Top 6 social distancing adventures for spring break

Six Great Social Distancing activities for your trip to Southern Utah in 2020 are not hard to come by. Southern Utah is known for our amazing nature activities and this spring it is no different. Reservations may even be easier to get right now. You can even get a private adventure without even trying very hard or paying extra. With everything that is going on in the world right now the last thing we need to do is not go on vacation. When you go on vacation you get to recharge yourself and be strong when you get home. You can still social distance while on vacation. We have chosen 6 great social distancing adventures that has something for everyone.

Our top 6 picks for adventures while social distancing

• Number 6 is exploring Grafton ghost town and Grafton Cemetery

Grafton By Sindy Elamrani

Our favorite ghost town is the town of Grafton, UT. Grafton is located just outside of Springdale, the home to Zion National Park. Grafton dates back to 1859 and is rich in history. A couple of the main building have been fully restored. Those are the church/school house/meeting house and the Alonzo Russell home. If you are lucky enough to visit when the Russell home is open then don’t miss going up the very short stairway. Looking out the windows upstairs you can just imagine seeing kids playing in the yard swinging from the tree swings, people congregating at the meeting hall building, and the animals and gardens being tended to. Let you mind wonder back to the days of a booming Grafton. While exploring the Russell home don’t forget to go wonder around back and check out the spooky root cellar!

The Grafton Cemetery is said to be haunted by several former residents of the town of Grafton. People have said they see a pioneer woman dressed in calico and a bonnet crying. But when they approach her she simply disappears! Others have heard babies crying or Indian chants. There is a registry at the entrance to the cemetery listing each grave including Paiute Indians who lived in or near Grafton.

• Number 5 on our list is Sky Diving

Can you imagine the view of Zion National Park from thousands of feet about the ground while soaring through the wide-open sky? Oh did I mention that you are falling at over 120 miles per hour? Whether you are an experienced sky diver or this would be your first “jump” you have to visit Skydive Zion for an exhilarating adventure where it is typically your party, the pilot and the instructor and no one else. You will get to experience rolls, controlled dives and flips, turns and even pulling the ripcord on your first tandem skydive.

Skydive Zion has all the best modern well-maintained equipment you could need, one on one instruction by well qualified instructors and the nice thing that they fly when you are ready to fly. No waiting in long lines or being with crowds in a small airplane. Even if it is just one person Skydive Zion will take you out for an amazing adventure.

• Number 4 on our list is E-Biking Zion Canyon

Zion Adventure Company

With shuttle buses not running in Zion National Park right now it means you can drive into the canyon but good luck finding a parking spot. Zion Adventure Company has the best solution. Rent an E-Bike! You can easily ride an E-Bike the full length of the canyon in pure solitude. You totally control whom you want to interact with. E-Bikes are really for almost everyone. If you are familiar with riding a bike with shift levels and hand breaks then nothing should be stopping you from getting the best views inside Zion Canyon. The folks at Zion Adventure Company say that “riding one is easy; it feels like a regular bike, only better. When you pedal, the small motor gives you a boost – you control how much. It really does make you feel free.” Now if you want to peddle thru the canyon they may have mountain bikes available as well but just remember that there is a lot of uphill going into the canyon.

• Number 3 is Hiking

Zion Adventure Photog

Hiking need an entire article all by its self so we will just touch on a couple of great hikes for social isolation in Southern Utah. There are fantastic hikes inside Zion National Park but don’t forget about Snow Canyon State Park. If you are looking for less crowds and amazing hikes then this is the place to go. One of our favorite hikes is the Johnson Arch and Scouts Cave hike. It is very easily accessible for almost any hiking ability. The combined trails of Johnson Canyon and Scout Cave are a great way to spend 2 – 3 hours hiking in while keeping away from others. This hike features a stunning 200-foot-wide arch, a surprisingly lush spring, and a huge, cathedral-like cave. You will also get an amazing view of the city of Ivins that just cannot be beat. If you decide to hike up the Scouts Cave then just be prepared to gain several hundred feet in elevation.

The other hike in Snow Canyon State Park that we love is the Snow Canyon Petroglyphs hike. This is a relativity lesser known hike than any others but it is by far the most fantastic hike inside the park. Some of the petroglyphs can be kind of hard to find so here is a link to a great article by Hike St. George that will give you great directions to find all the best spots on this hike.

• Number 2 is one of the best social isolation activities – Canyoneering and Zip-lining

Familytimevacations.com photo

Our friends at Paragon Adventures have the best programs in our area. Most offerings are also family friendly!  Canyoneering is a fantastic activity where you are able to easily social distance yourself from others. They take out smaller groups of people, often just your party, to give you the best experience possible. You won’t have to worry if you are inexperienced or very experienced because each adventure is tailored to your ability level. According to Todd Goss, the owner/operator of Paragon Adventures, “Canyoneering is the exploration of this world of slot canyons, via hiking, scrambling, rappelling and sometimes wading and swimming. Southwestern Utah is widely considered to be one of the top Canyoneering destinations in the world, with everything from casual slots that can be done in a couple of hours to multi day wilderness canyons that offer every type of obstacle imaginable.” They take you to offbeat locations as to keep the traffic down as much as possible. Not only does Paragon Adventures do Canyoneering but they also offer the best Zip-ling, mountain biking, rock climbing/repelling, wild caving and photography adventures in Southern Utah. You can even book multi-day adventures. You will never be disappointed by taking an adventure with Paragon Adventures. Better yet, combine a zip-line with our number 1 activity in Southern Utah!

• Our number 1 pick for the best social distancing adventure is an ATV Adventure

ATV & Jeep Adventure Tours

We pride ourselves by being the oldest, biggest and most popular ATV Adventure tour company in Southern Utah There is not a better way to social distance yourself from others then having over 16,000 acres of land to roam on. All of our adventure tours are fully guided so you are not wasting your money renting a machine. After all, who want to be lost on Sand Mountain for most of the day? All of our adventure tour guides know Sand Mountain like the back of their hand. We make sure to take you to the absolute best places to visit on the mountain, the most amazing view points and the best places for taking photos. With over 16,000 acres to play on it is quite rare that you will come into contact with anyone other than your party and our guide. In the last 24 years we have figured out how to have a very safe adventure while still having more fun than you can imagine. If you have never seen an ATV in person or are an experienced driver we will make sure that you have an out of this world, safe experience. We offer several different types of machines for what best suits your needs. We have single driver ATV’s, specially built 2-person ATV’s and 4-seat Can Am side by side UTV’s. The hardest decision to make is if you want to go out for 3, 4 or 5 hours of the greatest adventure in Southern Utah. Remember we can accommodate anyone from 2 years old (you will need to bring a car seat) to well, our oldest guest was 93 years old! So what is stopping your having an adventure of a lifetime with ATV & Jeep Adventure Tours?

**Due to what is going on in the world right now we are limiting our non-related group sizes so we can keep social distancing in mind. If need be we will split up tours to keep the sizes to a minimum. All of the adventure companies in this article are practicing extreme sanitation protocols and are very aware of how to achieve social distancing.