Zion National Park (nps.gov/zion), about 30 minutes from St. George, offers easy to strenuous hiking trails and the paved Pa'rus Trail for bicyclists. You can also take family-friendly guided horseback riding trips, March through October. If you like to go birdwatching, you can find up to 207 species of birds here. You can also see a wide ranging diversity of plants; Zion National Park's elevation changes from 3,600 to 8,700 feet, and different elevations, temperatures, and amounts of sun and water mean you might see over 900 species of plants.
You won't see snow at Snow Canyon State Park (stateparks.utah.gov), about 10 miles from St. George, named for Lorenzo and Erastus Snow. The terrain is more desert-like so you can see petrified dunes and sandstone cliffs. There are 18 miles of hiking trails, a three-mile paved walking and biking trail and five miles of horseback riding trails. Wildlife you can see includes coyotes, kit foxes, quail, roadrunners, leopard lizards, gopher snakes and canyon tree frogs. Protected species in the park include falcons, desert tortoises and Gila monsters.
The St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm (no website; 2180 E. Riverside Drive; St. George, UT; 435-574-DINO), minutes from downtown St. George, displays dinosaur tracks that were discovered in February 2000. The tracks, some of the oldest and best-preserved tracks in the world, were made by three-toed Dilophosaurus-like creatures. The site is open every day except Sundays, and you can just show up for a tour. As of 2011, there are no visitors' services.
The Pine Valley Mountains just north of St. George have the red rocks that attract photographers. You can go horseback riding, hiking or backpacking through the area. If you like bird and wildlife watching, you can see hawks, bald eagles, reptiles and small mammals. Some of the plant life you will see includes pinon and juniper woods and sage steppe. You can also find mountain brush and Ponderosa pine.
