Unmissable Things To See And Do In Kanab, Utah

We completely missed Kanab when exploring southern Utah during our first American southwest road trip in 2019. Those big-name parks like Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon greedily took all our attention. And it wasn’t until doing deep-dive research for our 2-month road trip from Seattle to Sedona at the end of 2021 that we realized we’d made a huge mistake by skipping Kanab. So we didn’t make the same mistake again, and we pencilled in at least 2 days ticking off Kanab’s massive amount of outdoorsy attractions.

After leaving Zion and before heading down to the Grand Canyon (both for the second time), we stopped at Coral Pink Sand Dunes for a spot of sandboarding in the blazing winter sun, before arriving into small-town Kanab, eating a fantastic dinner and staying in a super cheap hotel. In the morning we applied for a next-day permit to hike The Wave and somehow won on our first try. So we spent that day visiting Belly of the Dragon, Moqui Sand Caverns, and hiking a short distance into Buckskin Gulch slot canyon.

We wanted to beat the crowds at The Wave to get people-free photos, so we got a super early start and hiked quickly. Luckily, we were second on site, and we were utterly blown away by the landscape (bear in mind we travel and hike for a living). And afterwards, we hiked Toadstool Hoodoos on our way to Page. In essence, we blasted through tons of genuinely fun things to do in the immediate areas around Kanab – and there were actually a lot of other spots we didn’t have time to see that are on our bucket list for next time.

Honestly, we loved Kanab. Not just the hikes and landscapes but the tiny desert town itself too. It has such a cool, laid-back, outdoorsy vibe with great places to eat and cheap places to stay. We’d say it’s our favorite place to set up base for enjoying outdoor adventures on the southern Utah and northern Arizona border, and we can’t wait to go back to get further off the beaten path. Based on our own jam-packed trip, we’re going to walk you through the experiences we consider unmissable for a first-timer visiting Kanab. Let’s dive in!

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Being Blown Away By The Wave

We purposefully left our Kanab itinerary open-ended and fluid because we desperately wanted to hike The Wave, but we knew how hard it would be to win a coveted next-day permit. It’s the hardest hiking permit to win in the entire US, so we gave ourselves a few “just in case” days and didn’t mind hanging around to try the permit process a few mornings in a row. This was back in late 2021, and we were among the very last people to apply in person at the gym in Kanab. Only 4 groups out of around 40 won, and luckily we were the first number drawn.

What can we say about our hike to The Wave other than: Wow! The trail itself was fun because we had to follow a paper map provided by the BLM after winning our permit, it was a beautiful sunny mid-December morning, and the topography as we arrived at The Wave was honestly mind-blowing. We travel the world and hike trails for a living, so it’s become rare for us to be genuinely staggered by landscapes, but this place was incredible. We’d do it again in a heartbeat, but next time we’d go later in the day and stay for sunset.

We started the hike from Wire Pass Trailhead, which was around 47 miles from our hotel in Kanab. The hike was 6 miles round trip, it took us 1 hour each-way (we spent close to 3 hours exploring The Wave), and overall we’d put it on the easier end of moderately difficult. For us, The Wave is the single best thing to do near Kanab, but winning a permit is a real challenge. Next time we’d apply in advance at recreation.gov and plan our trip to Kanab around when we won. But if we took a spontaneous trip to the American southwest, we’d pick Kanab over Page as our base to apply for the next day permit within the geo-location area.

Walking Through Buckskin Gulch Slot Canyon

After winning our next-day permit for The Wave in the gymnasium, we grabbed a few brochures showing the other top experiences around Kanab and the thing that stood out immediately was the longest canyon in the US called Buckskin Gulch. That was exactly the type of adventurous hike we couldn’t miss. Our first thought was to do it straight away, but it turned out the slot canyon hike began 47 miles away at Wire Pass – the exact same place as The Wave.

So we decided to hike them both together the next day. It seemed silly to drive all that way twice, and we were in decent shape. Thankfully we got organized and bought our Buckskin Gulch day use permit on recreation.gov for $6 before driving to Wire Pass. That saved us from having cell service issues when trying to buy a permit in person in the parking lot.

Near the end of our hike back to Wire Pass from The Wave, we took a right in the dry riverbed and followed it as it disappeared into tall cliffs. A few minutes later we saw a gigantic arch, and then all of a sudden we were carving through narrow and tall canyon walls, passing by boulders, climbing ladders and navigating stagnant pools of water. We saw maybe 5 or 6 other people in 3 hours so it was great for fun action photos, although we have to admit it also felt a bit eerie. We’d love to hike the full thing from Wire Pass to Lees Ferry one day, that would be a unique experience that might be better in a bigger group.

Seeing The Interesting Toadstool Hoodoos

We were pretty wrecked after hiking The Wave and Buckskin Gulch, but we had one more hike to complete on our way to Page called Toadstool Hoodoos. To be honest we almost skipped it, but we were so glad we didn’t. The flat and easy but constantly slaloming trail took us through a dry river wash before eventually opening up into this massive flat expanse filled with mushroom-shaped rocks and backed by tall cliffs.

The Wave and Buckskin Gulch were super quiet, but our hike to Toadstool Hoodoos was surprisingly busy and we noticed especially that there were lots of families with younger kids. It made sense because the 1.6 miles round trip trail was very flat and easy, and there were tons of opportunities to climb up and over the dry river bed on mounds which a lot of older kids were doing.

At the flat expanse we spent maybe half hour wandering around the white and orange landscape, taking photos of the uniquely photogenic mushroom rocks, and relaxing as soft light filled the area close to sunset. It was much better than we expected, and overall we’d say it’s one of the more underrated hikes near Kanab. We’d definitely do it again if we had time and we were driving between Page and Kanab.

Taking Fun Photos Inside The Belly Of The Dragon

The morning before we arrived in Kanab, we hiked to Angels Landing in Zion for sunrise, then left via the park’s east entrance and decided to stop at a few fun-looking attractions on the way into town. So we started with a place that had a strange name but looked pretty cool and was located close to Mt. Camel Junction called the Belly of the Dragon.

It wasn’t super clear where we needed to park along the gravel road, but we figure it out in the end (here’s where we parked). And after a light scramble down to an opening, we couldn’t believe our eyes – it actually did look like what we pictured the inside of a dragon would be like! In reality it was a boring water drainage tunnel running underneath highway 89, but it was also a fantastic spot to capture some fun silhouette photos.

After walking through the tunnel, we continued to hike up a dry creek bed on the other side for maybe another mile. It actually kept going, but we decided to turn around after reaching a dry waterfall because it required climbing to continue. That would have slowed us down and we wanted to tick off a few more places before arriving into Kanab, so we sacked it. But overall, we thought it was well worth stopping for a quick hour.

Sandboarding At Coral Pink Sand Dunes

Straight after Belly of the Dragon, our next stop on the way into Kanab was Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park which we thought sounded great. We drove out into the middle of nowhere, before eventually arriving at a small visitor center and parking area in front of 3,370 acres of sand dunes with massive cliffs behind. It was a pretty awesome sight.

Inside the visitor center we rented a wooden sandboard and a wooden sled with wax to apply before each run on the dunes. Then we walked out onto the biggest sand dunes we could find, and started learning how to sandboard – and how not to! After a few mega wipe outs, we started to get the hang of it, and it was honestly so much fun. The worst part was the brutal hikes back up the dunes, and even though it was December, it was a scorching hot afternoon.

We saw other people driving off-road vehicles over the dunes and getting air time which looked fun (here’s more on ATV’s). And we also enjoyed learning about different sand from around the world and tiger beetles that are only found in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. But the sandboard and sled cost us $25 per board which we thought was a bit steep, so next time we’d get one between two instead.

Stopping At The Hidden Sand Dune Arch

The American southwest is filled with amazing natural arch formations, so we didn’t have the biggest expectations when we pulled over on Hancock Road at the entrance to Kane County Road 788d so we could walk to the Sand Dune Arch. We’d just been scorched on the dunes and our clothes were full of sand, but we decided to make one final stop on the way into Kanab, and it actually turned out to be well worth it.

We were the only car parked on the road, and we honestly had no idea if we were in the right place as we walked along deep sandy paths towards a cluster of rocks. But we were. Sand Dune Arch turned out to be this huge standalone arch set in a sea of sand, and there was nobody else around for miles. We spent maybe 10 minutes max taking photos and being left intrigued at how this one arch was all that remained of the old rocks in this area.

If we’d had a 4WD vehicle, we would have driven all the way up to Sand Dune Arch. But even in our SUV, we didn’t risk the deep sand just to save a few minutes walk each way so we parked on the main road. Would we go out of our way to see the arch? No. But if we were driving from Coral Pink Sand Dunes to Kanab, we’d stop again to see it.

Visiting The Unique Moqui Cave Museum

We love finding random hidden gems on our travels, and that’s exactly what we discovered at the Moqui Cave Museum near Kanab. After we won our permit to hike The Wave, we had all day left to fill with activities, so after a leisurely breakfast in town we started by parking at what looked like a massive old cave entrance at the base of a red rock cliff that had been filled in with stone and glass.

We paid $7 each for entry and a short guided tour of what we can only describe as an eclectic and totally unexpected collection of rooms including an old bar, a gift shop, and an old concert hall which has been transformed into a natural history museum containing fluorescent minerals, rocks and fossils. It was bizarre, but the history of this old cave was fascinating.

We learned that the cave was used as a speakeasy during the Prohibition era in the early 20th century, before becoming a tavern and dance hall in 1951. Then for years, Moqui Cave was the place to be seen, and the bar even hosted the odd western movie star. We met a few people inside who complained that it wasn’t worth paying to go in just to buy more gifts, but we actually enjoyed how unique and odd it was.

Climbing Into The Cool Moqui Caverns Sand Caves

After leaving the tiny museum, we parked in a dirt pullover on the side of highway 89 around 1 minute drive to the south so we could climb up to see the Moqui Sand Caverns. We didn’t love crossing over highway 89 and at the time we were surprised there was nowhere to park, so we’re happy to see a new trailhead parking lot has been built where Kanab Canyon Road meets the highway.

Back at the end of 2021, after crossing the road, we basically climbed a short but steep vertical rock face to access a kind of flat ledge that we skirted around until entering the sand caves. But now it looks like there’s a proper trail from the parking lot to the sandy caverns which is much better. There are white paw prints marking the route up the rocks, but they are slanted and can be very slippery.

We visited around lunch time on a clear day in December and the small sand-filled cave network was flooded with sunlight. It was photogenic, we had it to ourselves, and it took maybe 20 minutes total to see it. With the longer hike now it would be closer to 30 minutes, but it’s worth a quick stop. Next time we’d probably do it for sunset.

Touring Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

Kristen was a 4-H kid and did a lot of things with farm animals, and both of us had pets growing up, so visiting Best Friends Animal Sanctuary was a no-brainer for our trip to Kanab. They provide shelter to around 1,600 rescued farm animals and domestic pets, and our plan was to take a tour when we arrived in the afternoon, but we didn’t realize that advanced reservations had to made for tours, so we missed out.

We also didn’t know that people can volunteer to help out in dogtown, cat world and horse haven. After learning that on-site adoptions were welcomed, we (mostly Kristen!) fought hard not to adopt all 1,600 animals. But we did buy a bit of merch to support the cause, and overall we thought it was worth seeing even without taking a tour.

The site also has highly rated accommodations called Best Friends Cottages which are next to the sanctuary, as well as a hotel in Kanab called Best Friends Roadhouse. They’re both very popular pet friendly places to stay and can book up well in advance. We haven’t stayed in either but would consider them if we ever visited with dogs.

Finding The Dinosaur Tracks

Our final hidden gem near Kanab that was a bit random but totally worth a quick stop was Dinosaur Tracks Trail. It was getting later in the day and sunset was fast approaching, but we decided to park on the southernmost end of the parking area at the Utah Port of Entry, and basically forge our own route up a very steep and barely marked rocky mound to hopefully see dome prints left by dinosaurs.

There were no other cars or people around so we didn’t know if this was a wild goose chase. Throw in a pretty sketchy climb with loose rocks underfoot and a steep gradient and no real sign that this was actually a hike, and we were seriously questioning if this was going to be worth the effort. But once we got up to the flat summit, we did see a few embedded Grallator prints that were left 185 million years ago.

We were glad to have our proper robust shoes on, rather than regular running shoes or flip-flops. Getting up was interesting enough with decent grips, so we’d definitely wear solid footwear again next time. When updating this guide we read comments that other hikers are now leaving small stones in circles around the prints, that’s nice, we never had that and had to find them ourselves!

What We’d Do Next Time

We’ve just shown you ten places we visited around Kanab in just three days, but there was so much more we didn’t have time to see. Next time we go to Kanab, we’ll rent a 4WD vehicle and stay for another three or four days to tick off some of the following places:

Antelope Canyon: Page is 1 hour 20 minutes drive from Kanab, so it’s not really close enough to justify being in our guide. But we do want to briefly mention it here because we absolutely loved doing both a sunrise and sunset at Horseshoe Bend, and we know how popular Antelope Canyon is for first timers to the area. We haven’t done it ourselves, but if we did, we’d book this Lower Antelope Canyon tour or this Upper Antelope Canyon tour.

Peekaboo Canyon: We’ve read that Antelope Canyon is too busy and too expensive. One thing we’d like to do closer to Kanab is Peekaboo Canyon, which has been dubbed “Antelope Canyon without the crowds”. We’d do it independently if we had a 4WD vehicle, otherwise we’d join this 1.5 hour tour or this 3 hour tour, both of which includes a guided Jeep tour and hiking in the canyon.

Great Chamber: This enormous sand cave with a super photogenic entrance looks awesome. We’d do it by ourselves if we had a 4WD vehicle, otherwise we’d join this top rated tour which also goes to Peekaboo Canyon on ATV’s.

White Pocket: If we wanted to do something totally different and get well off the beaten path, we’d consider joining this full day private tour of White Pocket and Vermilion Cliffs. It’s expensive but it looks awesome and has perfect ratings.

Coyote Buttes South: If we didn’t win a permit to hike The Wave, our first backup plan was to park at Lone Tree Trailhead and hike 8 miles round trip to The Southern Wave (which is known as Coyote Buttes South). We would have had to win one of these permits first, and we wouldn’t have been able to drive all the way to the landscape because we didn’t have a 4WD vehicle.

Mansard Trail: If we had a bit more time and wanted a quiet 6-mile round trip hike with over 1,000 ft elevation gain close to Kanab, we’d hike Mansard Trail. It’s got steep switchbacks, a deep sandstone alcove at the summit, and ancient petroglyphs along the route. Perfect for a sunrise hike before heading back to town for breakfast.

Via Ferrata: We’d definitely like to give one of the via ferrata locations near Kanab a try next time we’re in the region. It’s an adventure activity with climbs up and down metal courses built into rock faces that we’d like to try with groups of friends or our kids when they’re old enough.

Grand Canyon North Rim: Finally, it’s only 1 hour 30 minutes from Kanab to Grand Canyon North Rim, which is more doable as a day trip than we imagined. We’ve been to Grand Canyon South Rim twice, but we’ve never been to the quieter North Rim side, so we’d love to do it next time.

Next Steps

We hope our guide on the top things to do in Kanab helps with planning your trip.

If you’d like more personalized help, we offer 1-on-1 travel planning video calls where we answer any questions you have, help you avoid tourist traps, and plan out your entire American southwest itinerary step by step. See our packages and reviews.

Still researching for your trip?

• Here are our favorite hikes in Zion
• These are our top Utah road trip ideas
• Here are the best places to see in Utah
• This is our Zion and Bryce itinerary
• These are the top hikes in Grand Canyon
• Here’s what to do in Sedona
• This is where to visit in Arizona

Finally, if you’ll be visiting more places on the same trip, we recommend reading our first-timers Utah travel guide for more helpful tips and advice.

Happy travels,

Mark and Kristen

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