Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument
WHO
Our family of four visited the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument when Averhy was 16 and Eden was 13 years old. We were surprised at the vast beauty of this area, and we really enjoyed it!
WHAT
For our half-day of hiking and driving through this area, we took a small daypack with water, granola bars, trail mix, and beef jerky. You can see our entire road trip packing list in the full Utah Road Trip post here. Temperatures were cool, but we spent most of our time doing a sightseeing drive, so we were comfortable in hiking pants and sweatshirts.
WHEN
We took this trip in March during the girls’ spring break. We saw only 3-4 people during our stops at various viewpoints, and one couple showed up at the slot canyon just as we were leaving. There were very few cars on the road as well. This area is so beautiful that I was surprised more people weren’t driving through - so it might be more crowded in the summer.
WHERE
We stayed at the Best Western Plus Ruby’s Inn, which was just outside the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park, which we visited in the morning.
After driving through Grand Staircase Escalante, we spent the night at the Red Sands Hotel in Torrey, UT.
Our drive is marked on the map, with yellow stars showing the places we stopped.
WHY
This was a gorgeous drive connecting the Bryce Canyon National Park area with the Capitol Reef National Park area, and we will definitely come back someday. If we had more time to spend here (and the weather was a bit more dry) we would have found several other slot canyons to hike. However, the muddy trails are Bryce Canyon let us know that our van probably wouldn’t have made it through the unpaved 4x4 roads that crisscross the Grand Staircase Escalante area!
HOW
Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument is HUGE, and scenic Route 12 is the main way to drive through it. We traveled from west to east, and the entire drive from Bryce Canyon to Torrey took about 5 hours, including stops.
Our first stop was at the Head of the Rocks Overlook, just past the town of Escalante. The view was stunning and literally brought me to tears.
After the Head of the Rocks Overlook, Route 12 drops down into the winding canyons.
Once the road gets back to the top of the plateaus, there is one section called the Hogback, where road follows a ridge that is only slightly wider than the road itself! Again, it’s hard to capture in a photo, but the concrete barriers on the edge are there for a reason… you really need to keep your eyes on the road!
Our next stop was 11 miles east of the town of Boulder, UT at Singing Canyon. This slot canyon is very accessible from Burr Trail road, and the drive to get there is beautiful as well.
This slot canyon is not as tight or deep as other more well-known canyons in the area, but the fact that it is easy to access made it a winner for us. It also has fantastic acoustics, and Averhy sang a song while we were there so the canyon could live up to its’ name.
After we finished exploring this canyon, we drove further back along Burr Trail road and were rewarded with beautiful cliffs after every turn. Unfortunately the road does not lead out to another major highway, so this was an out-and-back drive for us — but enjoyable the entire time!
Our last stop was at Heritage Overlook as we neared Torrey. It was neat to feel the temperature fall as we drove up into the mountains and were greeted by snow on the ground.
Overall, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument exceeded our expectations, and we would definitely recommend taking this drive if you’re traveling between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks.
Final Tips
When taking this drive, be prepared for basically ZERO cell service. This entire area is beautiful, but very remote.
If you have great weather during your visit, you might want to hike some other slot canyons in the area, like Zebra Slot Canyon, Peek-a-Boo, or Spooky Gulch. Those were on our to-do list, but the muddy conditions got in the way. The Earth Trekkers travel site has some great suggestions.
We would recommend visiting this area in the spring (March through May) because there are less people and the temperatures are mild.
