Grand Staircase Escalante Hiker
Hiking/Trekking in Utah with Escape Adventures
Highlights
- Hike through a wide range of ecosystems including desert, woodlands, and hanging gardens
- Navigate slot canyons and hike among amazing rock formations
- Travel with the world's first carbon-neutral outfitter
Full Description
Our guides bring you to some of our favorite spots among the slot canyons and pink cliffs of Escalante- the coolest park you've never heard of.
The Grand Staircase Escalante encompasses a vast landscape of colorful terraces, mesas, and cliffs rising on a north-south axis like a giant series of steps. Each step exposes a different geologic era, collectively representing the past 200 million years of natural history.
On our hiking tour, we explore three distinct regions, the Kaiparowits Plateau, the Grand Staircase, and the Canyons of the Escalante River. We hike through a wide range of ecosystems including desert, grasslands, woodlands, and hanging gardens. We walk among red-banded spires and sandstone goblins, remote slickrock meccas and petrified forests. And we navigate slot canyons so narrow we have to "spider" the walls to get through! Along the Escalante River, we search the walls for ancient Native American writings and artwork and take a refreshing dip in the cool waters of Calf Creek Falls. With easy to moderate terrain, this is a great trip for hikers of all ability levels.
Includes:
- Two guides
- All meals starting with lunch on the first day through lunch on the last day
- Support vehicle
- Snacks
- First-aid
- Community gear
- Souvenir shirt
Excludes:
- Airfare to and from our departure point
- Lodging before or after the tour
- Gratuities to Escape Adventures guides
Day by Day Itinerary
Day 1: Travel to Escalante, Orientation
After our pick-up, we’ll take a 90-minute shuttle to Escalante for our pre-trip meeting. The meeting will be held at Escalante Outfitters, our base cabin for four nights. We will meet our cabin hosts and have dinner, safety orientation, and introductions. Cabins | Escalante Outfitters
Day 2: The Gap & The Great Western Trail
What better way to start this tour than to travel high atop the Aquarius Plateau for a bird’s eye view of the entire area. We’ll shuttle just about as high as we can go, before starting our hike. The Gap trail will offer many surprises, wide open vistas, huge meadows, and deep forest. We’ll travel to the high mountain lakes that feed the canyon tributaries below. We’ll hike through the forest to our lunch spot near Barker Reservoir. After lunch we’ll spend some time exploring the small lakes that dot the area. We return to Escalante Outfitters for the evening. Total Mileage | 4-6 miles Cabins | Escalante Outfitters Terrain | Sandy creek bottom, some scrambling
Day 3: Calf Creek Falls, Upper and Lower
Today our destination is Calf Creek Falls. We’ll start the day at the lower trailhead. It’s one of the more popular hikes in the monument and one not to be missed! Here we’ll see pictographs left by the Anasazi Indians as well as many ruins lining the canyon walls. We’ll also enjoy a cold, refreshing dip in a pool that’s fed by a 128-foot waterfall. Although there is little overall elevation change the path does have some short, steep sections and a surface of mostly soft sand so the journey can be quite strenuous. We’ll return to the van for a late lunch prepared by your guides. After the lower canyons, we’ll hop in the van and view the “Hogback” – one of the west's most scenic drives! This road, with panoramas of vast slickrock "oceans" and scenic canyons, was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935. We’ll take a minute to admire their “bravery” at a scenic viewpoint. Enjoy a beautiful evening sunset and delicious dinner back in Escalante. Time permitting; we will also hike the Upper Calf Creek Falls hike. Short but steeper this hike over exposed slickrock will take us to a lesser visited waterfall and pool. Well worth the effort. Total Mileage | 6-10 miles Cabins | Escalante Outfitters Terrain | Soft, sandy trails, some exposed slickrock
Day 4: Phipps Wash
After a hearty breakfast, we hike into Phipps Wash, a seldom-visited canyon. The hike begins on open slickrock with expansive views of the Henry Mountains and eventually leads into the main Phipps drainage. From wash we’ll admire the handiwork of flash flooding and erosion. A well-hidden spur will lead us up a slickrock bench to hidden Phipps Arch. After a well-deserved packed lunch, we'll spend some time exploring the arch and the surrounding slickrock domes and rock formations before ending the day wading up the main canyon of the Escalante River. We return to Escalante Outfitters for a delicious meal. Total Mileage | 12 miles Cabins | Escalante Outfitters Terrain | Exposed steep slickrock and sandy wash
Day 5: Devil’s Garden and Spooky and Peek-a-boo Canyons
Today we are off to Devil’s Garden National Recreation Area. We’ll explore the amazing sandstone formations and arches that make this place a scenic wonderland. After lunch we’ll continue along Hole-In-the-Rock Road for 15 miles to our favorite hiking area, Spooky and Peek-a-boo canyons. Spooky is dark and mysterious with many narrow passages only wide enough to pass through sideways! Peek-A-Boo is filled with interconnected potholes, archand grottos. These two slot canyons are visually stunning. In some areas, they’re so narrow you’ll have to walk sideways to fit through! After our hike, we’ll shuttle back to Escalante Outfitters for the night. Total Mileage | 7 miles Cabins | Escalante Outfitters Terrain | Some slickrock, mostly sandy trails
Day 6: Petrified Forest State Park
Our last day leads us to a sizeable deposit of petrified wood found near Escalante, spread over the edge of the plateau just northwest of town. Since 1963 it has been protected as a state park. A short trail winds past many of the fossilized samples, and we’ll spend the time wandering amongst the colorful rocks, Fremont Indian relics, 1,000 year old petroglyphs and dinobones dating from the Jurassic period. Total Mileage | 3 miles Terrain | Some slickrock, mostly sandy trails
About The Operator:
Escape Adventures
Headquarters:
Las Vegas, Nevada
Specializing in western North America, Escape Adventures is a leader in first-class eco-friendly cycling and multi-sport adventure. In 2006, we became the world's first carbon neutral outfitter, bringing sustainable adventure to all the places we visit, from Alaska to Belize and beyond. By simply joining a tour with us, outdoor enthusiasts are now helping to preserve the beautiful backcountry areas they enjoy.
Whether cycling, hiking, climbing, or rafting, tour our guests claim that improving the environment has never been more fun. For example, by eating delicious organic menus prepared fresh on the trail, guests are supporting local and organic growers. They also do not contribute to pollution when riding in our brand new support vehicles powered by 100% renewable vegetable oil. And, by simply joining a tour and riding their bikes through some of the finest natural treasures of North America, guests are supporting the many efforts made by Escape Adventures to enhance and protect these areas.
With proven conviction for the land and people we serve, Escape Adventures maintains the highest standard of service in the industry. With over 16 years of experience and 50 destinations, we offer a wide variety of tours for a wide variety of active travelers. From road bikers to mountain bikers, from hikers to multi-sport enthusiasts, from first timers to accomplished athletes, Escape Adventures has just the adventure for you.
Escape Adventures is a proud partner of the Leave no Trace program, a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and inspiring responsible outdoor recreation through education, research and partnerships. Leave No Trace builds awareness, appreciation and respect for our wildlands.