Walk Your Way on Miles of Paved Trails in St. George Utah

If you are like many people, some days you get the urge to go for a walk. Nothing too strenuous, not a hike; a bike ride won’t do it. You want to go for a leisurely walk.

When you live in SunRiver St. George, that’s easy. All you have to do is walk out your front door and you have a few miles of easy-to-walk streets with minimal slow-moving traffic and considerate drivers. With over three-hundred days of sunshine, you can take a walk whenever you get the urge.

Most neighborhood parks in and around St. George have standalone paved walking trails and are ideal for short scenic walks.

Then there are those days when around the park or neighborhood won’t quench your thirst for distance. You want a long walk on paved trails.

St. George, Utah and the surrounding area including Santa Clara, Washington and Hurricane offer over fifty miles of paved walking trails.

You can start out walking in SunRiver, and by combining paved walking trails and a few streets, walk all the way to Santa Clara, a brisk ten mile walk; or follow the scenic Virgin River Trail all the way to Washington City, an invigorating fifteen miles.

Fancy a hike in, or a walk through, Snow Canyon State Park in Ivins, where nature has sculpted the white, pink and red sandstone into countless unnatural shapes and sizes?

From SunRiver, the first leg of your walk to Snow Canyon will be along the Virgin River Trail to the Crosby Family Confluence Park.

Walk west from Confluence Park on the Santa Clara Trail and go under the I-15 freeway. On your right, you will take the Hilton Drive Trail north along Bluff Street. Walk north along Bluff Street four miles to the Snow Canyon Parkway intersection, and pick up the Snow Canyon Parkway Trail.

Don’t get confused at this intersection. On the east side of Bluff Street the road is called Red Hills Parkway, and as it crosses over Bluff Street it becomes Snow Canyon Parkway on the west side.

Go left. (If you go right, you will be on the Red Hills Parkway Trail. See below)

Walk west on the Snow Canyon Parkway trail for a little over three miles. If you see trail signs, you may notice the trail you are on changes names from Snow Canyon Parkway to Snow Canyon, to Whip Tail.

Go right (north) when you reach Snow Canyon Drive, and follow the Whip Tail Trail into the canyon. Once there, you can stay on the paved trail or wander off into the park’s web of natural trails. By the time you reach the far end of the state park, you will have completed a solid twelve-mile walk from Crosby Family Confluence Park, and seventeen miles from your start at SunRiver.

Many of the trails interconnect to offer everything from a lunch-break walk to all day excursions. The Mayor’s Loop starts in the Crosby Family Confluence Park and makes a five mile loop around the Virgin River. The Mayor’s Loop offer views of a wide variety of river and desert plants and possibly wildlife.

When you reach River Road on the Mayor’s Loop, and crave a longer walk, cross River Road and pick up the Virgin River Trail. After about two and a half miles, the trail merges with Waterfront Drive. Walk up to Riverside Drive and go right. Walk half a mile on Riverside Drive, and pick up the Virgin River Trail again on the right.

The next six miles follows the Virgin River with views of cut sandstone cliffs, river vistas, and Shinobe Kibe (the mesa across the river from the Sullivan Virgin River Soccer Park in Washington).

With all the available trails, you can custom your walk to any length. Here are a few more of the local paved trails with links to Google maps.

Coral Canyon Trail runs adjacent to I-15 with views of desert and red cliffs. It begins at E. View Pointe Drive in Washington, takes a left uphill to the water tank and a viewpoint, and heads east to terminate on E. Grasslands Parkway or E. Willow Springs Drive. Coral Canyon is an out and back trail.

Halfway Washington Trail follows City Creek from the intersections of 540 North and North Dixie Drive. It will take you north through Royal Oaks Park, through a tunnel under Snow Canyon Parkway and loop back to the Snow Canyon Parkway Trail.

Middleton Wash Trail runs from the area of the Red Cliffs Mall a mile and a half southeast along Mall Drive to the Virgin River where it intersects with the Virgin River Trail.

Red Hills Parkway Trail runs along Red Hills Parkway above the city. You will see almost aerial panoramic views of St. George on the right, and time sculptured red cliffs on your left. You will pass Pioneer State Park and the Red Hills Desert Garden on this four-mile trail. As an added bonus on this trail, when you reach the end there are several places to eat or get a drink.

Santa Clara Trail begins at the Crosby Family Confluence Park and travels west under I-15. Follow this trail alongside the Southgate Golf Course, across Dixie Drive, and north to Tonaquint Park, Nature Center, and Thunder Junction All Abilities Park. Continue another two miles north to Cottonwood Cove Park. Most of the trail hugs the Santa Clara River with views of St. George ’s red cliffs and riverside wildlife and plants.

Whether it’s a neighborhood walk, a short loop around a park, or a five, ten or fifteen-mile walk through desert vistas and waterways, the paved trail system in and around St. George offers a variety of excursions.