Soak at Zion Canyon Hot Springs
Above the canyon, west end of town · Day pass · Year round
This is the reason people now stop in La Verkin instead of driving past it. Roughly fifty pools and tubs, fed by mineral water that comes out of the ground at about 107 degrees, sit on a 15 acre site above the Virgin River canyon, along with cold plunges, barrel saunas, a freshwater family pool and an adults only section. It opened in July 2025 after the historic springs below had been shut to the public since 2013.
A block of the pools are built to mimic mineral waters from elsewhere in the world, which sounds like a gimmick and mostly is not, because the difference in what each one feels like is real. The hot springs page covers the water, the history and what a visit actually involves.
What is in the water
The source springs put out roughly 5,000 gallons a minute and carry about 109,000 tons of salt a year into the Virgin River, which is why the county water district owns them and why the resort treats the water before it circulates and again before it goes back to the river. The mineral load is the whole character of the place.
Book it rather than turning up
This is a day pass facility with sessions rather than a roadside pull off, and weekends and holidays fill. Winter weekday afternoons are the local's answer, with steam coming off the water and the canyon walls above it.
The details
Getting there
It sits on the west side of town toward the canyon rim, signed off State Street. Parking is on site.
Before you go
- Book ahead. This is the busiest thing in town and walk up availability is not a given.
- Bring a towel and sandals. Mineral water and a long walk to the car do not mix well in January.
- The mineral content is high enough to affect swimwear over time. Do not wear anything you would be sad to retire.
- There is an age restricted area and a family pool, so check which sections suit the group before booking.
- The original Pah Tempe site down in the canyon is a separate place and is closed. Do not go looking for it.
Spend a morning in Confluence Park
Bottom of the gorge, below town · Free · Year round, best October to May
Three hundred and forty four acres at the bottom of the gorge, where Ash Creek and La Verkin Creek both arrive at the Virgin River inside about a quarter mile of each other. Washington County runs it through the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve office, there are eleven trails through it open to walkers, riders and horses, and the river runs shallow enough in places to sit in.
The thing nobody expects is the architecture. An empty hydroelectric plant from 1929 stands beside the water with its turbine still bolted to the floor, and a grain silo and an old dairy stand nearby from the same era of people trying to farm the canyon bottom.
The 1929 plant, and a date worth getting right
Dixie Power was granted the permit in 1928 for an 899 kilowatt plant costing about $90,000, built through that winter and generating by April 1929. Water reached it through roughly a thousand feet of 42 inch wooden pipe fed off the La Verkin Canal. It ran until 1983. A number of local sources give the date as 1916, and that is the earlier era of Washington County power generation rather than this building.
Who else uses it
The park is habitat for endangered fish and for threatened birds, which is why it sits under the Reserve rather than under a parks department, and why camping needs a permit rather than a decision. Evidence of people living in this canyon goes back more than a thousand years.
The details
Getting there
Drive down from the bridge road on the Hurricane side, or walk down from town on the Rim to River Trail. Both put you at the same water.
Before you go
- Camping needs a county permit. Day use does not.
- There is no water, no staff and no shade to speak of on the canyon floor. Bring everything.
- The old power plant is a ruin, not a museum. Look at it and stay out of it.
- Flash flooding is a genuine risk in the washes here during monsoon season. Watch the sky upstream, not overhead.
- The eleven trails are open to horses as well as bikes and feet, so give riders the room.
Walk the Rim to River Trail down into the gorge
Trailhead behind River Rock Roasting, 300 South · Free · Year round
For most of the town's history there was no good way to get from the bench down to the river without driving around. The Rim to River Trail fixed that in autumn 2024: a short, steep route of stairs and switchbacks cut into the basalt below the rim, running from behind River Rock Roasting Company down into Confluence Park.
It is not a long walk and it is not a gentle one. The construction crew, a Southern Utah outfit called Walls and Falls, spent the job dealing with loose rock and grade, and the finished trail zigzags rather than traverses because there is no other way down that face.
Who paid for it
La Verkin City, a Utah State Recreational Trails Program grant and a Washington County contribution, with the nonprofit Trails Utah managing the grants and the project. River Rock Roasting Company granted the easement across its ground, which is why the trailhead is behind a coffee shop rather than in a park.
The honest warning
Down is easy and up is not. Plan the return climb into the day rather than discovering it, and keep an eye on anyone in the group for whom stairs in the heat are a problem. The city has signed the route and asks people to stay off the unstable basalt walls beside the stairs.
The details
Getting there
Park near River Rock Roasting on 300 South and walk around to the back of the property, next to the animal control building. The trail drops immediately.
Before you go
- Wear shoes with grip. The stairs are cut into rock and the surface is uneven the whole way.
- Carry water for the climb out, not just for the walk down.
- Do not throw anything from the rim. There are people on the trail below and the drop is real.
- This connects to the Confluence Park trail network at the bottom, so it works as one end of a longer day.
- Early morning gives shade on the descent and the coolest air in the canyon.
Drive up to the La Verkin Overlook
BLM land above SR-9, east of town · Free · Year round, dry weather
The best long view of what La Verkin is standing on comes from the cliffs above the highway east of town. The La Verkin Overlook looks straight down into the section of gorge the Virgin River has cut below the bench, with the town on one side, mesas stacked away to the east, and the Pine Valley Mountains filling the horizon behind you at the right time of day.
It is public land, it costs nothing, and the last stretch is dirt. Most people drive to it; the walking route up the cliff face from below is short by distance and steep by every other measure.
The two ways up
From the SR-9 and SR-17 junction, drive about two and a half miles east on SR-9 up into the cliffs, then turn south onto the dirt road and follow it roughly a mile and a half to the parking area. On foot from the lower side it is around a mile each way with something like 650 feet of climb, rocky and loose in places.
What else is up there
This is the northern edge of the Hurricane Cliffs trail network, roughly forty miles of BLM singletrack that Hurricane's own riding page covers properly. The overlook is the piece of it that belongs to a La Verkin evening rather than to a bike.
The details
Getting there
East on SR-9 about two and a half miles from the junction, then south on the signed dirt road for roughly a mile and a half. A passenger car handles it dry.
Before you go
- The road is graded dirt and turns greasy when wet. Wait a day after rain.
- There are no railings anywhere near the rim. Keep children and dogs close.
- Sunset is the reason to come, which means driving the dirt back in the dark. Take a light.
- Cell service up here is patchy enough that navigation should be loaded before you leave town.
- Riders use the same network. Expect bikes on the singletrack and give way on the climbs.
Take the coffee to the edge of the gorge
River Rock Roasting Company, 300 South · Cafe prices · Year round
River Rock Roasting Company has been roasting and pouring on the rim of the Virgin River gorge since 2012, and the deck is the closest thing this valley has to a public meeting room. People come off the JEM trail, off the highway, and off the school run, and on a Saturday morning the parking is a fair indicator of how the trails are riding.
It matters to this list for a practical reason as well as a pleasant one: the Rim to River trailhead is behind the building, so the coffee and the walk are the same stop.
Why the deck is the point
The building sits right on the rim, so the tables look several hundred feet down into the gorge rather than at a parking lot. It is the one place in town where the geography that defines La Verkin is visible while you sit still.
Time it around the cyclists
Weekend mornings bring riders in off the Hurricane Cliffs network in numbers, which is good for the atmosphere and hard on the queue. Arrive before them or well after them.
The details
Getting there
Just off State Street on 300 South, on the gorge side. Parking is on site and fills on weekend mornings.
Before you go
- Hours shift seasonally in a town on a park highway. Check before making a special trip.
- The Rim to River trailhead is behind the building, so this pairs naturally with the walk.
- Deck seating in July is a morning proposition only.
- This is one independent business, not a strip. Do not plan a whole day of cafe hopping in La Verkin.
- It is a working local room, not an attraction. Treat it as somebody's regular Tuesday, because it is.
Ride the JEM Trail from the Sheep Bridge trailhead
Sheep Bridge Road off SR-9, minutes east · Free · October to May
The single most famous piece of desert singletrack in this corner of the state runs along the rim above the Virgin River gorge east of town, and the trailhead closest to La Verkin is minutes up SR-9 on Sheep Bridge Road. JEM flows rather than fights, which is why it turns up on lists of the best rides in Utah and why it fills on a February weekend when the rest of the country is frozen.
The riding itself is not La Verkin's to explain. Hurricane's riding guide owns the Hurricane Cliffs network trail by trail, and it is the page to read before you load a bike. What belongs here is the honest access note: from a La Verkin driveway this is a fifteen minute proposition rather than an outing.
Why it is on a La Verkin list at all
Because it is genuinely out the back door. A rider living on this bench can be clipped in before a rider staying in St. George has finished loading the car, and that proximity is a real part of what the address buys.
The season is upside down
This is winter riding country. The good months run roughly October through May, and July on the JEM is a mistake people only make once. Plan around the calendar the way a local does.
The details
Getting there
East on SR-9 from the junction, then onto Sheep Bridge Road. The lot is small and it fills on cool weekends.
Before you go
- Read Hurricane's riding page for the trail by trail detail. This entry is an access note, not a guide.
- There is exposure above the gorge on parts of this network. It is not a beginner's first singletrack.
- Carry more water than the distance suggests. There is none on the trail.
- The lot is small and the road in is dirt. Arrive early on a good weekend.
- Trails here take damage when ridden wet. Give the desert a day after a storm.
Ride the SunTran Zion Route for a dollar
State Street stop, in town · One dollar base fare · Monday to Saturday
In late 2024 something happened here that has not happened in this corridor before: a scheduled public bus. SunTran's Zion Route runs between St. George and Springdale by way of Hurricane, La Verkin and Virgin, Monday through Saturday, with a base fare of a dollar, and La Verkin is a stop on it.
For a visitor it means the park is reachable without adding a car to the Springdale parking problem. For a resident it means a teenager can get to St. George and a park employee can get to work. Neither of those was true two years ago.
What it actually replaces
Not a commute, honestly. The schedule is built around the park run rather than around a working day in St. George, so this is a tool for a specific trip rather than a substitute for owning a car. Locals treat it that way and it works.
Check the timetable, not this page
Frequency and seasonal hours on a route this new move around, and Zion's own shuttle season shifts underneath it. Look up the current SunTran schedule the week you travel rather than planning off any published summary.
The details
Getting there
The route runs the SR-9 corridor through town. Confirm the current stop location and timetable with SunTran before you plan around it.
Before you go
- There is no Sunday service. Plan the weekend around that.
- The bus reaches Springdale, and Zion's own shuttle takes over from there in season.
- Bikes and gear capacity is limited on a route like this. Check before turning up with a loaded rack.
- This is a young service and its schedule has already changed once. Verify rather than assume.
- A dollar fare covers the base ride; connections and passes work differently, so ask when you board.
Drive west to Quail Creek and Sand Hollow
Ten and fifteen minutes west · State park day use fee · Year round
This is not La Verkin's, and this list will not pretend otherwise. Two warm water state park reservoirs sit ten and fifteen minutes west of the bridge, and between them they are the single biggest reason people in this valley own a boat.
The full comparison, which reservoir suits which day, the water year, the wind and the crowds, already lives on Hurricane's reservoirs page, written from the town that owns the ground. What is true from here is the drive time, and it is short.
Why it closes the list rather than opening it
Everything above is either inside La Verkin or reached from a La Verkin trailhead. This one is an honest inclusion of the nearest big thing rather than a claim on it, and putting it last is the difference between a real local list and a padded one.
The honest drive
Quail Creek is about ten minutes west and Sand Hollow about fifteen, both across the bridge and out past Hurricane. From most La Verkin addresses that is a shorter run than the St. George end of the metro manages.
The details
Getting there
West across the bridge through Hurricane, then signed from SR-9 and SR-59. Both have paved access and boat ramps.
Before you go
- Read Hurricane's reservoirs page before choosing between them. They are genuinely different bodies of water.
- Day use fees apply at both and change periodically. Check current state park rates.
- Sand Hollow's dune country carries its own registration rules for motorised use.
- Summer weekends fill the lots by mid morning at both parks.
- Water levels vary by year, which changes ramps and beaches more than most visitors expect.
Rim or river
The bench and the canyon floor are two different days.
Almost everything on this list sits either on top of the gorge or at the bottom of it, and the two levels behave nothing alike. Choosing between them is most of the planning.
| On the bench | On the canyon floor | |
|---|---|---|
| What is there | The overlook, the coffee deck, the trailheads, the town itself | Confluence Park, the 1929 plant, the confluence, the river |
| Getting there | Drive or walk on the flat | A steep descent on foot, or a drive round by the bridge |
| Summer | Hot but breezy, and shaded in the evening | Genuinely dangerous heat between June and September |
| Winter | Mild, dry and open all season | The best months of the year down there |
The hot springs sit between the two, up out of the flood plain but below the bench, which is exactly why the resort was built where it was.
Before you go
What to pack, and what to check first.
Most of what goes wrong on a La Verkin day is one of two things: underestimating the climb back out of the gorge, or turning up somewhere that needed a booking.
For the gorge specifically
- Shoes with grip for stairs cut into basalt
- More water than the distance suggests, for the climb out
- A start time before the sun gets on the canyon floor
- Sun protection; there is almost no shade down there
- A weather check upstream, because the washes flash
Check before you go
- Current session availability and rates at Zion Canyon Hot Springs
- The SunTran Zion Route timetable, which has already changed once
- Washington County permit rules if you intend to camp in Confluence Park
- State park day use fees at Quail Creek and Sand Hollow
- Recent rain, before driving the overlook road
Show up and it is fine
- Confluence Park for a day walk, any month but high summer
- The Rim to River Trail, early or late
- The coffee deck on the rim
- The first ten miles of the byway east, in evening light
The canyon floor in July is not a mild version of the bench. Confluence Park sits several hundred feet lower than town, with no shade, no water and no staff on site, and the Rim to River Trail is a stair climb to get out of it. Between June and September, treat a canyon day as an early morning proposition only, and turn round rather than pushing through the middle of the day.
What this list leaves out, and why
- The original Pah Tempe pools at the bottom of the canyon. They have been closed to the public since 2013 and remain gated, and no amount of enthusiasm on the internet changes that.
- The Zion Corridor Trail, the paved path planned to run from La Verkin to the park along SR-9. It is funded and it is not built, and this page only lists things you can use now.
- Zion itself, in any depth. The byway page covers the drive east from here, and Springdale, Virgin and Rockville each own their own approach to the park.
- A dining guide. La Verkin runs a short highway strip that turns over with the park season, and printing business names here would age faster than the page gets revisited.
