For my brothers’ spring break, we planned a trip to Kanab, Utah – southern Utah’s hidden gem. I basically got put in charge for finding accommodations + things to do and I’m proud to say that I think I did a pretty decent job!
Kanab is a city located in Kane County, Utah which happens to be north of the Arizona state line. This area was first settled in 1864 and the town was founded in 1870 when ten Latter-Day Saint families moved into the area. If you’ve ever heard of Utah, you’d know that Utah is home to five national parks as well as several state parks! Kanab is easily base camp for the national parks – you have Zion on the west, Bryce Canyon to the north, Grand Canyon to the south and Lake Powell to the east – how cool is that?!
We booked this home through Airbnb and it was a great decision! The home was easy to find and was located fairly close to the US-89 highway. We arrived in Kanab late at night after stopping through Las Vegas on our drive. On our first, we grabbed breakfast at a local joint, Jakey Leigh’s, which was nothing too special – your regular eggs / toast / bacon breakfast. We explored a little bit of the town (Best Friends Sanctuary, Moqui Caves) before driving out to explore local but off-road attractions. Unfortunately, we didn’t have an all-wheel drive and some places were inaccessible. Luckily, we found Coral Cliffs Tours and Townhomes and they basically saved the day (PS, the rent out homes too)!
Peekaboo Slot Canyon
This slot canyon is a perfect alternate to Arizona’s busy Antelope Canyon. The hike was 1.7 miles (round trip) but we had the canyon to ourselves! It was both eerie but amazing at the same time. Jeff (our tour guide) not only showed us the cool places but he was busy serving some educational and fun facts about the place!
When we finished checking out the canyon, he showed us the only hoodoo in the place. Geology 101 – a hoodoo is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an ariddrainage basin or badland.
Sand Caves
Before heading back to the Airbnb, we also managed to check out the Sand Caves of Kanab! We parked on the side of the US-89 highway, ran across the road, climbed up a mountain (which, according to my Apple watch, was equivalent to twenty-two flights of stairs) and got to explore some caves. It was a cool experience and getting down the mountain was just as much of a struggle than it was getting up!
Kanab is such a beautiful city and while we had originally planned to set base camp so we could explore Bryce Canyon, I’m glad the plans changed and we explored locally instead!
