Town Toquerville, Washington County
Settled 1858, named for a Paiute leader, Utah's own wine country once
Toquerville, the wine mission town on a new parkway.
A town of about 2,000 on Ash Creek, three miles off I-15 between St. George and Zion, growing faster right now than at any point in its 165 year history. Toquerville Falls draws the crowd, a new reservoir is filling on the town's doorstep, 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, construction cones and all.
Start here
A pioneer town growing faster than at any point in 165 years.
Toquerville sits at about 3,400 feet on Ash Creek, tucked against black volcanic hills three miles east of Interstate 15, roughly 24 miles from St. George and 20 miles from Zion National Park's south entrance. About 2,000 people live here, on ground six Mormon families settled in 1858 and named for Chief Toquer, the Paiute leader whose band lived along lower Ash Creek when the settlers arrived.
For most of its history Toquerville was a quiet pioneer town best 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 has changed is everything else. A new bypass, a new master-planned community, and a new reservoir are all landing inside the same few years, and the town's population grew more than a third in the decade before that wave even started.
This companion holds both stories at once: the 1858 townsite along Ash Creek where the pioneer history actually happened, and the growth corridor unfolding a short drive away along the new parkway. Neither one cancels the other out, and understanding both is the honest way to know Toquerville.
Toquerville at a glance
1858
settled, named for Chief Toquer
~2,000
residents, per the 2020 census and recent growth
~3,400 ft
elevation, on Ash Creek
3 mi
to I-15 at Anderson Junction, Exit 27
What put the town on a new map
A bypass, a 1,200 home community, and a lake on the way.
Three things are landing in Toquerville at once, and each one alone would be a big story for a town this size. The Toquerville Parkway, a roughly 4.5 mile bypass built in phases west of the historic townsite, is pulling Zion bound traffic off old Toquerville Boulevard and opening the west bench to development. SunRiver Firelight, the town's first master-planned community, is building along that same parkway with more than 1,200 homes planned; it is an age-qualified 55 and older community, a legal designation under federal housing law, with sales underway from the model home.
At the same time, Anderson Junction, the I-15 interchange at Exit 27, is developing as a genuine commercial and light-industrial node for the whole upper Washington County corridor, and Chief Toquer Reservoir, a new lake capable of holding up to 3,725 acre feet, is filling on the town's doorstep as part of a larger regional water project. Utah State Parks took over management of the reservoir in July 2026, which is a real marker of how far along it is, even though a swimmable, boatable lake still depends on the water actually arriving.
None of this touches the 1858 townsite the same way. The wine mission page and the Anderson Junction page cover the two halves of Toquerville's story separately, on purpose.
Construction is a real feature of Toquerville right now, not a footnote. The parkway, the Firelight buildout and the interchange work are all in progress at once. Expect equipment, detours and phased road openings for years rather than months, and check current conditions before assuming any specific stretch is finished.
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 new parkway carries the town's growth: SunRiver Firelight, the commercial buildout at Anderson Junction, and Chief Toquer Reservoir filling nearby. The Anderson Junction page covers the interchange and the parkway that connects it all.
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 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 interchange driving the growth, and the honest arithmetic of moving to a town that is quiet and fast growing at the same time.
Quick answers
Toquerville, answered.
It is a town of about 2,000 at roughly 3,400 feet on Ash Creek, three miles east of I-15 between St. George and Zion National Park. It carries genuine 1858 pioneer roots, including a wine industry Brigham Young personally ordered up, alongside more growth in motion right now than at any point in its history: a new bypass, a 1,200-plus home master-planned community, and a new reservoir all landing within the same few years.
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 new roughly 4.5 mile bypass west of the historic townsite, built in phases to route Zion bound traffic off the old main street and open the west bench for development. It is the reason Toquerville's growth story and its quiet old town story can both be true at the same time.
Faster than at any point in its 165 year history. The population grew more than a third between 2010 and 2020, and the current wave, SunRiver Firelight's 1,200 plus planned homes, Chief Toquer Reservoir, and the commercial buildout at Anderson Junction, is bigger still.
Its name, from Paiute leader Chief Toquer, 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 up to 3,725 acre feet, part of a larger regional water project, sitting near I-15 close to Anderson Junction. Utah State Parks took over management in July 2026, but the lake is still filling as of this writing, so check current access and recreation status before planning a trip around it.
A pioneer market, growing faster than any online estimate can track.
Toquerville's older townsite and its new parkway corridor 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.