Things to Do in St. George: A Day Trip From Springdale

St. George has two distinct visitor stops in this guide, so you can shape a day around the temple visitors’ center, the dinosaur museum, or both. The center is free to enter and includes temple gardens; the museum charges admission and has set opening hours.

The St. George Temple Visitors’ Center is at 490 South 300 East, St. George, Utah 84770. The center includes exhibits and access to the gardens of the first temple built in Utah. Its experience includes accessible spaces for guests using wheelchairs.

The St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site is an indoor, climate-controlled museum. Its displays include dinosaur footprints, plant impressions and fish fossils from an Early Jurassic ecosystem.

UDOT describes the Zion Route as connecting St. George and Springdale, with stops in Washington, Hurricane, La Verkin and Virgin. Before driving, you can use UDOT’s traffic website or app for updates on crashes, construction, road weather, delays and live camera views. If your trip includes the airport transfer, consult how to get from Saint George Airport to Springdale.

UDOT also provides traffic cameras for SR-9 in Springdale and State Street/SR-9 in La Verkin and Hurricane. These views can help you check road conditions along the route. Check the official site before you go.

The temple visitors’ center and the dinosaur museum give you two different ways to spend time in St. George. The center is a free visit focused on exhibits and gardens; the museum is ticketed and focuses on fossils and prehistoric traces.

St. George Temple Visitors’ Center

Admission is free, and visitors commonly spend 30 minutes to an hour there. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gives the center’s hours as Monday through Saturday, 10:00 AM–9:00 PM, and Sunday, 1:00 PM–9:00 PM; the center’s own site gives daily hours of 10:00 AM–9:00 PM. Free parking is available at the center.

St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site

The museum is open 10:00 AM–5:00 PM seven days a week, with last entry at 4:30 PM. General admission is $10 for adults ages 18–59, $9 for seniors ages 60 and older, $5 for youth ages 5–17, and free for children ages 0–4.

The site also offers a guided, three-hour fossil field program at a quarry across the street from the museum. The program is ticketed, so check its details when planning your visit.

Use the sites’ opening patterns and the time you want to spend at each to set your own order. The temple visitors’ center typically takes 30 minutes to an hour, while the museum’s posted hours and last entry give you a clear window for a visit.

If you want to include both, check the current hours and admission details first, then decide how much of the day to give the museum and its optional three-hour field program. If you’re considering a different outing, things to do in Sand Hollow State Park on a Springdale day trip covers another day-trip destination.