Jumping Off of Things in Utah's Dixie - St. George

St. George, Utah is only a couple of hours drive northeast of Las Vegas and about 3 hours drive from our house in Provo.  We have family who have lived there for many years, so we have visited many times, but there is always something new to experience when you ask for direction from the locals.  My sister and Callie's brothers pointed us to some fun new things during our family reunion a couple of years ago, and this post will show you a couple of them.

There are a lot of awesome hikes in southern Utah, but this was the first time we had hiked the Red Cliffs Nature trail.  It was the perfect easy hike for young, old, and everyone in between.

The trail is located a few miles north of Washington, Utah and can be found just off of I 15.  We were there in August which is usually very hot and dry, but as you can see from the pictures, there was enough water that year to make for some great contrasting greenery to go with the famous red cliffs.

The trail is a nice easy slope, but to either side there are plenty of things to explore, plus lots of good lizard, tadpole, and frog hunting so my boys were in heaven.

The trail follows the stream--narowing as you go--until you reach some red rock pools and a small waterfall.  That is where the trail officially ends, but you can explore further up--and the exuberant youth in our party had already done that long before the rest of us old folks even got there.

There are steps carved right into the rock at the waterfall with a rope to hold onto so that anyone who wants to can get to the top fairly easily.

Of course, the purpose for climbing the steps to the top is to jump off!  The pool is quite deep, clear, and refreshingly cool (that translates to cold for some in our party...).  It seems that finding ways to jump off of rocks was the theme of this trip, and I have to admit that once I worried, fussed, and spent time checking things out, I really had a lot of fun joining in with the kids.

Why would you picnic at the lake when you can picnic in the lake!  Sand Hollow is a reservoir not far from St. George that has tons of beachfront, cool water, and gorgeous views all around.  On a hot day in August, this is one of the best spots around to spend your day.

And... of course we found things to jump off of at the lake too!  Cliff Jumping is scary and fun.  One of the best parts about this particular spot is that you can find heights from 1 foot to 30 feet high depending on your courage level.  The water is deep all around this cliff and so landing on rocks is not much of a concern.  Even the littlest among us found a spot where they not only felt comfortable jumping, but absolutely loved it.

What would be more fitting than a 30 foot leap to end this post?  The teenagers couldn't leave well enough alone until they had jumped multiple times from the highest point (and convinced some of the pre-teens, and way-post-teens to do it too).  In the end, both Callie and I were among those to "go for it" and it was awesome!

If you want to get away to the red rocks and warm weather from either northern Utah or the endless casino mazes of Las Vegas, head on over to St. George and jump off something!  We highly recommend it.