The longtime home base of a polygamous cult is now a place to hike, canyoneer, and glamp.
Striated scarlet rock towboat behind the tasting elbow room ofWater Canyon Winery . But to the right of the parking wad is a rare attractor inUtah : a smallvineyard . Until very recently , those who looked beyond the vines and toward the lamp chimney of the neighboring building could see a sign that exhorted them to “ implore and Obey . ” It was a complete admonisher of the place ’s blighted past .
The wine maker is still one of very few such places work in a state with notoriously restrictive alcoholic drink jurisprudence . But the fact that it ’s in Hildale makes it even more unusual . True crime fansknow it ( as well as nearby Colorado City , Arizona ) as the one - time dwelling of a religious community called Short Creek . settle by Mormon fundamentalists in the thirties , the area by and by became the home base of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints . The sect ’s notorious leader , Warren Jeffs , once topped the FBI ’s 10 Most Wanted runaway list for break away an abusive and polygamous cult .
While Jeffs is presently attend to alife sentencein Texas for the sexual violation of a child , his former stomping grounds are seemingly experiencing a bit of a surprising renaissance . At one time , his church outright possess most of Short Creek , but Utah seized restraint of the land trust after Jeffs ’s arrest , and the reformed trust begin betray off those properties around 2015 . Two years by and by , Briell Decker , a young cleaning lady who was give to Jeffs as his sixty-fifth bride at 18 and escaped eight class by and by , donated the Jeffs phratry manse to a residential district nonprofit calledShort Creek Dream Center .
Canaan Mountain, near the southern Utah city of Hildale, remains relatively uncrowded despite being reminiscent of the attractions in Zion National Park.|Westend61/Getty Images
Not long after the raids and subsequent arrests at the compound , Hildale saw a real estate boom . And now , it ’s seeing a tourism boom . Those local to southern Utah realized that a post - FLDS Hildale was a convenient period from which to research naturetrailsthat rival those inside the national commons about an hour away . Just eight minutes from town , visitor can find attraction like Water Canyon , which is run by the Bureau of Land Management but often compared to the extremist - popular Narrows Canyon insideZion National Park . White Domes , an outcrop of pick - colored sandstone domes near the top of Canaan Mountain , guide in experienced backcountry hikers . Half an hour to the due east , Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Parkoffers off - roading andsand sleddingopportunities on dune formed by the effect of thousands of years of erosion to the nearby Navajo sandstone drop-off .
Donia Jessop , an excommunicated FLDS member , was elected Hildale ’s first secular ( and distaff ) city manager in 2017 , and is often credit with the urban center ’s transmutation into a destination for outdoorsy traveller deterred byZion ’s many lines .
Unlike most FLDS members , Jessop married her high schooling sweetheart in a union that was not condone by the church . Jeffs later excommunicate Jessop ’s husband , and the common practice within the church at the prison term was that the wife and child of an excommunicated member would be assigned to another male church member . Jessop instead chose to leave Hildale with her family , but afterwards moved back to co - find oneself the Short Creek Community Alliance , an organization that advocates for non - church members in the arena . According to Jessop , the old city council did not support outsiders arrive in , so she made it her first order of business as mayor to allow both residents and external entrepreneurs to practice for overnight rental permission . Plenty of people were happy to take her up on the offering .
A sign asking people to “pray and obey” hinted at Hildale’s blighted past as a cult headquarters.|Photo by Fiona Chandra
Jessop and the city council also rebranded the city ’s motto to“Welcome Home,“which she says was a very intentional decision . " We wanted it to feel like you were in your backyard — sitting around a barbecue orchestra pit , having a right sentence , warm and welcome , ” she tells me . “ And that it was an invite place , where historically it had not been inviting at all . ”
The crowds — those same ones that locals used to derive to Hildale to forefend — are start to follow .
St. George , Utahis dwelling to fewer than 100,000 mass . But in March of 2018 , developers Shane and Kalie Tooke resolve it was getting a little too engorged .
Rock Odysseys offers tours that allow visitors to both canyoneer and taste local wine.|Courtesy of Rock Odysseys
Shane , who sport shoulder - length dark whisker under his cowboy chapeau , grew up in Hurricane , just 20 miles away from Hildale , so he was aware of the area ’s looker and its proximity to Zion National Park . The Tookes sold their chain of hair beauty parlour , built a modest house in Hildale , andpurchased an empty beano developWater Canyon Resorts , a compendium of 20 severally decorated cabins , in the autumn of 2018 . The following February , they bought another property nearby , initially planning to start a small pick - your - own farm for tourer . But then they found something that changed their entire programme : a 10 - yr - old vineyard .
“ Once we observe the wine grapes , me and my wife decided to go full throttle on do wine-coloured , ” enounce Tooke . It took a couple of years to get thing off the land , but the Water Canyon Winery try out room formally afford in April 2022 .
The Most Incredible Places In Zion National Park Aren’t Where You Think They Are
The original vinery operate on a property that appeared to be controlled by the church and was licensed under the name Vintage Reserves Estates . ( Members of the FLDS sectdid not eschew alcoholin the same way most mainstream Mormons do . ) Today , Tooke estimates around 5,000 traveler , most of whom are n’t even aware of the township ’s past , come in through Hildale each yr looking for something to do that does n’t roll around the open air . That ’s how they make their room to Water Canyon Winery , which bring forth 15,000 bottles of natural wine yearly . But those option are n’t mutually single , either ; Water Canyon partners with outfitters likeRock Odysseysto offer tours that allow visitant to partner off canyoneering with sip Cabernet .
Gabby Olsen , owner and guide at Rock Odysseys , go from northerly Utah to Greater Zion in 2016 . She pronounce business concern has been great in the retiring few years , and the tour of duty with Water Canyon is the company ’s second - most popular canyoneering stumble . Guests who book the excursion , which lead visitant through a highly removed area , are cope with by a year - round current from a lifelike spring — the only place in Utah where one can rappel off drop-off and into water . In the spring , there ’s enough snowmelt that waterfalls form in parts of the canon , which stand for falls rappelling is possible , too . For those not as interested in bask wine with their cliffside eyeshot , other Hildale manipulator offer ATV and horseback riding tours .
“ Hildale initiate to develop more with holidaymaker and clobber , which is really great for the residential district because they have kind of a strange story , ” says Olsen .
touristry to Zion National Park explodedduring the pandemic — there were more than 5 million visitors in 2021 — which helped further solidify Hildale ’s place on the map . Shawn Stubbs , a sodbuster born and raised in Short Creek , open upZion Glamping Adventuresin 2017 after purchasing commonwealth in Hildale that did n’t end up being farmable . It take some meter for the camps to get their ground ; only after Jessop became mayor did a handful of inns and other glamping grounds open to aid draw visitors . “ Before that , we did n’t know why we were doing it , ” tell Stubbs .
Travelers looking for crummy lodging and other things to do in the area lead Stubbs ’s patronage to grow from eight to 25 tents , and even add an hokey cavern complete with a secret jacuzzi . Various A - frames and container homes have also popped up onAirbnbandGlamping Hubto help meet demand . But Hildale is still subdued — most of the time . Colorado City Music Festivaldraws just 3,000 people to Short Creek every summer , and there are only a handful of restaurants and shops within city limits .
But the town is decidedly not done interchange .
The Water Canyon Winery’s tasting room officially opened in 2022.|Courtesy of Water Canyon Winery
The Tookes are currently in the process of converting Water Canyon Resorts ’ cabin into recollective - full term flat rental to fulfill the growing community of interests ’s indigence for affordable caparison , and have plans to open up an RV park by and by this yr in accession to two Airbnbs on the winery ’s belongings . They ’re also opening a cafe at the wine maker in a couple of months , with the Tookes ’ son running the show . Further out into the future is a 50 - twelvemonth development projection address Skye Valley jell to descend on a 2250 - acre plot of ground that Hildale just recently annexed , with purpose for lodging , hotels , restaurants , and much more , while maintain open spaces and prioritizingdark sky . But maintaining that precious quiet in the midst of all this elaboration will be a fine line to step .
“ The citizen do desire it to remain a [ post for ] safe , country animation , ” aver Jessop . “ We ’re just trying to change the narration and rent mass bed that we ’re an heart-to-heart community , and that you ’re welcome to amount and visit us . ” To that remnant , the now two - condition mayor has been lending her support to citizen - driven effect , which include aMedieval Renaissance Fairestarted in 2022 .
As for the “ implore and Obey ” preindication ? After residents spent months appealing to Short Creek Dream Center , it was finallyremoved in November 2023 . “ visitant used to notice the sign and would be odd about the past tense , ” say Tooke . “ But now they ’re just amount to be in a beautiful expanse in Utah . ”
The Water Canyon manages to be a popular canyoneering trip, but crowds are never a problem.|Photo Courtesy of Greater Zion
