Top Five Destinations of St. George, Utah

I?m heading off to Utah later this fall in order to meet some friends for a bit of hiking and maybe some fly-fishing. I may try to make the drive in one day, but if I need to hit work before I leave L.A., I may have to stop for the night and a good stopping place looks to be St. George. Well, good for a nice mid point in the travel and where I won?t have a super long drive the next morning.

When looking at the attractions for St. George in TripAdvisor, I can?t help but notice that most of the ?tourist? destinations revolve around the Church of Latter Day Saints. Now, I?m not against religious tourism. I?ve been to the Vatican in Rome. I?ve toured Notre Dame in Paris. The architecture, culture and history wrapped up in churches around the world make them great places to visit. I think my mind gets a bit colored by books like ?Under the Banner of Heaven? and ?The Monkey Wrench Gang? though. But, as they say, ?When in St. George.? I guess I?ll have to check out a few of the different attractions revolving around Mormonism, find a good place to eat, and then focus on the first item before I drive to meet my friends.

Hike around Zion National Park

I?ve been to Zion National Park, so even though the website isn?t working as I write this due to the government shut down, I can tell you that the hiking there is pretty damn cool. It?s only about an hour drive from St. George, depending on traffic and how fast you take the windy road. If you don?t mind heights, you have to try the hike to Angels Landing. Since heights are not my thing and I don?t mind enclosed places, I think I?ll hike as far as I can up The Narrows before I have to get back on the road.

Visit the St. George Utah Temple

The St. George Utah Temple is the first temple built by the LDS congregation after their exodus from Illinois. Now, it ranks as the oldest temple of the church. The visitor center is open 9 to 9 daily and has free admission.

Visit the Brigham Young Winter Home

I suppose if the Brigham Young Winter Home didn?t have a connection to one of the early leaders of the LDS faith, it would just be another old frontier home. I find old frontier homes rather cool though.

Visit Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum

I could go on with LDS attractions like the Jacob Hamlin Home or the Daughters of Utah Pioneer Museum, but I?m going to go with the Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum as this man cannot live on religion alone. It?s a natural history type museum, which means a lot of stuffed animals, kind of like I hope to be at the next stop.

Eat at the Painted Pony

My eyes darted to the Painted Pony, and as I wrote my stomach reminded me that I cannot live on online menus alone, though I wish it were possible. I?d take the baked macaroni and cheese, the torta ahogada, coconut key lime pie for dessert accompanied by a 20 year-old Graham tawny port as I sit at home in front of my laptop.

Any suggestions for things that I missed? Any additional recommendations for the area? Just let me know in the comments.