Kanab Visitor Center

A must stop for area visitors. Best information wall of flyers I've ever seen. Featuring all the common areas and many "off the beaten path" areas. Flyers include driving instructions and hiking information.

Very helpful and a great place to visit. We learned about several hikes and places to explore which are popular by locals. We loved a picnic lunch in a local park. The Kanab area is lovely, people are friendly, restaurants are yummy, hotels are comfy and prices are great. While we enjoyed exploring and hiking on our own, we want to go back and sign up for off road tours from local experts. Prices are quite reasonable.

Friendly, helpful staff and a great stopping point for exploring any of the surrounding area.

Erin, Sedina and Kaitlyn, thank you. This place was really fun and they really liked the volunteers, informative and gave us a plethora information. Lots of things to look at especially if you are a geologist. One of the workers there, is in school to be a geologist and it was fabulous having a conversation with her. We really enjoyed the maps and the cross-section plus the histories of the area. I WOULD RECOMMEND

We drove through Kanab, UTAH after we left Zion National Park on the U.S. 89 HWY. Kanab is surrounded by these beautiful red rocks and its such a cool mountain/desert town! This town has alot to offer from off-roading adventures and lots of caves and tunnels too explore! A very nice place to visit and stay the night and it is very close to the east entrance too Zion about 30 minute drive! We had a wonderful time driving through this town!

Don’t miss this stop on your road trip! The staff here is a wealth of information for all tourist activities. The gentleman that helped us was Alan. He offered some suggestions for local hikes. We took his advice and checked out the toadstool area. The visitor center was very clean, and there are public restrooms as well. The restrooms are located on the outside of the building. I would recommend taking a few minutes to look around inside as well. They have some exhibits that explain some of the geological features of the area. They also have gift shops and passport stamps for collectors.

Another place with great information. Glad we stopped by. Even though there is little for the disabled to do at the National Monument, the staff here told us about a somewhat Scavenger Hunt we go to and just drive, the Johnson Canyon Driving Tour. That allowed us to enjoy a day visit and make it possible to see some sites. I cannot remember the guys name but Thank You for showing us the driving tour, we enjoyed it.

Took the kids here early morning to get some information about Kanab. Had a great visit and found out some nice quick hikes. If you got young kids it's a nice place to stop before or after breakfast. We bought some cactus candy. It was okay but it was fun to buy.

Office hours are inaccurate, they don't reflect weekend closures nor any updates concerning wildfires in the area.

This small little place is where THE WAVE lottery action takes place. You're best chance at hiking and seeing the wave is through here. Don't bother trying to go there without a permit, if caught without one, the fines can be up to 1000-10000 dollar fine and 1 month in jail. Come at 8 am in the morning, no later than 8:30. The lottery is for 10 spots for the following day. Ask about cancellations. Usually the winter season is easier to win compared to the other seasons. If you do win, be sure to prepare enough water/food for your survival as people have gotten lost and died on this particular hike. The staff here are friendly and very informative if you need pointers on where to go, what to do in and around Kanab. They will whip specific maps seemingly out of thin air as they speak to you. Most nice hikes require higher clearance 4x4 vehicles to get to. But if you don't have that kind of car, you can either rent one or go with a tour group (costs more) or hitch hike with someone else who's going. We had that opportunity but we didn't take it. Maybe you guys will be luckier

We had stopped for gas across the street so I decided to check out this visitors center and I am glad I did. Staff were super helpful informing me about the process to obtain a permit to hike "The Wave". Yes, there are lots of opinions about the lottery system used to determine who gets to hike this precious protected preserve and I personally am glad there is a lottery system. There are two ways to try to win a permit for the lottery. The first way is to apply online and the other way is show up before 8:30am in the morning to sign up and take a chance at one of the ten permits given away daily. I wish more of our preserves and parks had lotteries so these areas would not be overrun. The visitor center itself features all kinds of information including extensive hiking maps for the area, brochures advertising adventure and of course souvenir t-shirts, art and jewelry. I was very pleased with the service and the tips the staff provided me about the area, hiking trails and area campgrounds.

Apart from providing information about the nearby BLM-managed lands (including Grand Staircase-Escalante Nat'l Monument and several nearby wilderness areas) this visitor center is the location responsible for running the daily lottery for "The Wave," which has visitation restricted to 20 people per day in order to preserve this very fragile area for future generations. (Note: 10 of these people are selected through online lotteries) The visitors center was spacious & clean and contained a small gift shop, bathrooms, water, a fantastic selection of local maps (some free); even a small museum. The latter not only contained helpful info on the geology and history of the area but also included a diorama of an archeological dig on a ancient Indian site. It made for a nice, informative tour while we waited through the lottery process. So yes - We were mainly here for the lottery. It was over an hour of announcements, briefings and waiting, but the staff were extremely matter-of-fact and knowledgeable; and they answered all questions - even the stupid ones - with patience and grace. But of course that hasn't prevented quite a few bitter people from venting on Yelp. Lets summarize the complaints, shall we?: "The Wave lottery is too limited"; or there were "too many people there"; or "I paid taxes, so I should go"; or it's "some kind of a scam" *** Seriously? It's a fragile resource and a national treasure (with limited parking on a sketchy road, I might add). The lottery process was as fair as it could possibly be - done through randomly picking numbers from a pool of the groups that showed up that morning. "Staff were rude" or they had "no people skills": *** Not on our visit. The staff we interacted with on two different mornings were practically saints. They were patient, friendly and extremely knowledgeable. "The staff told us the The Wave was closed after heavy rains": *** That's because the long, sandy entrance road turns to deep goo in rain. Even 4x4 vehicles get stuck. (Perhaps they should have let you go; then you'd be mad at them for a different reason) "There's no Starbucks at the Wave": *** OK, just kidding; I made that one up. (But you know there's a few of the whiners who would actually want that.) As for us, we tried for two days in a row but did not win the lottery for The Wave. But then we were competing against over 50 other groups, so this came as no surprise. Fortunately we already did our research and had several backup hikes planned for each day. And with the help of the staff, we found out about conditions and the best routes to take for our rental vehicle. Best of all, our hikes were still spectacular. Thank you Kanab BLM staff for making our trip that much better.

This is a Govt Run operation.... need I say more? Bureaucracy at its best. What a waste of time. The odds to draw out on this natural resource are slim to none. The system needs to change!!!! Apparently congress needs to change it! We wasted 2.5 hours waiting to see if we were one of the lucky 10 people who draw out. Not 10 groups of people but only 10 people. Yes, they will split your group in two if there are not enough spots available for your whole group! We were totally disappointed to not be able to see this wonderful part of God's world.

So many butthurt people blaming the staff for not winning The Wave lottery permits. I personally find the staff incredibly helpful. They have pamphlets and road conditions and any useful info you may need. Think the low rating is a joke and seems unfair for how helpful the staff are. Despite being asked the same questions over and over, they remain friendly. Nothing but respect for everyone who works here. They also have nice big & clean bathrooms outside. And a water spigot where you can fill up your water. Absolutely zero complaints!

so my crazy husband made a U-turn to get to this place and I was like "why?". So, first, if you don't like geology or books on geology, then you might be ok with not going in, although there is an exhibit on native americans in the region and some cool souvenirs (there's also a bathroom and it's also FREE). Very awesome exhibit on the grand staircase (Escalate) and it's formation. Lots of awesome books too. Wonderful people who will answer your questions about the region. Oh, and don't be surprised as you keep going down 89 (which ever way) and the view is more spectacular!

Can they please come up with a better way to do this walk in lottery? Like what others said. There were sooo many people. I took the last parking spot in the parking lot at 8am. There was 158 people competing for 10 spots and that was on a "CALMER" day. There was 6% chance of winning. Don't plan your trip around the wave. If you win, modify your trip around the Wave permits.

Great place to gather upcoming information for an upcoming adventure, and the only place to get a next day pass for the wave! My girlfriend and planned a trip to Utah and Arizona long after the six month early lottery for the wave so we had to sweat it out in the last minute lottery. The system was efficient and fair. Everything was explained thoroughly and then the lottery happened. We were lucky enough to grab a pass on our first try. After receiving our papers and paying the $7 fee (in cash) there was an extensive explanation of the trail and tips for the hike in/out of the wave. We also got to meet the volunteer hiker (Ken) that will be out patrolling the trail during our hike. He was able to tell us some extra info that will definitely make our trip easier, I mean if there was a raven that was able to open zippers and steal your cheetos you would want to know about it right? Let's go hike the wave!!!

Worthless people. True government employees. It's time to retire. Ask a question and the reply will be. Rocks, it's all rocks. Wow stimulating Drive down the road and visit another BLM site. You will find friendly people who care.

While visiting the area for Spring Break we stopped by for some info. The employees seemed to hate their job and lacked people skills, they were less than pleasant and it appeared we put them out by stopping by to ask questions. Luckily we did a little research on the area before traveling and we were able to pull, with some effort, information about the area which helped us, although their directions were not accurate. Don't ask them about the Wave, which somehow they do not find impressive. The Kane County Travel and Visitor Center in Kanab is a much better place to find friendly, enthusastic people to get information on the area from.

Wow, I'm really surprised with the negative reviews. Luckily, we received excellent information and assistance on several different days. Both my husband and I commented how friendly helpful everyone was. I guess everyone has an off day. Personally, I highly recommend stopping to get information about surrounding hiking areas.

They have lots of information and exhibits on the local geology. This is where you register for your passes for hiking into various parts of the monument. Some of the passes are limited and handed out by a lottery.

Incredible that they take tax payer money then have some lottery scam and take your money without letting you in. Found it it's a total scam. Glad I didn't pay.