In & Around Grand Staircase National Monument

After moving every weekend for the past month, we settled into a boondocking spot on BLM land 15 minutes north of Kanab, UT for two weeks in mid-April. Kanab is a really nice small town in a great location. It borders the Grand Staircase Unit of Grand Staircase-Escalante NM, is 30 min from the eastern entrance to Zion NP, 1 hour from Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs NM, and 1.5 hours from the north rim of the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon NP, and Lake Powell. This entire area is a huge swath of public land with endless places to explore. Sometimes our stay here was frustrating because we couldn’t get to some places we wanted to visit – either because we could not get a permit (Coyote Buttes) or because we needed an OHV which was expensive to rent.

Besides its proximity to all these parks and being a tourist town, Kanab’s other claim to fame is the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the largest no-kill animal shelter in the world. It was started by a group of friends in the 80s and now has around 1700 cats, dogs, horses, and birds. The Best Friends name is all over town and you can really see how this organization started and supports many of Kanab’s businesses.

On several occasions after work, we took a 2-minute drive to explore the colorful mountains in view from our campsite, which are an example of the white plateau of the Grand Staircase. There were a couple of trails listed on AllTrails called Diana’s Throne and Huntress Slot Canyon but they were never crowded. They seemed to be mostly used by locals walking their dogs and small groups of canyoneering tours going through the portion that was a slot canyon. The slot canyon had a couple of repelling drops so we walked up and around the slickrock sides of the canyon there.

The entrance to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park was right across Highway 89 from our campsite. It seemed mostly used by OHVs but you can rent sleds at the state park and slide down the dunes. It looked fun but was too windy the day we went to stay long. Guess that’s how the dunes were created.

A few miles north of our campsite was a short slot canyon called Red Hollow. It was way shorter for me than Michael because he made it up a ~12ft dry fall that I chickened out on (first picture). He says he was gone for only 15 minutes exploring the canyon but I swear it was closer to 30 (2nd and 3rd pictures – what Michael got to see). Meanwhile, a small tour group came and found me there waiting for him. When they were ready to leave and he still was not back, they got the idea to all scream his name at once to help me make sure he was still okay. So, all 10 of us yelled “MICHAEL!!!” and at that very instant he happened to appear and started swinging down the rope.

We also did a couple of the short trails right in Kanab. The Sq*** Trail had views of the town and a few steps of the Grand Staircase.

Also in Kanab, the Mansard Trail ended at a cave with petroglyphs.

On weekends, we went to explore the western Grand Staircase Unit of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It is massive and vast – around a million acres (although recently reduced from almost 2 million acres by the last administration) with monoliths, canyons, natural bridges, and the colorful plateaus that make the steps of its namesake. Most of it is Wilderness Area and not easily accessed, but we visited what we could near Kanab. We will have to return to visit the northeastern Escalante Unit.

We went to see the Old Paria ghost town, which itself is a ghost because there is nothing left but a cemetery. Prior inhabitants were forced to abandon the town because of the Paria River flooding. The draw to come here was a close-up view of the colorful striped rock layers of the Paria hills.

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It was also next to a hike that we wanted to do, “The Toadstools”. Toadstool hoodoos get their name for the mushroom cap they have on top.

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The other Grand Staircase NM adventure we had was to drive through a section from Kanab to Cannonville via Johnson Canyon (paved) and Skutumpah (4WD/high clearance) roads, stopping to hike at three separate canyons.

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The third canyon, Bull Valley Gorge, reminded us of Buckskin Gulch, except that it was way less crowded and was full of dry fall obstacles. There were a handful of 5-10ft drops that had ropes and tree trunks left by previous hikers to help you get up and down. There was also a 50-year-old wrecked truck wedged up near the bridge!

The other long weekend hike we did was to Observation Point in Zion National Park, often touted as the best view of Zion Canyon. We had plans to stay in Zion in May but knew the main trailhead inside the canyon is closed indefinitely due to a large rockfall. Thankfully, we could still get there via the East Mesa Trailhead from East Zion!

We are loving southern Utah, where nature is so colorful and seems to have a sense of humor. Next up is a snowy visit to Bryce Canyon National Park!