Super close to a lot of the famous National Parks, St. George is also home to Dixie State University, and many many trails. St. George sits at about 2800 feet in elevation, so the weather is pretty temperate year round, and there are great rocky, Moab-like red rock, and sandy trails to explore. There are also pretty palm trees lining the town, and St. George is a great winter repreive, too!
Kentucky Lucky Chicken trail in the North Bloomington Hills area is a fun start to the trail scene in St. George. This trail has beautiful views, some technical features, a great climb, and nice singletrack. Another great trail network is the Zen Trail. This area has tons of singletrack, jeep trails, and other trails to jump on and explore, too!
For coffee, I recommend stopping at one of the Perks Coffee Shops (there are a couple in St. George, and 1 in Washington, which is just north of St. George). Perks has great lattes, smoothies, and simple breakfast bagels, and and a huge perk is that some of their locations open at 6am. This is ideal for getting in a quick coffee and breakfast before hitting the trails!
After first stopping at Perks for coffee and a slightly more substantial breakfast, my next recommendation is heading to Farmstead Bakery when they open at 7am. Farmstead was started by two chefs out of Nevada, and the pastries are plentiful and delicious. The passion fruit donuts are a must, as are the fruit danishes. They have a breakfast croissant that my friend said was good! Farmstead makes their own bread and have a few different sandwich options for lunch, which could also be a quick grab and go option before exploring St. George. They also carry SLC coffee roaster La Barba coffee, so you can always grab another latte or coffee with your pastries!
Rounding out the breakfast/pastry scene in St. George is Feellove Coffee, and there are a few locations in the area. This coffee shop opens at 8am (at least the downtown location does) and is super cute. If you are looking to relax and enjoy your breakfast/coffee/lunch somewhere, this would be the spot I would choose. Both the downtown St. George and the Riverside Dr. locations have super ample seating, cute decor, and great iced lemon water for customers. They also have an extensive coffee and tea menu, along with pastries, sandwiches, vegan options, and smoothies. Feellove Coffee has an in house Chai tea latte that I love!
My favorite dinner spot in St. George is the Painted Pony. This restaurant happens to be right next door to Feellove Coffee in downtown St. George, and is in a really cool building overlooking a beautiful courtyard. My favorite dish at the Painted Pony was a daily special of Japanese Sea Bass topped with fried beets, and I had mine served with potatoes. It was a super delicious dish, and I was so happy I got the special. Other great menu items are the seared Ahi Tuna with pan fried noodles, and the green pea ravioli with mushroom ragut, mint pesto, and parsnip cream. I always love going to restaurants that serve locally grown food, and Painted Pony does that in a wonderful way! It is also fun to check the restaurant out every season, as the menu changes!
If you are in the mood for pizza, Onyx Cafe has good wood-fired pizza. There are only a few tables in this small establishment, but I am sure you can also get carry-out. I had the Margherita and was quite pleased! Onyx also carries local chocolate and has 4 or 5 gelato flavors.
A fun place to check out for dessert is Nielsen's Frozen Custard. There are a few locations around the state, and on warm nights like in St. George, custard and ice cream really hit the spot. Nielsen's is known for their concretes, which are similar to a thick milkshake, but you can also get a scoop or two of custard and top it with whatever you want. I went with a simple vanilla custard topped with pecans, and it was super yummy!
