtrip, this is a good way to introduce children to the excitement of canyoneering.
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Johnson Canyon

Trail Information

Length: 2 miles round trip
Difficulty: Easy

This trail is closed annually from March 15th, to October 31st.

Johnson Canyon Trailhead
The trail heads east from this point, approaching and then hugging the reaching walls of Snow Canyon, before it disappears into the depths of Johnson Canyon.

Johnson Canyon Arch
With a 200-foot span, the Johnson Canyon Arch is one of the largest in the area.

Parking Area
The parking area is adjacent to the south entrance station, adjacent to the restrooms. The trailhead is on the east side of the road, but the parking area is across the street.

Johnson Canyon Trail is a short, but exciting hike at the mouth of Snow Canyon State Park. It boasts a natural spring, black lava flows, redrock walls, cottonwood and willow glades, and an impressive arch near the end. There are only minor up-and-downs on this route; the trail gains almost nothing in elevation between the road and the arch.
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Pioneer Names Trail

Trail Information

Length: 0.5 miles round trip
Difficulty: Easy

Pioneer Names Trailhead
The trailhead is located 0.15 mile north of the Sand Dunes picnic area and the inception of the West Canyon Road.

Pioneer Names
The names are located at the base of the cliff, at approximately the middle of the crescent’s curve.

End of the Trail
The end of the trail brings visitors back to Snow Canyon Drive, 0.2 miles north of the trailhead.

Snow Canyon Campground
The park campground is located just to the north of the Pioneer Names Trail.

The Pioneer Names Trail in Snow Canyon State Park is a short, crescent moon-shaped hike that leads visitors over some mildly rocky terrain with small slopes. The trail passes a collection of some names on a rock face, written in axle grease. The names date back to early settlers from 1881.
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Sand Dunes

Trail Information

Length: 0.5 miles round trip
Difficulty: Easy

Sand Dunes
The mostly bare, playable area of the dunes is relatively small, only 400 feet wide, and just over 1,000 feet long, though they actually stretch for much further than that under layers of juniper and other hardy desert shrubs.

Picnic Area
The picnic area sits within the shadows of 500-foot cliffs to the east, and 700-foot cliffs to the west, making it a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the scenery during a meal.

Jenny’s Canyon
Jenny’s Canyon is a fun slot canyon located almost at the mouth of Snow Canyon. Only half a mile long roundtrip, this canyon makes for a good, short hike.

The Sand Dunes of Snow Canyon are one of the main attractions of the state park. Near the beginning of the canyon, co-located with a picnic area and restrooms, and right next door to the West Canyon, Whiptail, and Jenny’s Canyon Trails, it makes a popular destination for those who wish to enjoy a leisurely lunch and then some exploration. The sand is soft and fine, perfect for a barefoot stroll. Some of the dunes are large and steep enough that children enjoy rolling down the sides.
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West Canyon Road

Trail Information

Length: 8 miles round trip
Difficulty: Easy

West Canyon Road
Bikers, hikers, and joggers routinely use this road as a means of exercise and landscape enjoyment.

Junction with Whiptail Trail
West Canyon Road meets up with, and parallels Whiptail Trail pretty much at its inception, before Whiptail splits and heads east, and West Canyon continues northwest up the canyon.

End of the Road
Deep within the narrow defile, West Canyon Road ends, and visitors must turn around, though they do not necessarily have to return the way they came. Hikers and joggers have the option of enjoying any of the dozens of other trails in Snow Canyon that intersect with the Road, or with other trails that intersect with the Road.

The longest trail in Snow Canyon State Park, the West Canyon Road is an unpaved maintenance road that runs from just above the Sand Dunes area of the lower park, to the deep, narrow canyons to the west of the main roads. The trail gains 400 feet of elevation along its 4-mile trek up the road, the last mile within the protective walls of the narrow head of Snow Canyon.
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Whiptail Trail

Trail Information

Length: 6 miles round trip
Difficulty: Easy

Whiptail Trailhead
The Whiptail more or less officially begins at the intersection of Snow Canyon Drive and South Tuacahn Parkway. But the bike trail is really a 16-mile loop trail, continuing southeast into St George, and then up State Route 18 on a northerly route until it reaches the State Route18-Snow Canyon Drive junction just south of the Cinder Cone Trail. From there, bikers, or the marathon joggers, can turn south and head through Snow Canyon, to once again find themselves at the South Tuacahn Parkway.

Johnson Canyon Trail
The trail crosses the road just a few hundred feet past the Johnson Canyon Trailhead. It is a short, but exciting hike at the mouth of the park. It boasts a natural spring, black lava flows, redrock walls, cottonwood and willow glades, and an impressive arch near the end.

Upper Galoot-End of the Trail
Just a little way above the Hidden Pinyon Trail, its overlook, and the Three Ponds route across West Canyon Road, the Whiptail Trail comes to and end, though hikers, bikers, and joggers can continue up the side of Snow Canyon Drive if they wish. There is a picnic area at the end of the trail, and a large sandstone island that is fun to play on. there is another picnic area, the Lower Galoot, on the south side of the sandstone island, only 900 feet south of the Upper Galoot.

The Whiptail Trail is a popular route for hikers, bikers, and joggers alike. It is a wide, paved trail that follows the bottom of Snow Canyon State Park, stretching from the Upper Galoot—just a little over half-way between the Cinder Cone Trail and the outskirts of Ivins—to the trailhead on South Tuacahn Parkway. The trail gains just under 500 feet in elevation as it climbs from Ivins, up past the park office and campground, and finally comes to an end at the picnic tables of the Upper Galoot.

As a hike, three miles up and three miles back, on a paved road is not that bad. There is always a plethora of bikers and joggers on the trail, those using the amazing backdrop of the canyon as their aerobic scenery of choice.
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