Scenic Drives Near St. George
Short scenic drives in St. George: big views within half an hour of downtown, on paved roads any car can manage.
Some of the best scenery here is a fifteen-minute drive from the middle of town. This guide covers the short, close-in routes — all paved, all manageable in any car, none of them a day out.
For the bigger day trips — Kolob, the byways, Pine Valley and the backcountry — see scenic drives around St. George.
Snow Canyon Drive
The quickest payoff in the region. The road through Snow Canyon State Park winds past red and white Navajo sandstone, black lava flows and petrified dunes, with trailheads and pull-offs the whole way.
Fifteen minutes from downtown, and it delivers scenery most places would build a national park around. You can drive it in half an hour or stop constantly and spend a morning — see the Snow Canyon guide.
Best early or late, when low sun rakes across the rock.
The Red Hills Parkway
The road along the bench above St. George, with overlooks across the city toward the cliffs. It is the classic view of the town, and it takes minutes.
This is also the easiest sunset in the city — see sunset spots — and it connects to Pioneer Park if you want to get out and scramble.
West toward Ivins and Santa Clara
A short loop out past Santa Clara's historic core and into Ivins, at the base of Red Mountain, takes in the most dramatic close-in scenery in the metro.
It also passes Kayenta, whose low, earth-toned architecture is built under dark-sky covenants to disappear into the landscape — worth driving through slowly.
South and around the river
The roads through the Tonaquint area and along the Santa Clara and Virgin rivers show a completely different St. George — green bottomland, cottonwoods and water, in a city otherwise defined by rock.
Practical for short drives
- Early morning and the hour before sunset are worth planning around. Midday flattens red rock badly.
- Winter is excellent — low sun all day and comfortable temperatures for stopping.
- These are all paved and easy, which is the point. Nothing here needs clearance or planning.
- Get out at least once. Every one of these routes has a viewpoint or a short walk that is better than the windscreen version.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best short scenic drive from St. George?
Snow Canyon Drive, fifteen minutes northwest of town, gives you red-and-white sandstone, lava flows, and petrified dunes with trailheads all along it — big scenery in under an hour round trip. Kolob Canyons Road off I-15 is the next step up: just over five miles into Zion's quiet finger-canyon country.
Do I need a high-clearance vehicle for these drives?
Not for the paved ones — Snow Canyon Drive, Kolob Canyons Road, and Kolob Terrace Road are all paved (though Kolob Terrace's upper section closes in winter). The Smithsonian Butte and Joshua Tree backways are dirt and best driven with some clearance in dry weather; avoid them when wet.