Southwest 2025-10. Utah: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, Kanab

 May 20-23, 2025

Pretty proud of ourselves after completing the Queen's Garden-Navajo Trail in Bryce Canyon Amphitheater.

    But before we get to Bryce Canyon.... After boondocking on Burr Trail Rd 32 miles from Boulder, followed by breakfast at the Burr Trail Bar & Grill, we were back on Highway 12, driving southwest through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, destination as usual undetermined. 

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is vast—almost 2 million acres of southern Utah.

    Grand Staircase-Escalante remains a largely natural area where dinosaurs once roamed, ecosystems underwent dramatic changes, Ancestral Pueblan and Fremont cultures farmed, and their descendants—Hopi, Ute, Paiute, Zuni, Navajo—today follow in their ancestors' footsteps. The variety of the monument's geology is breathtaking. Opportunities for geologists, ecologists, paleontologists, historians, biologists, and people seeking adventure, exploration, or just relaxation are nearly endless. 

 Soon we were on top of  "The Hogback," an interesting drive  for Doug on the top of a steep ridge with no shoulders & water on both sides: Calf Creek & Boulder Creek. 

It reminded Marilyn of driving on eskers on Denali Hwy in Alaska: ridges of silt, sand, & water left by receding glaciers. 

Calf Creek running 500 feet below The Hogback.

No longer on The Hogback, but Hwy 12 continues narrow, shoulderless, & now bordered by rock walls.

Difference between this stretch & The Hogback? There's a creek on only one side & a mere rock wall on the other.

Doug couldn't exactly take his eyes off the road, but Marilyn's head was on a gimbal.

So many changing rock formations, typical of Utah's landscape.

Near Escalante, we crossed the bridge over Calf Creek, which soon empties into the Escalante River.

Another type of geology.

From rock to sand dune.

Not sure if streambed is natural or manmade.

    In 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps completed construction of Hells Backbone Rd between Escalante and Boulder. The narrow, no shoulders road that follows ridges and contours up to 9,000 feet with views far down into steep canyons, is "gravel, graded occasionally, and suitable for family cars during dry weather." 

Head of the Rocks Overlook. 

    Doug is chomping at the bit to return to Utah in his VW bus to drive Hells Backbone Rd and the Burr Trail Rd, this time  down through the switchbacks and all the way to the Colorado River. Stay tuned….

    After visiting Escalante, we were off to one of our favorite places, Bryce Canyon National Park, which we initially visited together in 2003 in the bus, soon after we met.

With the recreation.gov alert service, we'd been able to reserve a site in Bryce Canyon South Campground.

    After checking into the campground (and feeling a bit relieved when another van pulled into the tents only area and reaffirmed that we were legal), we went to tour the rim a bit.

Hangin' 10 on Bryce Canyon rim.

Like Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon National Park has a unique shape, tucked between Paunsaugunt Plateau, Dixie National Forest, & Grand Staircase-Escalante.

Bryce Canyon Amphitheater (123rf.com).

    Bryce Canyon's "Amphitheater" is a bowl, not a canyon, formed by eons of rain and melting snow rather than a flowing river. The actual Bryce Canyon is outside the Amphitheater on Bryce Creek.

"Hoodoos," rock spires created by rain & ice.

    Bryce Canyon has the largest collection of hoodoos in one place in the world. Paiute lived in the area of Bryce Canyon beginning about 1200 CE. Paiute stories tell of  the Legend People who lived there before them. They were animals with the power to make themselves look human. Coyote, the Trickster, turned them to stone because of their bad deeds.  

Endless variations on hoodoos.

At 10:00 AM the next morning we were at Sunrise Point ready to hike Queen's Garden-Navajo Loop Trail through  Bryce Canyon Amphitheater to Sunset Point. 

Queen's Garden-Navajo Loop Trail: 600 feet of elevation loss & gain, 3 miles.

Queen's Garden-Navajo Loop Trail.

Marilyn walking down from Sunrise Point.

5 minutes in, perfect time for a break.

Anytime is perfect to stop & try to take in the astonishing vistas.

Bryce Canyon Amphitheater.

You have to be tenacious to survive where erosion is constant.

20 min in.

Tunnel to nowhere.

 

10:30 AM.

Marilyn exiting another tunnel.

Doug exits yet another tunnel. 

Should have started earlier, as intended—getting a little warm.

10:50. Shade ahead!

   And then came the Wall Street climb. Fortunately the 600-foot ascent begins in a narrow section in cool shade between towering walls.

11:50, almost 2 hours since we started. Like others, we lingered in the shade before starting up the switchbacks.

Wall Street: steep switchbacks, anyone?

Where's the top? Marilyn took off, much preferring walking uphill to down.

11:55. Here comes Doug.

Wall Street, Bryce Canyon Amphitheater.

12:05. Sunset Point! Hot & tired, but we did it! Doug at 78 was undoubtedly the oldest person on the trail. 

View from Sunset Point.

From Sunset Point.

    The park constructed a service station after WWII, as automobile travel largely replaced train and bus transportation. The style rejects the rustic look of many national park buildings constructed prior to WWII, in favor of a more functional form. Today, of course, automobile travel in many national parks is restricted, and in some prohibited altogether, in favor of bikes and shuttles.

Historic Service Station & touring bus, built post WWII & closed in 1988, today the location for bike rentals.

    After we were through congratulating ourselves on our Amphitheater trek, we took the shuttle back to Sunrise Point. We took welcome showers at the General Store and returned to camp to enjoy the remainder of the day. 
    The next morning we broke camp and headed for the spectacular Bristlecone Loop, an 18-mile out-and-back road through the park.

From Bristlecone Loop at the end of the road.

Working our way back to the park entrance: Ponderosa Canyon Overlook.

Ponderosa Canyon Overlook.

    

    After an enjoyable morning exploring we departed Bryce Canyon to make our way south 80 miles to Kanab.

Red Canyon.

Hitch-n-Post RV Park in Kanab, where we'd stayed on previous trips. 

    The Hitch-n-Post is in downtown Kanab, across the street from the laundromat, grocery store, car wash, and restaurants. We were impressed how the new owners had spruced it up. 

    We all took showers—us and the van—did shopping and laundry and were ready to depart Kanab the following morning for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  

Boulder-Bryce Canyon-Kanab. 4 days/190 mi.

Kanab-Bryce Canyon (brown). Hwy 12 Bryce-Boulder (purple).  Hwy 12 Boulder-Torrey (orange). The Hogback, Hwy 12 south of Boulder (purple). Hell's Backbone Rd & Ridge Escalante-Boulder (red).

Our entire Southwest 2025 trip: 6.5 weeks/6,274 mi.

Southwest 2025: 6-1/2 weeks. 6,273.5 miles. (1) Visalia CA-Green River UT. (2) Green River-Ship Rock NM. (3) Ship Rock-Aldo Leopold Wilderness. (4) Leopold-Carrizozo. (5) Carrizozo-Taos. (6) Taos-Grand Villa CO. (7) Grand Villa-Green River UT. (8) Green River-Kanab. (9) Kanab-Kanab. (10) Kanab-Bridgeport CA. (11) Bridgeport-Visalia.

A bit of Hooptedoodle

    The Kanab Visitors Center had an interesting display of geologic and Native American history and culture of the Four Corners region.

Sedimentary rock laid down beginning 280 million years ago records the geologic history of Utah's national parks.

Anasazi were farmers & hunters, living on the high plateaus. Fremont were also farmers but moved from canyons in summer to mountains in winter. Today's Hopi look to both Anasazi & Fremont as their ancestors.

Paiute from Southern Califiornia's deserts migrated to former Anasazi & Fremont lands, following the seasons.