Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument – Kanab, Utah

For June and July we will be camping at two locations near Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument which is located in southern Utah and encompasses some of the wildest and most remote land in the lower 48. There are not many, if any, paved roads and some barely or not maintained roads for us to use while exploring it. The Monument is uncrowded, beautiful, and parts of it are at risk due to actions taken by the Trump administration to reduce its size by a little less than half. This reduction has been challenged in court and the case is glacially making its way through the court system. Unlike past administrations who would hold on challenged regulations and executive orders like this, the Trump administration moves forward with their plans as fast as possible. All of the places visited in this post were in the original monument and are not included in the Trump administration version of Grand Staircase. These areas are now open for mineral extraction. At this time the National Monument signs have not been removed, the porta potties are still maintained, and no mineral extraction has started, but a number of claims have been staked. Yes, in 2020 you can still stake a claim for mining rights on some federal land pretty much just like in the wild west from what I have been able to determine.

This part of the monument consists of a series of benches and cliffs that step progressively up in elevation from south to north. The bottom of the staircase is at the highest bench of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and the top is in the Bryce Canyon National Park area. Each of the five “steps” has been eroded, revealing cliffs of distinctive color. Travelers can see the Grand Staircase from some of the viewpoints in Bryce Canyon and US 89A as it descends the Kaibab Plateau.

Toadstools is a short, easy hike with a big payoff. It is only a little over a mile to the area containing the hoodoos. A hoodoo is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of a badland or desert drainage. Hoodoos typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements. Below are several hoodoo photos from Toadstools.

About a mile west of Toadstools is the Paria (pronounced “pa-ree-ah”) Contact Station which, like all BLM offices, is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but there is a small campground and a short road to a trailhead allowing access to the Paria River Canyon also at this site that is open. While Joe did not venture into the canyon due to a sore knee coupled with not wanting to do a 16 mile hike, he did explore a rock formation named the Nautilus that can be accessed via a wash along this road.

Water can create amazing sculptures. There are many examples near Kanab. Below is the Nautilus, a place where the water carved a beautiful curve through the rock. It is only a short drive down the dirt and sand road that starts at the Paria Contact Station and a 1 mile hike up a sandy wash.

White Rocks is a not very well known series of eroded valleys containing some great Hoodoos and vibrant colors. It is found at the end of a three mile, pretty good dirt road that is directly off US 89. So, other than the fact that it is many miles from the nearest camping, motel, fuel, or food it is readily accessible. Joe visited White Rocks twice and those are the first two times in two years that he was really alone on a hike. Nobody else was even parked at the trailhead both times. That is not a good thing for a mostly solo hiker, at least in Joe’s opinion.

There are other amazing places nearby that the Trump administration is trying to remove from Monument protections that we didn’t visit. To be clear, mining or other destructive activities may never happen at or near any of these sites, but by removing Monument protections it is possible and this administration will do everything in its power to ensure resources are extracted wherever they exist.

We do not support President Trump’s actions and vision regarding Grand Staircase Escalante and Bears Ears, which we will visit in September. Also, despite what he says, not all of Utah supports his actions. There is a thriving tourism industry that has grown around the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, and given stability and time will exist for Bears Ears. We do not see why America needs to put the this land at risk for coal mining given that the free market has already decided coal is a declining industry. If we need more coal, unemployed miners in West Virginia, Wyoming, Kentucky, or Pennsylvania could be put back to work. (The fact that they’re unemployed shows we really don’t need the coal.) This unique and remote place does not have the infrastructure to even support mining. There is only one two-lane highway and no railroad through the region.

This is about as political as you will see me (Joe) get, but protecting our environment and special places is important to me, and I wanted to share some of the at-risk special places with you. Once they get destroyed we can’t get them back.