Grand Staircase Escalante, UT

Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument is an area between Page, Arizona and Kanab, Utah.  It is an outdoor wilderness full of hiking and riding trails for every skill level, and because it is on BLM land, there are also ample opportunities for camping.  After leaving Lake Powell, we made our way toward Kanab, and turned off on House Rock Road to find our place to camp for the night.

About 4 miles in on Rock House Road, we found a beautiful camp spot about 200 yards off the dirt road.  We thought this would be a very quiet dirt road, so 200 yards seemed adequate.  So we were surprised when several cars came out even after dark.  Luckily we were far enough back that the noise and the dust weren't a problem.

The next morning, we got up to do the Upper Buckskin Gulch hike.  Part of the gulch is a slot canyon, which we were hoping to find, but after hiking in 3 miles, we didn't appear to be even close to the slot canyon, so we turned around and headed back.  The hike follows a wash, as the name implies, but there is no real trail.  Multiple paths wander in and out of the wash during the hike, so we just chose the path that looked best at the time.

There were crazy rock formations throughout the hike with a nice grassy meadow that the paths meandered through.  Most of the hike was sand, making it a bit more challenging.

The rock on the right looks like a crocodile.

A raven flying out of its nest in the rocks.

There are warnings all over this area, on the trails and the dirt road to watch out for flash floods and quick sand.  Typical hazards of hiking in the desert, but even more of a risk when hiking up a wash.  We were sorry that we didn't make it to the slot canyon, but we were glad that we enjoyed a really nice hike with great weather.  It would be fun to come back another time to see if we can find the slot canyon.

Something to keep in mind if you plan to hike in Escalante Grand Staircase is that permits are required for many of the hikes, and if you are new to the area, it is not clear which hikes require one.  Buckskin Gulch and Wire Pass are both part of the Coyote Buttes area and require a permit that you have get ahead of time.