Kanab, Utah

Life in Kanab, Utah, explained by people who’ve lived in Kanab:

*Click here to learn about living in other cities in Utah.



*Click here to share your experience living in Kanab*

*Response format = Answer (Your name, How long you’ve lived in Kanab)


Neighbor is the Airbnb of Storage. Connecting hosts with unused space to renters in need of storage through an online, peer-to-peer storage community. Neighbor strives to provide homeowners with extra monthly income and renters with a storage solution 50% cheaper than the traditional price. Check out Neighbor’s listings located in Kanab, Utah.

Kanab Favorites

What’s your favorite thing about living in Kanab?

  • Weather. (Dena, 6 months)
  • All the pretty scenery. (Becky, 1 year)
  • The landscape. (Bill, 2 years)
  • Natural beauty of the area. (Bonnie, 2 years)
  • The Scenery. (Elizabeth, 4 years)
  • Small town beauty. (Anonymous, 5 years)
  • No city stress-traffic, pollution, violent crime. (Karen, 5 years)
  • Small town atmosphere. (Scott, 5 years)
  • The surroundings and the people. (Jeff, 6 years)
  • Small town flavor, wonderful people, fantastic outdoor activities and sights, tourists from all over, able to get to anything in town in a couple of minutes, weather, friendly people, walk friendly town, lots of venues to go to. What is not to like? (Claudia, 11 years)
  • Quiet and peaceful. (Sara, 15 years)
  • Scenery. (Anonymous, 18 years)
  • The small town and tourists. (Cassidy, 20 years)
  • The beautiful country. (Joy, 25 years)
  • Landscape and weather. (Anonymous, 39 years)

Kanab Least Favorites

What’s your least favorite thing about living in Kanab?

  • Cost and lack of housing. (Dena, 6 months)
  • Needs a couple more restaurants. (Becky, 1 year)
  • Customer service issues. (Bill, 2 years)
  • Seeing it grow. (Bonnie, 2 years)
  • Lack of housing options. (Elizabeth, 4 years)
  • No commercial rental space for small businesses. Limited shopping opportunity. Inflated real estate and grocery prices. (Karen, 5 years)
  • Too many tourists. (Scott, 5 years)
  • No night life, not enough housing. (Jeff, 6 years)
  • Tension between the big religion people and the rest of us, not too bad, but some have found it hard to get good work. (Claudia, 11 years)
  • Shopping. (Sara, 15 years)
  • Mormons and Mormon policy and Mormon politics and the legality of Polygamy. Mormons try to run everything and try to force their viewpoint on you. Even the news is totally slanted toward Mormon doctrine and belief and church news is always featured on the Utah news. Wages top out at a specific rate, unless you work for yourself or are in a professional field. No benefits for general workers. Lucky if you get above minimum wage. Hotels are constantly being built on every free space of land, totally wrecking the view. This town just cares about catering to the tourists, they don’t care about the locals at all. (Anonymous, 18 years)
  • Tourists. (Cassidy, 20 years)
  • The way Mormons treat non-Mormons. (Joy, 25 years)
  • People that want to change the hometown feel and family for the sake of tourism and the almighty dollar and Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. People’s pets have become more important and have more rights than humans. I love my pets and treat them with love and care, but I don’t inflict them on the general population or allow them to be annoying and out of control. No year round cafes to get a reasonably priced, home cooked meal (without dog and cat hair) Something on the order of a Cracker Barrel! (Anonymous, 39 years)

Kanab Things To Do

What are fun things to do in Kanab?

  • Five national parks around here. (Becky, 1 year)
  • Be outside. (Bill, 2 years)
  • Best Friends! (Bonnie, 2 years)
  • Hiking. (Elizabeth, 4 years)
  • Four-wheeling. (Anonymous, 5 years)
  • Hike, cycle. (Karen, 5 years)
  • Hiking, enjoying the view. (Scott, 5 years)
  • Poetry, hiking, fishing, coffee shops, thrift stores, meeting friends everywhere you go, enjoying the weather, theater, gathering friends. (Claudia, 11 years)
  • Hike. (Sara, 15 years)
  • Hike. (Anonymous, 18 years)
  • Hike and really a whole lot. (Cassidy, 20 years)
  • Hiking. (Joy, 25 years)
  • Just being outdoors. (Anonymous, 39 years)

Kanab’s Reputation

What’s Kanab known for?

  • Tourism and best friends. (Dena, 6 months)
  • Movie. (Becky, 1 year)
  • Best Friends, proximity to national parks, hiking. (Bonnie, 2 years)
  • Beautiful area. (Elizabeth, 4 years)
  • Movies. (Anonymous, 5 years)
  • Tourism. (Karen, 5 years)
  • Movies and outdoor activities. (Scott, 5 years)
  • Red rocks, movies. (Jeff, 6 years)
  • Tourism, the gateway to Zion NP, North Rim of Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Lake Powell, endurance races, off-roading, slot canyons. Small town atmosphere. (Claudia, 11 years)
  • Red hills. (Sara, 15 years)
  • Little Hollywood and catering totally to the tourists and not caring about the locals at all. (Anonymous, 18 years)
  • Tourism. (Cassidy, 20 years)
  • Westerns. (Joy, 25 years)
  • Old west lifestyle, community and family. (Anonymous, 39 years)

Kanab Crime

What’s the crime like in Kanab? (hot spot areas, etc.)

  • Barely any. (Becky, 1 year)
  • Low. (Bill, 2 years)
  • Don’t know. (Bonnie, 2 years)
  • Not bad. (Elizabeth, 4 years)
  • Very minimal. (Anonymous, 5 years)
  • Crime? You mean drugs. (Karen, 5 years)
  • Mostly drug addicts. (Scott, 5 years)
  • For me it is non-existent, I have never had anything stolen, no break-ins, do not have to lock my car, or house during the day. I feel safe here. Not to say it has not happened to others, I personally have never had it happen. (Claudia, 11 years)
  • Minimal. (Sara, 15 years)
  • Home burglaries and drug dealing is high. (Anonymous, 18 years)
  • Not bad. (Cassidy, 20 years)
  • Fairly non-existent. (Joy, 25 years)
  • Used to be so little anywhere. With the onslaught of newcomers with increased tourism and Best Friends, drugs, etc., are rampant. Big city problems are here. (Anonymous, 39 years)

Kanab Advice

Any advice for people moving to Kanab?

  • Gah, housing! (Dena, 6 months)
  • Find a place before moving. (Becky, 1 year)
  • Be careful who you hire. (Bill, 2 years)
  • Leave a small footprint. (Bonnie, 2 years)
  • Good luck. (Elizabeth, 4 years)
  • Secure housing before making the decision. (Anonymous, 5 years)
  • Plan on driving to St. George for shopping. (Karen, 5 years)
  • Please do not move here ;-). (Scott, 5 years)
  • Make sure you have housing set up first. (Jeff, 6 years)
  • Make sure you rent first if you can, often people move here for a particular job, and when it does not work out, are lost and upset, because they may have bought a house and then are stuck. (Claudia, 11 years)
  • Forget Walmart. (Sara, 15 years)
  • Be ready for the Mormon indoctrination. (Anonymous, 18 years)
  • There isn’t really a place to live. The rent is really high and the people are friendly. (Cassidy, 20 years)
  • Don’t. (Joy, 25 years)
  • Don’t! If you just want to turn it into where you’re living now, just stay where you are. Prices are very high. The people/groups with the most money can get the city/county fathers to bow to their demands. The regular citizen of Kanab City/County is only along for the ride. (Anonymous, 39 years)

Kanab Stories

Share an experience you’ve had in Kanab (fun, crazy, dangerous, etc.).

  • Love the trails to go ride my horses on. (Becky, 1 year)
  • Balloons and Tunes. (Bonnie, 2 years)
  • Hiking. (Elizabeth, 4 years)
  • As an EMT being on movies sets as they film. (Scott, 5 years)
  • My days are filled with great experiences, here are some. Going to the store the other day I went into Honeys Marketplace to buy a few things and 2 hrs later, after meeting and talking to so many friends that I bumped into, I left the store. It is a social event for me!! (Claudia, 11 years)
  • 4th of July. (Sara, 15 years)
  • Lots of good hiking and beautiful weather. (Anonymous, 18 years)
  • Most fun was sliding down the sand dunes with a group of friends. (Joy, 25 years)
  • Too many to mention. (Anonymous, 39 years)

Kanab’s Future

How do you think Kanab will change over the next 10 years?

  • Hopefully more businesses, shopping, restaurants, housing. (Dena, 6 months)
  • Grow more. (Becky, 1 year)
  • It will grow—growth could rob Kanab of its charm. (Bonnie, 2 years)
  • Become even more a tourist trap and its charm will wear off. (Elizabeth, 4 years)
  • A little growth which we need, but don’t think it will be a lot of growth. (Anonymous, 5 years)
  • Too much growth. (Scott, 5 years)
  • It is thinking more about activities and sports. I think that is a good thing. They have put in many things to make it a better place for kids to have something to do. (Claudia, 11 years)
  • Not much change. A little more friendly to tourists. (Sara, 15 years)
  • I think there will be a hotel on every vacant space of land and our beautiful scenic view will be totally depleted in the process. (Anonymous, 18 years)
  • More hotels. (Joy, 25 years)
  • For the worst. Unfortunately! More dog feces lining the streets and more tract type housing and subdivisions. More big box hotels blocking views. (Anonymous, 39 years)

Kanab Facts

Any other interesting facts about Kanab?

  • Tourist town. (Becky, 1 year)
  • A rich pioneer heritage. (Scott, 5 years)
  • Over 200 movies and TV shows filmed in the area. (Jeff, 6 years)
  • I moved here not knowing one person, alone and being a woman. I got a job, a home and a new friend within the first month. I found my true love here and am as happy as I have ever been! (Claudia, 11 years)
  • Most people are related! (Sara, 15 years)
  • Weather is almost always good. Very hot in Summer, sometimes we have Winter weather too. Can have flash flooding in the summer months. (Anonymous, 18 years)