Town Toquerville, Washington County
Settled 1858, named for a Southern Paiute leader, Utah's own wine country once
Toquerville, the wine mission town on a new parkway.
A bench and orchard town of about 2,000 on Ash Creek, three miles off I-15 on SR-17 between St. George and Zion. The new Toquerville Parkway now carries the Zion bound traffic west of the old Main Street, Toquerville Falls draws the crowd up a rough road, and the 1858 wine mission history is still standing in sandstone. I have worked Southern Utah for more than 20 years, and this is the page I would hand a friend.
By Scott Buehler, Toquerville local
Updated September 2026
The short answer
What is Toquerville like, and should you move here? It is a small, quiet bench and orchard town of about 2,000 on Ash Creek, sitting on SR-17 three miles off I-15 between St. George and Zion. You come here for genuine 1858 pioneer roots, a desert waterfall up a rough road, and an interstate on ramp three minutes away, and you make peace with a town that has almost no services of its own and a new reservoir on its doorstep that is still filling.
This hub is the overview and the map to Toquerville on The Local, where six more pages cover the falls, the reservoir, the wine mission history, the interstate junction, and the honest arithmetic of moving here. The practical half of the decision, the neighborhoods, what things cost, the schools and the current listings, lives on the Toquerville city guide, which I keep current.
Toquerville at a glance
1858
settled, named for Chief Toquer
~2,000
residents, an approximate count
~3,400 ft
elevation, on Ash Creek
3 mi
to I-15 at Anderson Junction
The parkway, and what it opened
A finished bypass, a quieter Main Street, and a lake still filling.
For most of its history Toquerville was a quiet pioneer town known for two things: a wine industry Brigham Young himself ordered up, and a waterfall at the end of a road that eats unprepared vehicles for lunch. Both are still true. What changed the town's day to day is the Toquerville Parkway, a roughly 4.5 mile bypass west of the historic townsite. It was ribbon cut in July 2025, and SR-17 was rerouted onto it that September, which pulled the Zion bound traffic off old Main Street for good and opened the west bench for new housing.
The other change is water. Chief Toquer Reservoir, a new lake built to hold roughly 3,638 acre feet as part of a larger regional water project, sits near I-15 close to Anderson Junction. It is still filling, so the fishing and boating planned for it are a documented plan rather than something open today. Between the finished parkway and the arriving lake, the town grew by roughly a third between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, and new subdivisions have followed the parkway west onto the bench.
None of this rewrites the 1858 townsite. The wine mission page and the Anderson Junction page cover the two halves of Toquerville's story separately, on purpose.
Chief Toquer Reservoir is not an open recreation site yet. The dam and lake are built, but the water is still arriving, so the swimming, fishing and boating you may read about are planned uses, not open ones. Check the current status before you plan a trip around the lake.
Two directions
A rough road to a waterfall, and a smooth one to everywhere else.
East of town, Spring Drive climbs a rough BLM dirt road toward a genuine desert waterfall, Toquerville Falls, on La Verkin Creek. The falls page covers the drive, the creek, and the honest word on what a passenger car should not attempt.
West of the historic townsite, the finished parkway carries the town's growth: new housing on the west bench, Chief Toquer Reservoir filling nearby, and the interstate junction that ties it together. The Anderson Junction page covers the interchange and the parkway.
North on I-15 about 13 miles sits Zion's quiet Kolob Canyons entrance, and south about 24 miles is St. George. Both are easy additions to a Toquerville day without either one being Toquerville's own.
The town before the parkway
Wine, cotton and an oasis in the desert.
It is easy to see Toquerville only as a growth story, and that misses a genuinely unusual history. Six Mormon families settled here in 1858 along Ash Creek, in country Chief Toquer's Southern Paiute band already knew well, and the settlement grew fast, from 19 families in 1859 to 41 by 1864. Early visitors described it as an oasis, figs, pomegranates, peaches, grapes and alfalfa growing where the surrounding desert offered none of it, and the town built Utah's first cotton gin mill.
Brigham Young went further here than in most Cotton Mission towns. He called a German immigrant vintner, John C. Naegle, specifically to establish a winery and teach the settlers to make wine, and the sandstone building Naegle raised between 1866 and 1868 still stands, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. It is likely the only real survivor of an entire wine industry that once ran through Utah's Dixie.
The 1858 blocks along Toquerville Boulevard and Ash Creek, where that history actually happened, sit quietly now that the new parkway carries the Zion bound traffic elsewhere. The wine mission page walks the history properly.
A town does not usually get to keep its quiet historic core and build a growth corridor at the same time. The parkway is the reason Toquerville gets to do both.
If you only have one day
One version of a good day, four wheel drive or not.
Morning
Walk the historic townsite
The 1858 blocks along Ash Creek, the Naegle Winery house on the National Register, and the quiet Main Street the parkway was built to keep quiet.
The wine mission pageIf you have the vehicle
Drive to Toquerville Falls
A genuine desert waterfall at the end of a rough BLM road. High clearance and four wheel drive change this from a bad idea to a good one.
The falls pageMidday
See Chief Toquer Reservoir
A new lake filling on the town's doorstep, with fishing, kayaking and paddleboarding planned once the water arrives.
The reservoir pageHeading out
Note the interchange as you leave
The I-15 exit and the parkway feeding it are the reason Toquerville's growth story and its quiet old town can both be true at once.
The Anderson Junction pageThe Toquerville companion
Seven pages, one pioneer town on a new corridor.
Everything The Local has written about Toquerville: the falls, the new reservoir, the wine mission history, the interstate junction, and the honest arithmetic of moving to a town that is quiet and growing at the same time.
Scott Buehler
Moving Utah About Scott
Quick answers
Toquerville, answered.
It is a small bench and orchard town of about 2,000 on Ash Creek, roughly 3,400 feet up, three miles off I-15 on SR-17 between St. George and Zion National Park. It carries genuine 1858 pioneer roots, including a wine industry Brigham Young personally ordered up, and it runs quieter than it once did now that the completed Toquerville Parkway carries Zion bound traffic west of the historic Main Street.
About 20 miles to the south entrance at Springdale, roughly a half hour drive down SR-17 and east on SR-9. The Kolob Canyons section of Zion is closer still, about 13 miles north up I-15, a quieter corner of the park most visitors never see.
About 24 miles, roughly a 25 minute drive: three miles down SR-17 to I-15 at Anderson Junction, then a straight shot south on the interstate. That interchange keeps the commute free of the surface street crawl other corridor towns pay for.
Effectively yes. The road up Spring Drive is several rough miles of BLM dirt with rock ledges and creek crossings, posted as extremely rough. High clearance is required, four wheel drive is strongly recommended, and locals skip it entirely after rain.
A roughly 4.5 mile bypass west of the historic townsite that carries SR-17 and its Zion bound traffic off the old Main Street. It was ribbon cut in July 2025 and SR-17 was rerouted onto it that September, and it is the reason Toquerville's growth and its quiet old town can both be true at the same time.
Yes, faster than for most of its history. The population grew by roughly a third between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, and the completed parkway has opened the west bench for new housing while Chief Toquer Reservoir fills nearby. For current figures, check the Census and the town directly.
Its name, from Chief Toquer, a Southern Paiute leader whose band lived along lower Ash Creek when settlers arrived in 1858; its role in Brigham Young's Dixie Wine Mission, with the 1866 to 1868 Naegle Winery house still standing on the National Register of Historic Places; and Toquerville Falls, the desert waterfall that draws visitors from across the region.
Not inside town. Toquerville students attend Washington County School District schools a short drive south, starting with La Verkin Elementary about 4 miles away, then continuing through Hurricane's intermediate, middle and high schools. Confirm current boundary assignments directly with the district.
A new reservoir built to hold roughly 3,638 acre feet, part of a larger regional water project, sitting near I-15 close to Anderson Junction. It is still filling, and its fishing and boating are a documented plan rather than something open today, so check current access and recreation status before planning a trip around it.
A pioneer market, with two very different halves under one name.
Toquerville's older townsite along Ash Creek and its west bench along the parkway are two genuinely different markets under one city name, and a generic algorithm rarely tells them apart. I track what has actually closed in each, which matters in a town changing this fast.
Or call me: (435) 357-4345or send me a message
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