Escalante Canyons Explorations

Brian and "Blue"

Are you a hiker considering a trip to the beautiful canyon country of southern Utah this year? Are you seeking a place to get away from the crowds, yet see a rich diversity of natural beauty and learn about interesting local history? Make sure that you don't make the same mistake that the famous explorer and historian John Wesley Powell made in 1869.  Don't miss the Escalante River! 

That's right, even though Powell traveled thousands of miles of the southwest's canyons and desert country on his historic exploratory trips in 1869 and 1871, on both trips down the Colorado River (then called the Grand River) he somehow managed to miss the Escalante.  It wasn't until the spring of 1872, when Powell was in the East seeking appropriations, that the expedition's surveyor and mapmaker, Powell's brother-in-law Professor Almon Thompson, discovered what has been called "The last unknown river in the United States," the Escalante. 

The river was named by Thompson after the famous Spanish Franciscan missionary and explorer, Father Silvestre Velez de Escalante. Father Escalante led an exploratory expedition in 1776-1777 seeking a northern route from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Monterey, California. The irony in Thompson's choice of names is that Father Escalante actually never set foot in, or even saw, his namesake river. 

Phipps arch, this beautiful arch is just a short hike from Highway 12  and the Escalante River trailhead.

Much more than just a river, the Escalante region, located in south-central Utah, encompasses thousands of acres of pristine wilderness, a vast landscape of rock, water and desert country, rich in natural and cultural history. As one of the natural wonders of the West, Utahans sought to protect its features as early as 1936. The National Park Service identified the potential Escalante National Monument, 4.5 million acres of land (7,000 square miles – about twice the size of Yellowstone National Park) encompassing the whole of the Colorado River system between the towns of Escalante and Moab.  However, due to areas of potential gas, oil, and mineral deposits, powerful development interests killed that proposal. Fortunately public support to protect the area has remained strong. 

Today the Escalante area is surrounded by a veritable playground of public lands, including Capitol Reef National Park to the east, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to the south, Bryce Canyon National Park on the west, and the Dixie National Forest to the north. The remainder of the Escalante canyons is now part of the 1.7 million acre (2,656 square miles) Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument, administered by the Bureau of Land Management. "The Staircase" as locals call it, was created by the executive order of President Clinton in 1996, making the area our country's newest national monument. 

This area, though vast in size, remains predominantly roadless, making it a hikers paradise. Guidebooks show over 350 miles of hiking routes, from easy day hikes down the canyon, to multi-day explorations deep into the back country.  Unless you are a skilled back country traveler the landscape can be tricky to navigate, so a knowledgeable local guide is recommended.   

This land of immense desert and sandstone beauty is filled with deep canyons, cliff faces honeycombed with deep alcoves and grottoes, sculpted stone arches, natural bridges, domes, fins and monoliths of every imaginable shape. Gentle flowing streams can suddenly pour off over precipitous falls into deep plunge pools. The Escalante River itself flows through thickly vegetated riparian areas, full of willow, cottonwood, and other plants. Wildlife is secretive, yet abundant and diverse. The Bureau of Land Management lists over 250 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish in the monument. 

A land of surprises 

Hiking these serpentine canyons leads to a new surprise waiting around each corner. Travelers might find a slot canyon barely wide enough to squeeze through, may catch a glimpse of desert bighorn sheep high on a canyon wall, find a delicate alcove orchid hidden in a patch of maidenhair ferns tucked away in the shadows of a dripping spring wall, might photograph shining desert varnish or colorful striped cross bedding on the walls, or find an ancient panel of rock art swirls and figures left by the early inhabitants of these canyons.  

Of course the Escalante River and surrounding area wasn't really "discovered" by Powell's party in the late 1800's. This part of the southwest has actually been inhabited for nearly 6,000 years by a nomadic hunter-gatherer people now called the Desert Archaic. It is theorized that these nomads began to settle down and live in crude stone shelters in south facing alcoves and under overhanging rock ledges in this canyon area around 1000 B.C. These people, now known as the Anasazi, began to distinguish themselves from the Archaic nomads by living in extended family groups and creating woven baskets made of plant fibers. Because of this anthropologists began to classify these early Anasazi as "Basketmakers." 

As these early Anasazi cultures developed, the people's habits evolved. While they still predominantly relied upon hunting and gathering for their food supplies, by about 200 B.C. natural food began to be supplemented with the addition of raising corn crops. In the Escalante region of southern Utah these groups of Anasazi, living in small villages and practicing small-scale agriculture as well as hunter/gatherer lifestyles, became known as the Fremont culture of Anasazi. Evidence of these early Fremont societies are still visible to the explorers of the Escalante canyons area today. 

Since the Fremont Anasazi were now growing crops, they began to need a place to store their abundant food supply. Today we can still find deep circular pits, called cists, where grain was stored. Some cists even contain old corn cobs, still intact in this dry climate after hundreds of years. These cists were often lined with upright stones and covered by a lid of poles, twigs, rock and mud. Later, larger rock and mud granaries, the early predecessors to modern grain silos, were made above ground in the backs of alcoves to protect this important food resource from animals and, possibly, marauding neighboring peoples.  Grinding rocks, called mano stones and metates, are still found in the desert and in some alcoves.    

As well as rock art panels and rock granaries, other evidence of the ancient Anasazi can be seen by the careful eye of hikers. Sandy areas sometimes contain colorful chips of chert stones, the byproduct of breaking larger rock into smaller pieces that were used to fashion implements. Occasionally even arrowheads and knife blades can be found. It is important to remember that all of this archeological evidence of the Anasazi is protected and should not be disturbed or taken away. 

And speaking of taking away, what happened to these Anasazi people? Nobody really knows, but it is surmised that possibly a long drought forced them away; perhaps overuse of limited local resources made them move on, or even maybe marauding neighbors killed them off or forced them to leave.  Fortunately we can still observe a diversity of evidence left by these ancient desert dwellers on our trips today. 

The Escalante area is a treasure of desert beauty, unusual and breathtaking geologic formations, along with rich natural and cultural history, all waiting for the hiker and adventurer to find on their travels. Come visit southern Utah!

Brian Dick works as a guide and llama handler for Red Rock 'n Llamas. Mr. Dick has been exploring the west and running trips for 20 years in California, Colorado, and Utah.