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When you think of Utah, you are probably conjuring up images of rocky, desert landscapes found in the state’s most famous national parks.
While places like Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park have attracted thousands of people to the state to explore its natural treasures, there still lies plenty of hidden gems in Utah for the globetrotting traveler who desires to be off the beaten path.
While anyone visiting Utah should absolutely go to places like Zion National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Arches National Park, those wanting to know Utah’s secrets and lesser known attractions will want to make sure they tick off the following spots…
Hidden Gems in Utah
1. ATV adventures in Sand Hollow, St George
The colors of Sand Hollow State Park are out of this world – snow peaked mountains, vivid orange and red dirt, aqua blue lake.
You have to see it to believe it, and there is no better way than via the adventure of an ATV ride in St George, traversing up and down the sand dunes and in and out dinosaur carved rock formations. The sunset tour is a dream!
It’s a thrilling Utah adventure for families and one of our favorite places to see in Utah that absolutely no one told us about!
Sand Hollow State Park is just outside St George in Southern Utah and is the perfect recreational area for ATV adventures as it offers some of the best Utah ATV trails around.
This 20,000 acre state park is Utah’s newest and well renowned for its 6,000 acres of ATV and OHV off-road trails that take you to 3,500 ft in elevation. It’s WOW at every airborne turn!
2. Snow Canyon State Park, St George
A wonderful alternative to nearby Zion National Park, Snow Canyon is a a 7,400 acre scenic park located just outside of St George in Southwestern Utah.
Our hike took us on a diverse adventure through a forested area, gorge area, petrified sand dunes, and lava tubes.
This park is comprised of volcanic cinder cone, sand dunes, deep red, burnt orange, yellow and white sandstone cliffs, and twisted layers of rock.
It’s also a popular place in Utah for rock climbing.
3. Red Reef Trail, St George
The Red Reef Recreation Area is probably one of the places in Utah you have never heard of.
I think I found a little paragraph about it in a brochure and thought it looked cool. Thankfully, it was across the road from our campsite in Hurricane so we decided to pop over and check it out.
The Red Reef hiking trail was the girls first introduction to adventurous hiking. They fell in love. I’ll never forget the fear and excitement on their faces as they climbed up a steep rock face next to a waterfall with only a rope to hold on. Their bravery was amazing
This stunning hike will take you through
4. Spooky and Peek-a-Boo, Grand Escalante
We rate this as one of our favorite experiences on our USA road trip. The girls still rave about how much fun this was.
Peek-a-boo and Spooky Canyon are slot canyons deep within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
It’s intense – filled with holes to climb up and crawl through. The adventure only gets better with a 12 inch narrow space to slide through at the very end.
5. Lower Calf Creek Falls, Highway Scenic 12, Utah
The Lower Calf Creek Falls is in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Southern Utah.
The trail winds a valley enclosed by towering cliffs of red, pink, orange and yellow – that is oh so typical of Utah, the most colorful place in the world.
It then passes through a shady low scrub and bamboo forest sandy track beside a shallow creek before opening up to this stunning waterfall – a wonderful hidden gem.
6. Capitol Reef National Park, Southern Utah
The only Utah national park we’ve included on this hidden gems list is Capitol Reef National Park because it is so much quieter and lessor known than the other four national parks in Utah.
It’s exquisite. Actually, it’s one of my favorite national parks in the USA, because of the sheer scale of the canyons, arches and rock formations. Not to mention the ancient petroglyphs, fossils, and amazing sunrise.
Within this national park is one of the few natural arches in Utah you can walk on top of. Capitol Reef is also filled with scenic drives, verdant valleys, beautiful views and adventurous hiking trails.
7. Goblin Valley State Park
If you’re looking for cool places in Utah that not many people have heard of, you do not want to miss Goblin Valley State Park, especially if you are visiting Utah with kids.
You only need an hour or two to explore this land filled with mushroom, gnome, and goblin shaped orange and yellow rocks.
It’s perfect for games of hide and seek and tag. You can also do a few short hikes here. It’s a fun thing to see in Utah.
8. Corona Arch, Moab
The drive into the Corona Arch trail is an indication of the natural beauty ahead. This hidden gem is one of the best things to do in Utah.
This is a great Moab hike with kids as it’s relatively easy, and with ladders to climb, slick rocks to maneuver with cables, caves to explore and cairns to build they’ll be thoroughly entertained.
The 3-mile round trip hike starts in the parking lot across from the Colorado River and goes up a short hill, across the railroad tracks and then up into the canyon.
Corona Arch, with an opening of 140 by 105 feet, is also known as Little Rainbow because of its resemblance to Rainbow Bridge at Lake Powell.
We enjoyed this arch just as much as, if not more than, the famous arches in Arches National Park
9. Fisher Towers, Moab
The Fisher Towers are photogenic rock formations eroded into interesting shapes.
Dark red sandstone has been carved into spires, minarets, soaring fins, gargoyles and strange rock formations. Rock climbers love it here.
It’s a 5.2 mile round trip trail that does through canyons, beneath sheer vertical cliffs and through the towers. We didn’t make it as far as the towers, but were more than satisfied with the dramatic scenery and outdoor adventure.
The stunning U-128 Scenic Byway takes you there and back. Be sure to stop in at the Winery on the drive back. You’ll enjoy that glass of wine with those views over the Colorado River and valley after your hike.
Believe it or not, drinking wine in Utah is a unique thing to do as the state has strict drinking laws.
10. Jeep Off Roading in Moab
Are you ready for one the best adventures in Utah you can find? I think by now you’re getting that Moab is a pretty cool Utah destination.
Rock crawling in a jeep takes it to a whole other level. It was insane fun taking on vertical rock faces that had us squealing, screaming and laughing at the same time.
What a fun family activity to do in Utah! The ever changing Red Rock country scenery only enhanced the experience.
Our drive took us through the alpine forests of the La Sal Mountains, up and over the steep red rocks and giant boulders and finished with fun driving up and down sand dunes.
11. Shafer Trail Drive, Canyonlands National Park
Get ready to hold on to your seat belts as you hit the frightening switchbacks of the Shafer trail in Canyonlands National Park in Moab.
Driving down the Shafer Trail switchbacks into the quiet of the canyon floor was an incredible experience.
Check conditions at the Visitor Center as you may need a 4WD. You could at least drive the switchbacks in a 2WD down to the bottom. I wouldn’t recommend taking the rest of the trail back to Moab in a 2WD though.
I loved driving this road and coming out to Dead Horse Bend where only a couple of days before we sat above watching the sunset here. It’s a magnificent spot.
It can get pretty rough.
You can watch our adventure in this video:
12. Sunset at Dead Horse Point State Park
Another place to add to your hidden gem bucket list is Dead Horse Point State Park. Actually we think it’s one of the best sunset experience in the USA.
Dead Horse Point is one of the most photographed scenic vistas in the USA. The overlook towers 2,000 feet above the Colorado River, providing a breathtaking panorama of Canyonlands’ sculpted pinnacles and buttes.
Pack a picnic and find a spot on the edge of the mesa and enjoy the magic of the setting sun lighting up the spectacular horseshoe bend in the Colorado River as it carves out the surrounding canyonlands.
Time your visit after a day exploring Islands of the Sky nearby in Canyonlands.
You can even camp there or spend more time exploring the state park and the many hikes and biking trails that are meant to be awesome.
13. Valley of the Gods + Natural Bridges Monument
Valley of the Gods is so cool. It’s more of a serene adventure as it’s mostly just a scenic drive and stunning views.
We highly recommend you free camp in this area. It’s quite and stunning. Our views of Monument Valley in the distance were spectacular.
It’s also close to Natural Bridges Monument, which is easy to explore in a day. You can take short trails down to any of the three natural bridges, or do the longer 10 mile hike that passes by all three.
We hiked to Sepiku which was probably the most fun hike to do especially with kids.
14. Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
Another place to discover in Utah is Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, which is characterized by its unique pink sand dunes created by eroded pink Navajo sandstone.
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is located just 30 miles from Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort, but is rarely busy.
In fact, if you’re a photographer and you’re looking for an empty, peaceful dune with a sprawling landscape to capture – this is the place.
One of the best ways to experience this park, as with all of Utah’s deserts, is to go off-roading in a jeep.
15. Fifth Water Hot Springs and Falls, Springville
Most of Utah’s attractions are deserts and rock formations, but you can also find hot springs and scenic waterfalls!
One of our favorite hidden spots is the Fifth Water Hot Springs in Springville, which has three cascading waterfalls plunging into natural pools below.
The hot springs run along the Fifth Water Creek, and you can find the falls by walking an easy 4.5 mile out and back trail to the Diamond Fork River.
The trail head is named Three Forks Trailhead and can be found in Diamond Fork Canyon from this address.
16. Bonneville Salt Flats
The Bonneville Salt Flats is a great salt lake spanning 30,000 acres on the Utah/Nevada border.
This natural landscape is one of the most unique places in Utah and it’s completely free to visit.
You can also drive on the salt flats (in dry weather) or visit in August for Speed Week, an annual speed racing event that’s somewhat of a tradition at Bonneville Salt Flats.
It’s another quiet spot for photographers with incredible landscapes.
17. Homestead Crater, Midway
Not many people have heard of Homestead Crater in Midway. This unique resort is located in a crater, and has a hidden geothermal spring behind a 55-foot tall beehive limestone rock cavern.
The cavern was carved more than 10,000 years ago by melted snow from the Wasatch Mountains, and the pool below is heated by the Earth’s natural geothermal.
You can swim in the pool, which is on average between 90 – 96 degrees Fahrenheit, and also has mineral properties that are said to have health benefits.
What’s unique about the pool is there is a dome-shaped ceiling with a hole in the roof, allowing natural sunlight and air to flow into the cavern.
18. American Fork Canyon
If you’re looking for something a bit more green in Utah, check out American Fork Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains.
The canyon is famous for its cave systems, most notably the Timpanogos Cave National Monument, as well as the American Fork River, which runs through the canyon.
It’s a popular spot for outdoor recreation, such as hiking, biking, and camping.
19. The Sun Tunnels of Wendover
Another photographer’s playground is The Sun Tunnels of Wendover, which is an art installation by Nancy Holt, who in 1976 placed four 18-foot concrete tubes in an open X shape in Utah’s Great Basin Desert.
The sculpture, known as The Sun Tunnels, is designed to play with the natural light and shadow created by the desert.
Each cylinder has holes drilled into the sides, creating a spectacle that looks like stars shining in the night sky.
If you happen to be visiting during the summer and winter solstices, the sun can be seen on the horizon at the center through the tunnels. Two tunnels are aligned to sunrise, and the other two sunset.
Final Thoughts
With space, red dirt and plenty of fresh air, Utah is one of the most attractive destinations in the USA.
As you can see, there are so many other cool places to visit in Utah than the famous landmarks, and we hope this guide helped you to get off-the-beaten-path to see the you may not have even heard of.
They are just as spectacular as the main attractions in Utah and often involve greater adventure – mostly because there are a significantly less amount of visitors to share it with.
These are the hidden gems in Utah and lessor known adventures. Which one are you most excited to see? Let us know in the comments.
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Hidden Gems in Utah Video Playlist
Watch our adventures in Utah in our videos below.
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What other cool places in Utah would you add to this list?
