St. George offers alternative activities for students

It may come as a surprise to some students that there's more to St. George than just hiking and going to a nearby movie theater.

Many students from Dixie State College feel the lack of entertainment St. George has to offer forces them to go elsewhere. They travel to Las Vegas, Salt Lake City or Mesquite on the weekends to be entertained.

Joshua Hunter, a freshman undecided major from Las Vegas, said he eats, hangs out with friends and goes to Las Vegas a lot to find things to do.

Camilla Leader, a freshman undecided major from Kingman, Ariz., and Alexa Kienlen, a freshman dental hygiene major from Powell, Wyo., both said they like to walk to the temple, go to LDS Institute dances, go on Denny's runs and go on random Las Vegas trips.

John Richardson, a sophomore business major from Draper, said, "I like to go repelling, camping and to Las Vegas."

Holden Green, a sophomore undecided major from St.George, said he and his friends spend most of their time playing "Bang," which is a card game where they try to hit each other with the cards. They also go to Denny's.

So, what exactly is there to do in St. George that doesn't require DSC students to flee to the nearest highly populated destination?

For ladies of any age in the St. George area and to any guy who likes to be pampered, there are six spas in the area: Green Valley, Red Mountain, The Body Shop, Ambience Salon, Elase Medical Spa and St. George Day Spa.

Each of these spas offers various ranges of services such as pedicures and manicures, skin and hair treatments, and saunas and fitness centers. Jessica Clinton, a junior business major from Las Vegas, said, "This is a great thing to do on the weekend if students want to relax and take a break from studying."

For more information on local spas, visit dexknows.com and type "spas" into the search box.

St. George also offers a lot of various activities for returning adults and younger students with kids.

Fiesta Fun Family Center, located 171 E. 1160 South, offers a video arcade, batting cages, miniature golf, bumper boats, go-carts, kiddie karts, soft play baseball and softball, and a restaurant.

There's also Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum, 1835 S. Convention Center Drive, and Tonaquint Nature Center, 851 S. Dixie Drive, which both offer many outdoor recreational activities for all ages.

For more information on Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum visit www.rosenbruch.org, and for more information on Tonaquint Nature Center, visit www.sgcity.org.

Bea Lowe, a freshman art major from St. George, likes to go golfing on many of the golf ranges in St. George.

Tim Alisa, a junior communication major from Laie, Hawaii, said he likes to go to the mall as well as play rugby at the park.

Other things to do would be to take advantage of the many softball fields and tennis centers around St. George.

Softball fields such as the Canyons Complex, 1890 S. 2000 East, which has been nationally ranked in the last seven years, and the Archie H. Gubler Park, 2375 Rachel Drive, offer spacious softball fields to play ball at.

Jennifer Carson, a freshman education major from Salt Lake City, said she and her friends like to go to Archie H. Gubler park and play softball because it's fun and a great way to get exercise.

Audrey Higginson, a freshman English major from St. George, said she likes to go to the park and play tag.

There are also different historic places in St. George that students can visit.

Daughters of Utah Pioneers museum, Brigham Young's winter home, Pine Valley Chapel, Pioneer Center for the Arts, St. George Temple & Visitor Center, The Tabernacle, and the Jacob Hamblin home and museum are just a few historic places that may be of interest.

For more information on these historical places, visit http://www.utah.com/stgeorge/.

For those who like sightseeing and history on the go, Segway Sightseeing Tours, Southern Utah Scenic Tours and Red Rock Shuttle & Tours are some of the places available. With the sight seeing tours, reservations must be made a day in advance.

Reservations can be made by going to http://www.segwayguidedtours.com/ for Segway Sightseeing Tours, www.utahscenictours.com for Southern Utah Scenic Tours, and www.redrockshuttle.com/ for Red Rock Shuttle & Tours.

For some relaxation in the sun there's Sand Hollow State Park, 4405 W. 3600 South near Hurricane, where students can go boating, fishing, scuba diving, swimming, cliff jumping, kayaking and tubing.

For more information visit http://www.utah.com/stateparks/sand_hollow.htm.

Jessica Kirvan, a freshman elementary education major from Roy, said during the early fall semester, she and her friends used to go cliff jumping at Sand Hollow.

Kirvan said, "Sand Hollow is the best place to go cliff jumping in the St. George area."