7 Free Hikes In Southern Utah (Outside the Big 5)

Southern Utah may be best known for it’s National Parks, but there are several free hikes worth checking out.

A picture from inside the sand caves one of the free hikes in Utah. There is tan sand all over the ground and you can see a cave over on the right side of the photo. It's dark and you can't see the other side. To the left you can see an opening in the side which gives you a viewpoint. All the rocks are a nice light orange color with marbled lines pattern on them.

Chances are Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion (Utah’s Big 5) are all on your Utah bucket list, for good reason! These parks are otherworldly and you could easily spend a few days in each.

However, these parks tend to get packed with tourists especially in the high season (May-September) leading to crowded trails which take some of the magic away from these unique landscapes.

So if you’re wanting to ditch the crowds and find some peaceful solitude while hiking, I want to share with you these 7 free hikes in Southern Utah. None of which are in the Big 5 National Parks.

Southern Utah is full of unique landscapes. From Zion to Bryce Canyon, there are all kinds of hiking trails to explore this state’s natural beauty.

A majority of these hikes are in towns close to the National Parks like near St. George or Kanab, so they make a great addition to your Utah road trip.

Table of Contents:

  1. Red Reef Trail
  2. Skylight Arch Trail
  3. Belly of the Dragon
  4. Sand Caves
  5. Toadstool Hoodoos Trail
  6. Dinosaur Tracks Trail
  7. Red Hollow Trail

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1. Red Reef Trail in St. George, Utah

  • Mileage: 2.2 miles out and back
  • Conditions: flat until you get to the canyon, then rock climbing using a rope to continue into the canyon
  • Parking: you aren’t able to park directly at the trailhead unless you are camping at Red Cliffs National Recreation Area. There is a public parking lot in the park which is a 5 minute walk to the trailhead. 
A photo taken on the red reef trail one of the free hikes in southern utah. Here you can see the canyon and a small creek and waterfall flowing through it.

If you’re up for a little adventure, this is the hike for you. Just north of St. George, the Red Reef Trail will lead you through incredible red rock formations and into a slot canyon.

A picture from the Red Reef trail of some huge orange rocks shooting up into the sky with some black line patterns stretching across the rock. There are a few bare trees in the foreground. There are clouds at the top of this picture.

Once the trail opens up into the canyon, you’ll see that the trail continues deeper into the canyon however not in the way you might think.

There are foot holds cut into the canyon walls for you to place your feet while you hold onto a rope to advance yourself down the “trail”.

Unfortunately when I did this hike (November 2023) the rope was broken so no one was able to get past the first set of foot holds. However, it still made for an awesome turnaround point and great photos. 

2. Skylight Arch Trail – Big Water, Utah

  • Mileage: 2 miles out and back
  • Conditions: flat, rocky
  • Parking: small gravel parking lot at trailhead. Will need 4 wheel drive to get to trailhead
A picture of the skylight arch. You can see the arch formed in the ground and you can see through it under it. All the rocks here are a light brown color. You can see part of Lake Powell in the background and a tall mountain with snow on the top.

The trail to Skylight Arch is a unique hike located in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Despite this, there is no fee required.

The trailhead is in the very very south in Utah, practically right on the Arizona border. I still wanted to include this hike on this list because I feel like it isn’t very well known. On a Sunday morning we were the only ones there and it’s a great hike.

It’s a nice quick and easy trail that didn’t take us longer than an hour and a half.

It leads you to a unique arch formed under the ground. You don’t even know you’re at the arch until you’re walking on top of it.

I’ve never seen any kind of rock formation like it so I think it’s worth checking out if you’re around the Page, Arizona area.

Another picture from the skylight arch, a free hike in southern utah where I am on top of the arch and I am mid-jump in the air.

3. Belly of the Dragon – Orderville, Utah

  • Mileage: 1.8 miles
  • Conditions: Flat, easy walking trail
  • Parking: Large parking lot across from trailhead

The next free hike I want to share with you is the Belly of the Dragon Trail. This unique hike takes you through a manmade tunnel that was originally built for water drainage. It runs under highway 89 in Orderville.

This trail is pretty famous to the area so there were a good amount of people there exploring the “cave”.

Right when you pull into the trailhead, you will be able to see the entrance, a big dark hole in the hill that the road is built on top of.

A photo from right outside the belly of the dragon. You can see the sandstone form the walls of the cave and the tunnel looks extremely dark. There are writings carved all over the walls. Sandstone rocks are in the foreground.

Once you walk up you’ll begin making your way through the tunnel which goes on for about a quarter mile.

You may need a flashlight about midway through because there are rocks on the ground that are easy to trip over. There is no light from the ends of the tunnel once you get to a certain point.

Once you get to the end, the trail spits you out on the other side of the road where the trail continues through a forested area. We just turned around here because we mainly came to see the tunnel.

The mileage I’ve included above is the entire trail if you follow it to the end. But most people just walk through the tunnel and back.

4. Sand Caves – Kanab, Utah

  • Mileage: 1.2 miles
  • Conditions: Flat until you have to start climbing vertically up the rocks
  • Parking: Parking lot at trailhead
Me standing in the sand caves. There is sand all over the ground and the sandstone walls are behind me. In front of me the walls form openings that give you a view of the road and the mountains ahead of me. They are circular openings that allow you to see out. All the rocks are orange and have carvings in the walls.

Now for one of my favorite free hikes in Southern Utah: the Sand Caves Trail in Kanab.

This trail starts off highway 89 and if you’re heading south you should be able to see the sand caves from the road on your left.

Once you park in the parking lot, there will be a trail to the left of the lot. This is where the hike begins.

A view of the sand caves from the bottom of the trail. The orange rocks make up the walls beneath the cave. You can see dark holes at the top of the rock structure which are the caves. There are some trees growing out of the very top.

The trail is a bit hard to follow as there aren’t many signs telling you which way to go. But once you walk for about half a mile, to your right there will be a large orange rock that you’ll probably see some people climbing up.

There isn’t really an exact spot where you start climbing up the rock, but we just went wherever it looked the easiest (and what other people were doing).

The rock actually wasn’t too hard to hike on as long as you have shoes on with good traction. As you continue hiking to your right on the rocks you will eventually stumble upon the sand caves.

A view from inside the sand caves on one of the free hikes in southern utah. There is fluffy sand on the inside on the ground and an opening in the shape of a finger or a long oval which opens up where you can see the road and surrounding mountains. The rest of the cave inside is dark and you can only see light coming in from the opening. It's lighting up the edges of the circular opening.

Enjoy the views from the inside and explore all the different “hallways”. Remember to leave no trace in the cave and come back down the same way you came, just be careful.

The rock would be pretty difficult to hike on in the rain or snow so I’d only recommend hiking this in good sunny weather.

5. Toadstool Hoodoos Trail – Kanab, Utah

  • Mileage: 1.8 miles
  • Conditions: Flat and no shade
  • Parking: Parking lot at trailhead
Me standing on top of a rectangular orange rock. It is snowing and there's snow all over the rocks, ground, and in the air. There is another red rock formation to my left and it's very tall and has a round mushroom like head at the top with snow covering it. I am standing with one of my knees bent and my arms out wide.

The Toadstool Hoodoos Trail is a relatively flat and easy to follow trail with amazing scenery along the way.

The turnaround point on this trail is when you come upon some large red rock formations in the shape of mushrooms.

A view from the hoodoos trail one of the free hikes in southern utah where you can see the red rock mushroom formations in the distance. There are grey rocks in the background that almost look like a mountain. There is snow everywhere on the ground and on top of the rocks. You can even see snowflakes falling from the sky. There are a few spikey desert looking plants in the foreground that are covered in snow as well.

If you like admiring cool rocks and are looking for a quick trail to hike near Kanab then you won’t want to miss the Toadstools.

A close up shot of the red mushroom rock. You can see snow falling on top of it and in front of the structure. To the left there are more rocks with snow covering the tops. In the background you can see small grey rock mountain covered in snow.

6. Dinosaur Tracks Trail- Kanab, Utah

  • Mileage: 0.7 miles
  • Conditions: Steep, some rock climbing
  • Parking: Small gravel parking lot at trailhead
My hand with all my fingers spread out emphasizing the size of the dinosaur print below my hand. The dinosaur track is fossilized into the orange rock and you can clearly see three large "toes" made from a dinosaur. There are smaller rocks sitting around the print in a circle so people know where to look for them.

The Dinosaur Tracks Trail is a short but challenging hike and it’s the perfect stop if you’re driving through Kanab.

The trail starts out flat until you start to climb up a small rocky mountain which will lead you to a few dinosaur tracks on the top.

The path is hard to follow at times so I’d recommend having AllTrails handy. There’s beautiful mountain views at the top and it’s insane to see how big the dinosaur tracks are.

7. Red Hollow Trail- Orderville, Utah

  • Mileage: 1 mile
  • Conditions: Mostly flat and sandy
  • Parking: Small parking area inside a neighborhood
Me standing inside a slot canyon in Southern Utah on a free hike. My back is turned to the camera and I have both my hands on each side of the wall. My whole body is dark and shadowy but there is light coming in the slot canyon from behind me where I'm facing. There is sand all over the ground and the canyon walls are tall and made of red rock.

And my last free hike in Southern Utah is the Red Hollow Trail. This short hike will take you right up to a slot canyon that gets to be a tighter and tighter squeeze as you advance into it.

The scenery leading up to the canyon is gorgeous with massive red rocks.

A view of the red rock mountains on this trail before you get to the slot canyon. The rocks are striped with red, tan, orange, and white. There are also little green bushy plants growing out of the rock. There is also green plants all over in the foreground. The sky is clear blue with no clouds and is a beautiful contrast with the orange rock.

Despite the impressive slot canyon, this didn’t seem to be a hugely popular trail. We only saw a few other people hiking when we went.

I think it is definitely worth checking out because it’s so quick and right down the road from Belly of the Dragon.

Slot canyons like this one always have the potential to cause flash floods which can fill up the canyon quickly. Only attempt this hike on a clear day where rain is not in the forecast.

A view from inside the slot canyon on the red hollow trail. The rocks are red and tall and you can see all the layers of them. The rocks that make up the canyon almost look like they alternate back and forth because of the switchbacks that you have to hike back and forth in the tight slot canyon. The slot canyon is extremely small and you can tell it looks like a really tight squeeze.

That’ll do it for some of my favorite free hikes in Southern Utah outside of the Big 5! I hope you were able to add some fun hikes to your Utah itinerary and that you enjoy these trails as much as I did. Thanks for reading!

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Hi! I'm Anna, the human behind Soul Summit Travel. My mission is to make travel more accessible so everyone can experience the joys of connecting deeper with our Earth.

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About the Author

Hi! I'm Anna, a US-based travel blogger with a passion for discovering the most beautiful corners of our planet.

Through this blog, I aim to make travel more budget-friendly and accessible to everyone.

Here you'll find road trip itineraries, hiking guides, and unique destinations across the US and beyond.

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