Escalante Canyon
Mile 1,920, UT State Highway 12
Having heavily focused our planning for this trip on the national parks, Escalante Canyon—part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante Canyon National Monument—caught us by surprise. It’s roughened, etched beige rocks, mostly all bald, made for quite a stunning view when seen from the higher heights of Highway 12. We doubt it, but we wouldn’t have been surprised if the “Grand Staircase” referred to the 14% downhill grade we were asked to drive down to briefly meet with the bottom of the canyon, seen here at lower left.