{"id":262,"date":"2022-10-21T02:20:20","date_gmt":"2022-10-21T02:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/southwest2022\/?p=262"},"modified":"2025-11-13T22:22:53","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T22:22:53","slug":"grand-staircase-escalante-national-monument","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/southwest2022\/monument\/grand-staircase-escalante-national-monument\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Staircase\/Escalante National Monument"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Drove from Bicknell UT (Capitol Reef NP) to Grand Staircase\/Escalante National Monument today along UT Scenic Byway 12, which is said to be among the most beautiful drives in the US. No argument here. It was a gorgeous fall day\u2014blue skies, yellow aspens, red Gamble oaks, and vistas that are just jaw dropping. The route passes over Boulder Mountain (11,000 ft) at 9600 ft, through Dixie National Forest, past the agricultural settlement of Boulder (the last incorporated town in the US to have its mail delivered by mule team) and into Grand Staircase\/Escalante past stunning landscapes following the Escalante River (which eventually empties into the Colorado). The drive could be a park unto itself. If you see a sign that says \u201cScenic Overlook,\u201d pull over. And if your sense of awe and reverence doesn\u2019t manifest itself here, it may never.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

In Escalante, we decided to take the Hole in the Rock road to two hikes that we wanted to try: Devil\u2019s Garden, which features some impressive hoodoo formations that you can wander around and through, and the Dry Fork Narrows, which leads to a loop trail through two very narrow (18\u201d) slot canyons. We had no illusions that we would make it through the slot canyons, but we wanted to find the start of them. The Dry Fork Narrows canyon proved challenging (and narrow) enough after a mile and a half of hiking, scrambling, and squeezing to satisfy our curiosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a couple of daylight hours left after abandoning the Narrows, we decided to check out Escalante Petrified Forest State Park just outside the town of Escalante, not expecting much other than a few hiking opportunities. Wrong. It\u2019s another of those hidden gems\u2014a steep (\u201cmoderate to strenuous\u201d) trail that leads up a small butte along which are scattered hundreds of tons of the most beautiful petrified wood I have even seen. Really glad we went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, here are some images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
From Scenic Highway 12, looking back at the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef NP.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Looking to9ward Escalante and the Colorado Plateau.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
The Escalante River as it wends its way down toward the town of Escalante and eventually the Colorado River.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Not sure what the name of this canyon is. Colorado Plateau in the distance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Some hoodoos, Devil\u2019s Garden.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Devil\u2019s Garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Devil\u2019s Garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Hiking a HOT desert trail down to Dry Fork Narrows<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Dropping into Dry Fork Narrows<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
It was easy walking at first\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
But pretty soon the \u201dnarrows\u201c part starts to sink it<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Still, a beautiful canyon with some amazing sand, wind, and water sculpting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And finally, a couple of images of petrified wood from Escalante Petrified Forest State Park:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
A large conifer with bark largely intact.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drove from Bicknell UT (Capitol Reef NP) to Grand Staircase\/Escalante National Monument today along UT Scenic Byway 12, which is said to be among the most beautiful drives in the US. No argument here. It was a gorgeous fall day\u2014blue … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-monument"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/southwest2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/southwest2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/southwest2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/southwest2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/southwest2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/southwest2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":341,"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/southwest2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions\/341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/southwest2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/southwest2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/southwest2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}