The Peacemaker Ranch

The deep gorges and red sandstone rock formations of Zion National Park (about an hour’s drive) have a myriad of hiking, cycling and horse riding trails through flat-bottomed, steep-sided gorges. If you’re after more high-octane activity, take a boat trip down Virgin River, try canyoning or climbing sheer cliffs and pinnacles. If you’d rather hang out closer to home base, it’s only 15 minutes’ drive to Water Canyon Trailhead at Hildale, where you can follow a track along the river to a dramatic tumbling waterfall. Another local hiking option is the Amphitheater Trail (half an hour), which – as its name may suggest – leads to a vast natural amphitheatre along Short Creek; this is a level walk and one that kids can attempt easily. Other family-friendly attractions include Warner Valley Dinosaur Track Site (an hour), a heritage site peppered with ancient prints of giant, lizard-like dinosaurs. Budding palaeontologists can read up all about southern Utah’s prehistoric sites in the St George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm (50 minutes).