Sunday Drive - Toquerville Falls
Our Sunday Drive this week features an off-road adventure to one of the most scenic spots for a swim in Southern Utah. The trip to Toquerville Falls is a rough and rocky trek but the scenery is worth the journey. And when the heat of summer arrives, there are few better places to take a swim than Toquerville Falls.
The falls are created when LaVerkin Creek first trips over a series of sandstone steps to form the upper half, then plunges over a steep drop into a pool below. The red sandstone cliffs of the Kolob section of Zion National Park, make appearances in the distance during the drive. And the sage and juniper-covered canyon surrounding the creek complete the beautifully spectacular landscape.
Click the Image Below to Watch a Video of the Falls:
The falls are on public land and there are numerous spots for primitive camping in the area. One drawback – it is a popular destination for local side-by-side tours and you may find the falls a little crowded on a Saturday afternoon.
There’s a sign where the pavement ends on the road to the falls that warns of the rugged nature of the route and that sign should not be taken lightly. While a stock SUV or pick-up with high clearance and fresh tires can make the trip, the road is much more easily conquered with more aggressive tires, a little extra clearance, and four-wheel-drive. You’ll want to be driving something along the lines of a Toyota 4Runner, a Nissan Pathfinder, a Mercedes G-Class, a Chevy Silverado, or a Jeep Wrangler if you want to make the trip. Of course, a side-by-side will get you there as well and if none of those options are available to you, you can rent side-by-sides and arrange tours with several local outfitters.
A few words of warning, the sandstone surrounding the falls is brittle and the danger of an inadvertent fall is real. The water levels in the pool at the bottom of the falls can fluctuate so jumping from the cliffs into the pool should be done with extreme caution. Cows do graze in the area so you should avoid drinking the water in LaVerkin Creek without purifying it first. And during the summer monsoon months, the danger of flash floods cannot be understated.
To get there you’ll turn east onto Spring Street off of state Route 17, the main road through Toquerville. You’ll stay on this road for the next 6 miles. The drive to the falls takes about a half-hour.
The water doesn’t warm up enough for swimming until June but the scenery itself is worth the trip year round. So grab your keys and your swimming trucks and hit the road!
An article on Toquerville Falls from St. George News:
Information on Toquerville Falls from the Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Office:
https://greaterzion.com/articles/exploring-toquerville-falls/
A blog post on the falls:
https://www.theoutbound.com/utah/photography/explore-toquerville-falls
Don’t have a 4x4? You can rent a side-by-side!
And a YouTube video on the trip to Toquerville Falls:
