Kanarra Creek Trail

From St. George: 50 Miles ( 42 minutes driving)

Directions to Trailhead. From St George, head north on I-15 for about 33 miles and take exit 42 to New Harmony/Kanarraville. Turn right on Hwy 144 and take an immediate left onto Harmony Ridge Dr/Old US 91. Continue about 4.5 miles into Kanarraville and turn right onto 100 North.  Follow 100 North 3.5 blocks until you see the parking lot on your left.

Trailhead GPS: 37.537144, -113.175981

We parked and paid the permit fee and went on our way.  We started the trail at about 8:30 and there were very few people on the trail.  The beginning of the hike is on a nice dirt road with a steep incline that got our heart pumping and provided a beautiful lookout over the valley. This dirt road continues for awhile with several inclines and declines and requires you to cross water in a couple of different places. You wonder if this dirt road is all the hike is but you eventually start to walk near the stream and start heading into the even more beautiful canyon. There are many places that you have to cross the stream to continue on the trail and the further you get up the canyon the water gets very cold. A large portion of the hike is walking through water up to your ankles and sometimes a little higher.  The trails are small and winding with beautiful foliage.

Sometimes it was hard to tell which path we should take but it’s hard to go wrong. Young children might have a difficult time walking the trails quickly but on our way back we saw plenty of children on this hike.

You continue up the river and come to the mouth of a beautiful slot canyon. There is a nice place to sit and rest at the mouth of the canyon. It doesn’t take long to get through the canyon when you come to a waterfall. There is a large log with metal steps attached to it to climb up to the top of the fall. There are also ropes attached the the rock wall next to the ladder which are helpful.  You have to be careful on this ladder because it could be a little slick and at the highest point it is about a 12 foot drop. Young children will need help climbing up the ladder and getting safely to the top.

Once past the fall we continued on and came to more falls which are smaller and if you are brave with the cold water you can slide down them.  There are many places to sit by these small falls and the rising mountains are beautiful.

We headed back after these falls.  There were many groups of hikers on our way back so we were glad that we came early.   We wore running shoes which worked fine but there were many people who wore water shoes which would have been helpful.  This is an all around great hike that is beautiful and perfect for a hot summer day!