Utah's Dixie

• — a small city, home to Southern Utah University and near the northwestern section of Zion National Park, as well as Cedar Breaks National Monument
• — a rapidly growing town along the road to Zion
• — a nice, albeit overpriced, resort town on Zion's western border
• — the first sign of civilization you will see, coming from Nevada, which boasts a huge Mormon temple and countless outdoor activity opportunities in the surrounding areas

• — a colossal natural amphitheater of multi-hued rocky cliffs
• — the largest national forest in the state (1,900,000 acres!) is mostly high altitude evergreen forest, with lots of hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, climbing, and even spelunking possibilities
• — a pretty state park full of red sandstone bluffs, just northwest of Saint George
• — one of America's most popular parks is breathtaking and has lots of excellent hikes ranging from very easy to very challenging, but all of them rewarding

The part of Utah known as Dixie is the southwestern corner of the state. It bears this incongruous name (more commonly associated with the South region of the United States, far to the southeast of Utah) because early settlers were successful in practicing some of the same agriculture as in the southeastern United States. Historically it has been sparsely populated, but the growing popularity of St. George as both a retirement community and a jumping-off point for outdoor recreation is increasing the population rapidly.

• St. George Regional Airport (SGU has flights from Salt Lake City, Denver, Los Angeles and Phoenix.