Grand Staircase Loop

[AzTacoma]

So it was with this thread that we announced our intentions, but road conditions would eventually alter our plans for different routes. Overall, the weather held out pretty well. There were some warm hikes and some rain, but the hikes were well worth it while the rain was mostly while driving and didn't last long. Here is a sampling of some of our travels.

Day 1: One of the areas we hit were the toadstools...

Day 2: In the morning we explored the Paria River and old Pahreah townsite across the river.

After that we made our way to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and stopped at a large sinkhole along the way.

After a quick resupply in Kanab, we ventured north through Johnson Canyon and spotted a small eagle "arch" and old film set.

Along the Skutumpah Road we hiked a portion of Lick Wash before camping in the pines.

Day 3: First up was a Willis Creek hike.

Next we explored Kodachrome Basin State Park.

We saw that Cottonwood Canyon Road was still closed, so we stopped at Grosvenor Arch and then camped in that area. We'd have to loop west, mainly pavement, instead.

Day 4: Plan B was now Bryce Canyon. Isn't it a special trip when your plan b is as ridiculous as Bryce?

Day 5: We set for home, but not before a few stops along the way.

Summary: :victory::beer:

For anyone who has never been to this area, do some research and get out there!

 

[unkamonkey]

Thanks for the pictures, they remind my of why I have been going out there for over 30 years. Still a few places to explore...

 

[Big50]

Awesome pics and thanks for sharing. Saw some of the sights back in April and these make me want to go back and explore more!

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Looks great.

 

[justrom]

Awesome trip and great pictures. We did the reverse, coming north from Horseshoe Bend to Bryce. A week ago there was an old sign at the south end of Cottonwood Canyon Rd, but there were no obstacles/barriers and the road itself was in good shape. We drove north during the evening, the sunset lighting was incredible. Pulled into Kodachrome Basin at dark so we had to explore the park the next day.

 

[loren85022]

Excellent report on a great area. Thanks.

 

[AzTacoma]

Thanks everyone.

Justrom, we saw the "closed" signs and were tempted to run Cottonwood anyway to see what's up, but decided against it based off the ranger's comments at the visitor center and having to backtrack if it was impassable. Now I wish we just did the original plan... looks like we could have sailed right through. That's ok, Cottonwood Canyon will be an excellent entry point to access the Escalante area in a future trip.

 

[justrom]

Makes sense, coming from the south the sign said "...closed 3 miles ahead" so we figured the worst backtrack would be 6 miles back to the pavement. At the 3 mile mark you could see where the road crossed a muddy wash that would be really nasty if it was wet, but it was completely dry for us. We encountered a couple other rigs but mostly we had the road to ourselves. There looked to be several pretty nice dispersed camping sites along the river and in some of the side canyons. There were also trailheads for a handful of hikes that looked pretty neat. I wish we'd had more time to explore, guess we'll have to plan another trip!

 

[boyfester]

Wow! Is that Lake Powell? It is so low. As for Grosvenor's Arch, there's a really easy trail around the back of it that gets you all the way to the top.