Our first stop in Utah and the gateway to a couple of the national parks we had planned is Kanab – the former Hollywood of the west. This was a town that had very clearly seen better days and could really use a nice coffee spot but served as a great base for us for the week.
We were able to get ourselves a four bedroom place for the week – a bit of a rarity – but a much welcome change from the two bedroom place in flagstaff (as much as I did love that cottage). It was within walking distance to a great park, a trail that I sadly only discovered on the last day, and the towns only attempt at a coffee spot that actually used espresso.
It was also super close to some great little trails to view some of what the southwest of Utah had to offer. Our first hike was one that I had seen on Instagram a few times and it as pleasantly surprised to find out it was less than 10 minutes from our place: the Kanab Sand Caves. It’s a bit of a climb up the face of a rock but you are rewarded at the top with this very cool network of caves filled with, well as the name implies, sand.
Just a little further up the road was the Belly of the Dragon a natural tunnel in the stone. The tunnel was right at the trailhead, which unfortunately kind of spoiled the surprise and left little for incentive for the kids.
Our last mini hike that we were able to convince the kids to do was to see actual dinosaur prints – made from a grallator. It was probably the most challenging hike we have done so far but it was pretty neat to see the prints and remember that dinosaurs really did exist.
Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids 
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