The Best Home Base for Adventure: Kanab, UT

We’re pretty sure this is already clear, but we absolutely loved living in Kabab, Utah, for a month. Not only are there incredible National Parks and gorgeous public land nearby, but the town of Kanab is also pretty great!

Check out our posts about Zion, Bryce, The Grand Canyon, renting OHVs, and Buckskin Gulch.

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We stayed in an Airbnb (that had great sunrises) while working remotely on weekdays and adventuring on the weekends. Our weekends weren’t the only we could enjoy ourselves because we were working East Coast hours. We were done before 4pm each day and were able to get outside in the afternoon. Kanab features several of its own well-marked hikes, mountain biking trails, cute shops, and surprisingly fantastic food.

Hikes:

Squaw* Trail– A moderately challenging climb, just over 3 miles, offers a great view of the town and surrounding land. This trail was the perfect way to end a workday and sweat a little bit.

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*We have since learned this term is offensive to Native Americans and has been used to refer to women with a derogatory connotation. As such, we support a name change.

Sand Caves– Just off the highway on the way into town from the north, these caves show up on the road’s left side. There is a small parking area on the right of the highway. After crossing the street, it is a relatively easy climb to the caves. It is easiest to get up if starting way to the caves’ right where the rock is less steep. Inside, the man-made caverns are small but fun to explore. The walls are very soft sandstone, so many people have carved into them, creating more sand on the ground.

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Tom’s Canyon– This is a straightforward walk through beautiful desert flora, surrounded by red cliffs on both sides. Another great spot for golden hour.

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Cliffs Trail– This is the most challenging trail we attempted in Kanab. We found it on our hike through Tom’s Canyon but didn’t have time to make it up and down the cliff in time before sunset, so we vowed to come back. We did, and the hike was strenuous! There is a bit of rock scrambling and some exposed sections, but the difficulty came from a quick ascent of 800 feet. The views are great, and if you have enough time, there is a connector trail to the Offensively Named Trail mentioned above. We connected these two and enjoyed the sandy path and great views along the way.

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Mountain Biking: 

Andrew has recently fallen in love with mountain biking and bought a really nice mountain bike while in Maine. He went out almost every afternoon to perfect his skills on the Kanab trails: Tom’s Canyon (blue), Roadrunner (blue/black), Raven (black). He only took one tumble on Raven and was left with just a couple of scratches and bruises, nothing serious.

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He even had a fun time messing around on the pump track at the skate park in town. (Maybe kiddos making fun of him when he ran into a pole had more fun.)

Food:

Sego– This place is so incredible that we got food here twice! They do a great job of social distancing, so there are only a couple of tables inside or outside, so we highly recommend a reservation. The AZ Filet is the best steak either of us has ever had, but the rest of the food was phenomenal. Eating here made us consider moving to this town.

Kanab Creek Bakery– Great pastries! The chocolate croissant transported us back to France.

Travel Tip: Stock up on groceries and gas before heading into town. Both are very pricy and add up quick. We love supporting local business but spent way too much on a week of groceries. We even ended up driving an hour to go to Page, Arizona, to stock up one weekend. If you have to buy groceries in town, go to Glazier’s, spend more than $75, and get 15 cents off each gallon at the gas station next door.

Shopping: 

Kanab United Drug– This place is so much more than a pharmacy! It is such a cute little shop with tons of locally made crafts and goodies. Andrew got his sticker fix here, and Erica stocked her sister’s Christmas Stocking with all the fun little items they had.

Nature’s Showcase– We didn’t buy anything from here. Still, there are incredible works of art made from local sandstone and other natural features. The outside of the building is hideously ugly, but don’t let that deter you from checking out inside.

Gifts of the West– This little shop had a lot of little trinkets and locally made gifts. A great stop if you are looking for Native American jewelry.

Willow Canyon Outdoor– While we never ended up buying anything from this store, we both loved it. They have a ton of books that are for people who love stories of travel, adventure, and nature. Additionally, they have any type of outdoor gear one can imagine. We came here looking to buy gifts, but only found things perfect for us!

Don’t make our mistake: Book something off of highway 89. It may look like a regular road, but it is a trucking route, and it is hard to sleep with trucks blazing by all night long.