Escalante Canyons

Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument
Some of the best known attractions of Utah's canyon country are located in this sprawling tract of BLM land including 126ft Calf Creek Falls right, the most famous cascade in the state. The hike to the falls is 5.5 miles return and features striking red rock and in October, bright yellow cottonwoods.
There isn't much in the way of hiking required to explore the slot canyons of the Dry Fork Gulches. These are reached from Hole in the Rock Road, which beyond the Devil's Garden hoodoos requires a high clearance vehicle. Making it down to the slots is simple enough but getting all your photography gear through the twisting corkscrew that is Peek-A-Boo Gulch lower left or the dark & narrow passages of Spooky Gulch lower right is quite the challenge.

	In contrast Coyote Gulch is a must see backpacking destination. It is a series of massive amphitheatres where eons of erosion have created dome-like caverns at every bend in the river.
	There are a number of hiking options although the best part of the canyon doesn't begin until the confluence with Hurricane Wash. To enter the gulch at this point you hike up the wash for five miles from where it crosses the road. This route is unsigned and requires careful route finding.
	Once inside the canyon you follow the river downstream. The Jacob Hamblin Arch is two miles from the confluence.
	Left: The Jacob Hamblin Arch

"Unlike other places in the Southwest this place is full of life. Around every corner was something new, a lush green garden would give way to a copse of bright yellow cottonwoods in prime fall colour. Cavernous red walls that resembled the inside of a volcano would give way to bright blue skies & slickrock waterfalls. Everywhere there was the trickle of water or the rustle of scampering deer. Truly a place that could never be captured by mere pixels and must be experienced in the flesh."

Right: A small waterfall in the heart of Coyote Gulch

	One Way Distances in Coyote Gulch: Mile 0: Hole In the Rock Road Mile 5: Confluence with Coyote Gulch via Hurricane Wash Mile 7: Jacob Hamblin Arch Mile 9: Coyote Natural Bridge Mile 11: Cliff Arch and a pair of Waterfalls Mile 13: Escalante River
	Left: Coyote Natural Bridge

At the end of Egypt Road, a side road off Hole in the Rock Road is the starting point for an adventure to a magnificent sandstone grotto. The route crosses the Escalante River and follows Neon Canyon to the Golden Cathedral. Total: 9 miles return, 1260ft loss.
There are countless other magnificent slot canyons in Escalante but most do not appear on maps, or have trails or any signage what so ever to help you find them. Zebra Slot and nearby Tunnel Slot are within hiking distance of the Hole in the Rock Road. Many photographers have been able to find them, but that's never a guarantee and recent rains can make the journey hazardous.
Right: Cliff Arch in Coyote Gulch Below: Willis Creek Canyon

	One ironies of canyon country is that many of the most spectacular sights like Coyote Gulch are difficult to photograph and yet something as modest as Willis Creek Canyon can make a better photo.
	"I was a bit worried about the road but I had no problems with a high clearance 2WD. It's too short to qualify as a hike and the canyon quite small but it makes for a nice photo op"
	This canyon is just off Skutumpah Road and is near Lick Wash, another worthwhile place to explore.
	The other major access road is Cottonwood Road which leads to Kodachrome Basin State Park, the Grosvenor Arch and eventually joins Highway 89 near the Paria Ranger Station. While drivable by a high clearance 2WD vehicles all these roads are impassable when wet.

Bryce Canyon National Park
The famous hoodoos can be viewed right from the parking lot making it ideal for buses and the windshield tourist crowd. With names Sunrise Point and Sunset Point photographers have it pretty easy too.
Right: Sunrise Point in Bryce Canyon

	Sunrise Point is the trailhead for the Queen's Garden, where a one mile trail lets you get up close and personal with some of the more interesting rock formations.
	The most striking hoodoo is called Thor's Hammer and it can be seen from Sunset Point. A short 1.4 mile trail called the Navajo Loop passes both this feature and travels through Wall Street a slot canyon of particularly tall hoodoos. The end of this loop connects to the Queen's Garden trail for a total distance of three miles.

	Left: A hoodoo in Queen's Garden

Nearby is Cedar Breaks National Monument which is superficially similar to Bryce Canyon but it lacks hiking opportunities and thus is little more than a roadside vista.
Right: Cedar Breaks National Monument Below: Yellow Rock