9 Prettiest Towns to Visit in Utah
Get busy and buzzing in the Beehive State of Utah. So named after the Ute tribe—which could either mean “people of the mountains,” or yuttahih meaning “higher up”—the Beehive State is home to some of the prettiest towns to visit that are a few miles outside the stellar and alluring amenities of the big cities like Salt Lake City, Saint George, and others. Step into the rolling cameras of classic movies in settings as seen in Moab and Kanab. Feel like one of the famous outlaws and cowboys of the Wild West while sojourning through rustic abodes like Panguitch, Springdale, and Mount Pleasant. Most importantly, get a sense of religious awe and humility while vacating in the lovely atmospheres of Huntsville and Bountiful. As the most homogenous state with one major religion, Mormonism, you will be mesmerized by the prettiest towns to visit in Utah.
Monticello
Monticello is one of the highest towns in Utah. It is located 7,000 feet on the eastern slopes of the Abajo Mountains, which gives people and impressive view of over 12 national landmarks in the Colorado Plateau. From Monticello, you can delve into the Canyonlands National Park and the Manti-La Sal National Forest; wade through the waters of the Monticello Lake and Indian Creek; and see the ruins of the Anasazi at the Bear Ears National Monument, so named after a pair of buttes resembling a bear’s ears.
Additionally, you can admire the ancestral dwellings of the Puebloan people at Hovenweep National Monument, which date well back to a period of 500 BCE to 1300 CE. In Indian Creek, you will find a large, dark sandstone panel called Newspaper Rock with gigantic petroglyph carvings from the Fremont, Ute, and Archaic cultures. For those of you intrigued by Monticello’s height and culture, you can always seek accommodations at the Monticello Inn, The Atomic Blue Motor Inn, or Rodeway Inn & Suites.
Bluff
On the banks of the San Juan River, with sandstone bluffs surrounding it, Bluff is one of the prettiest small towns in Utah. The San Juan River is notable for its “goosenecks” or tight loops in the Gooseneck State Park. The Trail of the Ancients Scenic Byway has over 116 miles of routes and trails that the Puebloan people marked with artworks as best seen in the Sand Island Petroglyph Panel.
The Hovenweep National Monument and the Bears Ear National Monument are also accessible from bluff, just as Fort Bluff—an old barracks and waystation—leads visitors to the arduous Hole-in-the-Rock trail that Mormon pioneers once traversed. Only about 50 minutes from Monticello, you will not feel unwanted or unwelcomed in Bluff while you are staying in either the Kokopelli Inn, La Posada Pintada, or Bluff Dwellings Resort & Spa.
Mount Pleasant
Lounging on the Sanpitch River, and approximately an hour and 30 minutes south of Salt Lake City, is the pleasing town of Mount Pleasant. During the Black Hawk War and the Walkara (Walker) Indian War in the 1800s, the Mormon settlers of Mount Pleasant when violence reached their original homesteads. Once the chaos settled down, they returned to Mount Pleasant from their temporary residences in Manti and erected the Wasatch Academy—the oldest continually operating secondary school in Utah.
Most people come to Mount Pleasant to brave the tall mountains, such as Horse Heaven Mountain, South Tent Mountain, Candland Mountain. Whatever your reason for visiting Mount Pleasant, you will certainly be having a pleasant experience in this historic and riveting small town.
Moab
Approximately 54 miles from Monticello, Moab—also known as “Nature’s Masterpiece”—is one of the most visited sites in Utah. With its massive buttes and towering cliff faces, it has been the setting of several American classics such as Galaxy Quest, Indiana and the Last Crusade, and The Lone Ranger. You can find these movie settings in national landmarks such as the Arches National Park, the Canyonlands National Park, the Colorado River, and Dead Horse Point State Park.
Because Moab is one of the few places with the most unpolluted skies, you can gaze up at night and see the Milky Way galaxy in all its starry glory. Moab has been the home of many individuals for millennia as evinced by thousands-year-old petroglyphs belonging to the Navajo, Hopi, Pueblo, and other indigenous peoples. There are many more attractions to go sightseeing in Moab, so consider booking a room in the Moab Springs Ranch, Aarchway Inn, or Gravity Haus Moab for a long vacation in Moab.
Panguitch
Panguitch, around 67 miles from Kanab, is near to several of Utah’s national landmarks in the Colorado Plateau. There are, for example, the Dixie National Forest and Lake Panguitch. Then there is Bryce Canyon where unique geographic formations called hoodoos are located, which are essentially mesas of jagged pillars of red stones. You might be invested in horseback rides through the Kodachrome Basin and the distant Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Modern archaeologists have unearthed dozens of ancient artifacts within these geographic marvels. It is theorized that these artifacts belong to the Anasazi, the Fremont, and the Paiute peoples. During your vacation in Panguitch, you should definitely attend the Quilt Walk Festival from June 5 - 8. It is a remarkable festivity that pays homage to the individuals who used quilts to cross snowy mountains and deliver flour to the starving people of Panguitch in 1864. Do consider spending your dreamy evenings at The Golden Spur, Panguitch Countryside Cabins, or Color Country.
Kanab
Kanab, from the Paiute phrase for “the place of the willows,” is a gateway to the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell, in addition to being so close to the Bryce Canyon Grand Staircase Escalante and the Vermillion Cliffs National Monuments. It is in these dynamic and ferocious landscapes and canyons that other Wild West films were also set, like Sergeants 3, Desperate Hours, and The Outlaw Josey Wales—hence why Kanab is also referred to as the “Little Hollywood” of Utah. There is even a handful of base camps in these regions which inspired American novelist Zane Gray to write Riders of the Purple Sage in the year 1912.
Only an hour and 30 minutes from the city of Saint George, cherish your time in Kanab in fine establishments like the Grand Plateau Lodge. But most of all, experience the adventures and thrills of a cowboy during Western Legends Heritage and Music Festival in the third Friday and Saturday of August.
Springdale
Approximately 75 miles from Panguitch lies the seasonal town of Springdale. The town is remarkable for its access to the Zion National Park. There, you can take photographs of awesome geographic features only formed in Utah, like the towering Greatheart Mesa, the Court of the Patriarchs, and a narrow campground known as The Subway. Follow the Virgin River to the Temple of Sinawava, a natural amphitheater that opens up to a canyon-flanked waterway known as the Narrows and terminates into a series of falls called the Big Springs.
In preparation for the Zion National Park, the Zion Human History Museum offers insightful information of the many landmarks and peoples that reside in the Zion National Park. Or you can always refreshen and recharge at the Zion Canyon Lodge, Canyon Vista Lodge, Driftwood Lodge.
Huntsville
Huntsville is one of the oldest small towns in Utah, having been founded by settlers 15 miles east from Ogden in the year 1860. You ought to stroll along the banks of Lake Pineview, an artificial lake which goes to show the ingenuity of human craftsmanship. As a town surrounded by vast wilderness, you can pitch a tent and spend your days and nights in cozy fields like Anderson Cove Campground. You should also try exploring the Weber Memorial Park and Snowbasin Resort to stand atop the many mountain peaks in the Ogden Valley.
As the cultural and geological heart of the Ogden Valley, you can attend or observe the annual Huntsville Marathon every September 21, or you can partake in the Cyclekart Race in the month of May to see homemade vehicles compete for the Grand Prix. If you are ever in need of accommodations, then look no further than to the Atomic Chalet Bed & Breakfast for a luxurious time in Huntsville.
Bountiful
In the year 1847, Mormon pioneers from the 11-mile-away city of Salt Lake City built a town named Sessions’ Settlement after Perrigrine Sessions. Later on, in the year 1855, they renamed the town into Bountiful after a mystical city in The Book of Mormon. In the past, Bountiful has endured a number of Native American raids. The ruins of a thick adobe wall surrounding the old places in Bountiful are evidence of Bountiful’s endurance.
Today, Bountiful is an excellent spot for those wanting access to the Wasatch Range, the Legacy Nature Preserve, the West Crystal Unit Farmington Bay, and Great Salt Lake—a lake that is seven times saltier than the saltiest regions of the ocean. Bountiful is also one of the most bountiful of places for the most faithful of Mormons to preach at Utah’s oldest church from 1851, the Bountiful (Mormon) Tabernacle. Either way, Bountiful will not be running out of things to satisfy everyone’s appetites.
Humungous mountains and sharp canyons? Check. Gunslinging legends and movie-memorable locales? Check. Utah has it all and more. The Bears Ear National Monument and the Hovenweep National Monument are easily accessible from convenient towns like Springdale, Bluff, and Monticello. Other pretty beautiful small towns that are also near to magnificent landmarks include Panguitch with its hoodoos in the Bryce Canyon and Huntsville with the man-made wonder of Lake Pineview. As for places like Bountiful and Kanab, they have their roots tied to the development and evolution of Mormonism in the Beehive State of Utah (Brigham Young, a prominent Mormon leader, named Utah “Deseret” which means honeybee in the language of the Jaredites). So this year, feel elated and enthused by the prettiest small towns to visit in Utah.
