Virgin, Utah

Virgin lies about 15 miles west of Zion's South Entrance along SR-9, a small farming community first settled by Mormon pioneers in 1857-58 along the river that gives the town its name. With a population in the hundreds, Virgin remains a working agricultural town rather than a tourist strip, but it holds an outsized importance for one reason: Kolob Terrace Road turns north off SR-9 right in town, climbing toward Lava Point, the Kolob Reservoir, and the trailheads for the West Rim Trail and the Left Fork of North Creek — the approach to the famous Subway.

Locals sometimes call Virgin the "gateway to the Kolobs," and that backcountry access is really its draw. Services are minimal — a gas station, a small store, a few short-term rentals — so most visitors pass through rather than stay, using Virgin as the jumping-off point for Zion's quieter, less-visited high country before continuing on to Springdale or Hurricane for the night.