31 Incredible Day Hikes in Escalante, Utah

                         Take a Hike Video Escalante Utah 

Willis Creek

When planning a trip to Escalante Utah, it's best to see what are the hiking options. After all, Escalante National Monument has 4 amazing seasons. You can visualize and pick out, the best hike for your vacation by watching the above video, Take a Hike Escalante Utah.                                                         

Two Easy Ways to Escalante River Utah

Nov 15, 2015
Escalante River 1 mile down from Boulder Creek

We were searching for the "most photogenic" spot on the Escalante River by wading in the Escalante dozens of times, sliding down slippery chutes, and scampering slickrock ridges.  The numbing water and air temperature were 33F degrees and 36F degrees, respectively. I got to know this one mile of Escalante river intimately, hunting for that illusive "photogenic" canyon.

Our group of three parked the truck off Spencer Flats and backpacked through sand and sage brush a couple of miles toward Escalante River. We camped two nights just above the Escalante river on semi-flat slickrock. Dropping to the river was an easy climb down from our camp.

Across from our camp and the cold river, we found another way, a well traveled trail, to access Escalante river from the Burr Trail, Boulder, Utah.

We did discover some short and sweet canyons and pretty stained monolithic walls, worth all the senseless, numbing river crossings. But still need to find the "best" spot to photograph on the Escalante River. 

Flex Canyon
Near Escalante River

Dancing the chill away.
Our camp spot for two nights.

Winter hikes in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument

Visiting Escalante Utah in the wintertime is cool (not cold) and very uncrowded. You can take your time taking photographs. These are your hikes and you can stop and shoot when you want to capture the timeless beauty of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

Slick rock is your friend when snow is present.
Tributarie to Harris Wash

Calf Creek Falls Winter 2011

Snow happens in Escalante Utah. Skis and snowshoes add
to the Southern Utah adventure. 

 

9 Marvelous Miles of Trail Running Escalante Utah

Powell Point can be seen on Highway 12

Under the icon of Powell Point or "Pink Mountain" in Escalante Utah, lies a single track that leads 4 and 1/2 miles down to Henderson Canyon. Pink hillsides, strayed arches, and endless vistas distracted me from the grueling inclines. The Ponderosas kept the morning heat at bay and a few steep ravines slowed our heart rates down.  9+ miles round-trip trail running was finished in a couple of hours verses 4 hours at least for hiking. Choose how you want visit this beautiful, easily navigable Forest Service trail in Escalante, Utah.

Single track along edge

End of Hole-in-the-Rock road Escalante Utah

Navajo Mountain

The Hole-in-the-Rock road is the main vein to many outstanding hikes and wild rock-formations trails in Escalante, Utah.  This dirt packed road is in great condition, albeit with long stretches of wash-board surface conditions. We even saw a Mini-Van vehicle had made it all the way to the end of the road, where you can see Lake Powell.

Lake Powell is about a 20 minute hike from the parking area to where you can swim in fresh water. It isn't an easy hike, especially on the way back, with some exposure on ledges.
The Mormon pioneers hauled up their cattle, wagons, and all their possessions up through this crack before settling into Potato Valley. Give yourself at least 3 hours driving time to view Lake Powell through Hole-in-the-Rock.

The Hole-in-the-Rock

Harris Wash Escalante Utah

The beauty of hiking in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument is you never know what you may discover. We found this grove of Hoodoos off Harris Wash road in Escalante Utah by spying a lone spiral rock in the distance.

Watch this short video on our hike to the Harris Hoodoos:
Harris Wash Hoodoos Video

When visiting Escalante National Monument, keep your eyes open for the unexpected rock formations. They are waiting for you to take their photo. 

Fair-weather clouds Escalante Utah

Cumulus clouds are flourishing above Escalante Utah through-out the year.   

Cumulus Humilis (wider than tall)
moving slowly over the Henry Mountains.

Fair-weather clouds sunrise
Escalante, Utah.

Cumulus congestive tower
can produce sizable showers.

                                                                     

Cumulus fractus
dissipating in front of
La Luz Desert Retreat

Cumulus Mediocris (tall as wide)
seen on Scenic Highway 12
Escalante, Utah.

Scenic Byway 12 Escalante Utah

The drive on Scenic Byway 12 is worth the trip to Escalante, Utah alone. Experience 124 miles of diverse, remote, and wildly sculptured landscape you'll ever find in the world.

 
 See why Scenic Highway 12 was voted #2 as the most beautiful highway in the world:
                                                  Most Beautiful Highway

Better yet, explore the red rock country, hoodoos, high alpine forests and open sagebrush flats on your road bike. Whatever your transportation mode, Byway 12 will add to your spectacular Southern Utah journey.

25 Mile Wash Escalante Utah

25 Mile Wash canyon can be a long day hike or 

multi-night journey. Drying mud patterns

are most attracting to the eyes as rock layers on 

canyon walls change down river.

The first three miles in 25 Mile Wash, from "Egypt" road,

 decisions were made to get muddy or plow-thru Willows.

See Lower 25 Mile Wash to Fox Canyon and our choices of steps. 

Escalante Canyon Utah Sounds of Spring

We spent two nights, March 15 & 16, backpacking 15 miles down the Escalante Canyon, Utah. The birds called, we navigated over thick ice banks along Escalante's river banks and caught some warm rays and few rain showers. Escalante Partners Program, piled downed Russian Olive trees in clumps (on land) for easy traveling through the Canyon. Great camping at the confluence of Dead Hollow creek, where we pumped sediment-free water. Large fish darted up and down Dead Hollow creek. The second night we camped at Sand Creek where a clean spring gave us our drinking water, no filtration needed. Cache ruins still sit near Escalante's Natural Bridge. 

Listen to the sounds of Escalante Canyon and watch the springtime changes.

                                 Escalante Canyon Sounds of Spring

Finding Boulder Creek Utah

Good map, relatively narrow canyon, & confidence was what we needed to find Boulder Creek via Escalante Canyon. Not really. Supportive water shoes are essential, especially when quicksand sucks your shoes off.

The first mile & half down from the confluence of Calf Creek & Escalante River ("The Bridge") the path was easy to follow until the turn-off to Phipps Canyon. We carved arrows in the sand to steer our way back. Then the trails became thready and vague. Chutes in the steep banks plunged us over and over into Escalante silty river as we tried to find the "camping" area at mile 5 from the Bridge.

We camped at who-knows-where and still were determined to find Boulder Creek the following day. After more bush-whacking and butt-sliding into the River, we noticed we were in clear, clean water. We wove our way into Boulder Creek! We tanked up with our water filters.

Steep stained walls curled tightly around Boulder Creek, forcing us to walk in the water between black spewed Volcanic rock. We were shocked to encounter two other hikers coming from Haymaker bench wading down Boulder Creek and hiking back up from further down Escalante River. Their 6 hour loop trek was a lot shorter than our 3 day tour to finding Boulder Creek.

We thought we could put-us-on-the-map on the way back to the Bridge but we never found those arrows in the sand. Instead, we found our next trek: a dry wash canyon where Bowington Arch resides. We'll find it.

Slip Sliding Jacob-Hamlin Arch

I didn't have the urge to climb on top of Jacob-Hamlin Arch but my son had to see Coyote Canyon from this monolith's vantage point. As he climbed down (right side of pictured Jacob-Hamlin arch) a hand hold broke and he slid down the nose. Watch the slide caught via my iphone:
We had beautiful warm weather backpacking Coyote Canyon Easter week-end 2012.

Friendly Flash Flood

We saw all the symptoms of an impending flash flood: dark grey clouds over our westerly direction, thunder despite our sunshine, a 20 minute cloudburst, the creeping foamy trickle of water, newly formed waterfalls. Then our previous dry canyon became a ripply river within a minute.
Yet, the worse fear I had was my shoes getting wet. We had found a rock over-hang while the cloud busted open and ate lunch. Caramel, a Boxer dog, drank rain water that streamed off the overhang as if was coming from a Camelback tube. Later, she played in the foamy water by tossing up the foam in the air and catching it. We watched water shoot through conical slickrock chutes. As we continued to hike up Mitchell Canyon, we stayed higher than the caramel-colored river and hopped on rocks when we had to cross the rising river. We managed to record the GPS coordinates of "Sand Dollar Rock" (our objective) and I didn't get my shoes wet until the last crossing to the truck. The drive down Alvey Wash road was another story: How not to get your vehicle stuck in the mud. Not all floods are nice.

Moment Away

The pressure was on: get from Park City, Utah to Escalante, Utah in less than 5 hours so Ricki (husband) could give his lecture on "Beekeeping." We were miffed when a caravan of tourists stopped on Highway 12 to gawk and film a huge horseshoe rainbow over Henrieville. How dare these tourists hold up our deadline! We sped past them and as we zipped into the Blues, a hologram of yellow, red, and blue spilled into the Blues' ravins. Was this the end of the rainbow? How to capture this moment when we didn't have time, nor was it safe, to take a picture of this pot-of-gold? I realized that this moment will never come again. The sightseers had it right: have your camera ready because you'll never be here, in this moment, again and there is beauty all around you.
Yesterday morning I did capture the moment, via iphone, as the Harvest Moon dipped below Powell Point.

Strolling in Upper Calf Creek

Last Saturday was down right hot in Escalante, Ut. We headed to water, Upper Calf Creek to be precise, from our campsite perched above Boulder. I'm vague as to where this almost-pristine campsite is located because 1) we want to keep it almost-pristine 2) DEEP sand would most likely trap your vehicle 3) The winds can be challenging on this exposed bench.

We traversed down and over mounds of slickrock and came to where the trail from Highway 12 leads to Upper Calf Creek Falls. I brushed my knee on some Poison Ivy in an alcove before we traipsed down Calf Creek. The brushy steep banks kept us in the creek which was no problem with our trusty water shoes. After a mile and half of walking in this dappled-light filled stream, we found a way up over more slickrock to our campsite. This loop hike took us 6 1/2 hours and we welcomed the winds that cooled our brows from exertion. We toasted the views and to our wonderful warm day.

Freshies In Escalante

What I like about skiing in Escalante is the fresh untracked powder snow. There is no competition with snowmobilers or other motorized vehicles for these forest service roads that run perpendicular to Highway 12 or Pine Creek road heading up to Posey Lake. Breaking trail can be challenging, but our ski tracks are set for the rest of winter so we can kick & glide to our heart's content. When was the last time you skied without seeing any people, with only traces of animal footprints marking the snow?

Slots of Fun

Ever want to keep a secret to yourself? Part of you wants to share this clandestine canyon with friends, giving them the gift of experiencing a pristine, spectacular hike through narrow & slot canyons, with an arch to boot. Another part of me is warning to keep quiet, let this one canyon remain unspoiled by humans & cows.

I'll compromise by giving clues as to the location: We bush-whacked through throngs of Tamarisks. Its off Hole-in-the-Rock road. Red rock is not always lonely.

You may not find what I'm calling "Anvil & Arch" canyon but you may find your own secretive canyon hike. After all, there are millions of acres of wilderness to explore here in Escalante, Utah.

Creamery Cellar Road

Yesterday, we (new girlfriend & I) packed up the dogs & headed NE from Escalante, Utah on Hwy 12 past mile marker 73. According to the GPS we parked the truck at N 37* 46.028' W 111* 25.652'. There was plenty of sunshine and cool breezes, as we hiked across a sage bush field with gobs of eyelash grasses toward Escalante river overlook. We found the tracks of the old Cream Cellar road that once connected Boulder & Escalante, Utah & trekked up toward the Head-of-the-Rocks. The Cream Cellar road has carved in switch-backs & rocks built up along the sides of domed buttes. In yesteryears, vats of milk and cream were taken from Boulder farms via mule & stored under the now dilapidated dugout shed near the Head-of-the-Rocks on Hwy 12, for the Escalante folks to pick-up their diary later.

We discussed how easy this antiquated road was to navigate with only a few cairns to guide you up to the cellar shed. Trail-running & snowshoeing is very doable on this round-trip 5 mile excursion.

The Cream Cellar road is not going anywhere, only us.

Sounds of Escalante Canyons Art Festival 2010

It was double-duty volunteering and filming the Escalante Canyons Art Festival this year. During the week of the Plein Air Competition, artists were sprinkled through-out Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument with their easels and brushes, capturing their visions onto canvas.

The last two days of the festival, energetic & lively music was heard in town as the tensions mounted for the outdoor paintings being auctioned off. Pertinent speakers gave food-for-thought as they orated historical views or futuristic probabilities regarding the Colorado Plateau.

Hear for yourself the excitement of the varied sounds during Escalante Canyons Art Festival and see the diverse award winners & sold paintings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YqY3Gxxb3c

Rain, Rain Go Away

The Monsoons have arrived & I have other newbies asking me (5 year full-time resident), "is this rain normal?" Yes & no. Previously, we bragged about not having to use our swamp-cooler because of summertime thunderstorms. With all the precipitation from cloudbursts this past week-end, we almost used our heater.

I admit I love the drama of thunder, lighting & the clatter of rain pelting down on the roof. Our rain gutters are linked to thick hanging chains directing massive flows of water from our house roofs to our greediest trees. Rain & dirt smells permeate all around us. We wonder which canyons will flash flood. The downpours bend the tall corn stalks in our garden. Lightening shows in the wee hours rival flashy rock concerts of the past.

And then the sun comes out. The corn & trees rise up again. Pools of water sink into the ground. Hummingbirds return to feed from the penstemons. We love the sun rays on our skin, the optimism of another hike & the wishful beauty from the lingering rainbows.