Inn at Entrada : Places to Stay Near Zion National Park

If you have never had the opportunity to visit one or more of the National Parks, here is my formal invitation to make Zion National Park a vacation destination in the near future.  Living in Southern California my whole life and traveling back and forth between CA and Utah for school, St. George was always a rest stop.  A place to grab a quick bite, fill up the car with gas and keep on truckin’ to get to our final destination.  Now, spending much of the last two years in Salt Lake City, I have been amazed at the number of people here that are constantly heading down south to St. George for long weekends and holidays.  In June Ashley was attending a camp with some church friends from California, which, funny enough, was in St. George.  Rather than making the 10 hour drive round trip to drop her off, and then doing the same 4 days later to pick her up, we decided to see what all the fuss was about and spend a few days in St. George.  We had stopped in St. George overnight once before when the kids were little, at the height of Disney’s High School Musical popularity.  The Inn at Entrada was one of the filming locations, so I had booked a room there and we had enjoyed our quick visit.  After looking at things to do in St. George and other hotels and resorts in St. George, I decided that we would stay there again on this visit and I’m SO glad we did!  Some affiliate links are included in this post.

The Inn at Entrada

If you are looking for a luxury resort in St. George, look no further.  This small luxury resort is located near the entrance of Snow Canyon State Park…nestled in the gorgeous red rock hills.  Luxury casitas with full kitchens, garages, 2 large bedrooms and bathrooms and generous indoor/outdoor living areas and laundry facilities make staying and relaxing for a long time easy and super comfortable.  Casitas border the number one ranked year-round golf course in Utah, which also happens to be one of CNN’s 19 epic gold courses to play before you die, and have stunning views of the surrounding landscape.  A sparkling pool, fitness center, sand volleyball courts, pickle ball courts, a large clubhouse with a restaurant, tennis courts and spa are just a few of the awesome amenities available in the community and to resort guests. 

We popped into one of the local grocery stores and filled our fridge and cupboards so we could really unwind and make the Inn at Entrada home for the week. 

While temperatures are often in the high 90s in June, we lucked out with temperatures in the 70s and 80s, which was perfect!  Andy has ALWAYS wanted to be a golfer, but honestly we have never really been inclined to let him because in CA it’s super expensive.  Since we were guests at the resort, they offered both Andy and John a golf package that was too good to pass up…especially for such a well known course. 

The two of them spent one morning playing 9 holes, and then Andy played the back nine himself that afternoon while I rode around on the cart with him enjoying the STUNNING views from the course.  I am not exaggerating when I say stunning…check out some of these pictures…

The black lava rock up against all that red rock, amazing blue sky and green grass is pretty incredible. 

High School Musical 2 was filmed on location at the Inn at Entrada, and if you have kids who love to watch that movie, then staying here will score you some definite points.  The pool where so many scenes are filmed is a great place to escape the hot desert sun, and the clubhouse and driving range are favorite spots too due to the number of scenes filmed there as well. 

Even though we had stayed here several years ago at the height of the movie’s popularity, we actually got more bang for our buck this time because the kids are older and appreciated it even more. 😉

Places to Stay Near Zion National Park

National Parks are a major tourist attraction every summer which can make it very hard to find lodging close by.  Most of them have minimal offerings inside the park, that fill up sometimes more than a year in advance, and the hotel options in the smaller, more remote towns surrounding the parks fill up just as quickly and can be really overpriced and underwhelming for what you get.

If you are looking for a luxury resort near Zion National Park, the Inn at Entrada is a short 50 minute drive to the park’s entrance, which makes it a perfect spot to stay and also be able to enjoy the park all day long. 

Springdale, the cute town on the outskirts of the park has several cute places to stay near Zion National Park too, as well as cute shops and restaurants to check out when you are done hiking and exploring the park for the day.  Besides the Inn at Entrada, the places to stay near Zion National Park that I would recommend are:

The Watchman Villas (vacation homes)

SpringHill Suites Springdale

Flanigan’s Inn

CliffRose Lodge

Things to Do in St. George Utah

We were pleasantly surprised with just how much there was to do in St. George.  Here are just a few highlights:

Golf 

Zion National Park

Snow Canyon State Park (gorgeous drive and hiking for all ages)

Tuacahn – Gorgeous outdoor amphitheater nestled amongst the red rocks featuring Broadway musicals all summer long.

Las Vegas – a quick 90 minute drive to the bright light city

Virgin River Tubing

The St. George, UT airport is easily accessible from several major airports in the US, including LAX, Phoenix Sky Harbor and Dallas Ft. Worth.  If you are looking for a fun place to visit in the winter when temps are freezing the mild climate in this desert city might just be the perfect option for you.  Spring and fall here are gorgeous too with average temperatures in the 60s and 70s…and if you like the heat, summer is fun as well.  The Census has recently identified St. George as the fastest growing metro area in the United States, and I can see why people are heading this direction.  

Looking for more travel posts and ideas? You can check out our entire Travel Gallery to see all of our posts and helpful info.

You can read these other popular articles if you are looking for warm weather destinations:

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Happy Travels!
Tammy