The Grand Staircase-Escalante area was designated as a National Monument in 1996. Now managed by the Bureau of Land Management this area is perhaps the most vastly remote area in the Contenential United States. Few trails and even fewer roads exist in this mostly uninhabited bad land.

In the 1870s, geologist Clarence Dutton described the Grand Staircase as a "huge stairway ascending out of the bottom of the Grand Canyon northward with the cliff edge of each layer forming giant steps." The steps rise 5500' from the floor of the Grand Canyon to the edge of the jagged Paunsaugunt Plateau at Bryce Canyon. The distinct steps are the Vermilion Cliffs, the White Cliffs, the Gray Cliffs and the Pink Cliffs.

For the adventurer this is a playground for hiking and camping. But it is not for the inexperienced nor the unprepared. Survival knowledge and prepardedness is necessary for safety of life.

For the person who is brave enough to venture into a real wilderness they are in for some exciting discoveries. Brightly colored variations in sandstone cliffs from brown to red to white, exciting stone formations, and many slot canyons can be found in this vast national monument.

Here are some pictures of this area taken along the edge where the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument begins.

There are some places acessible by reasonal length hikes. The photos in this gallery is one of them.

Click the picture to visit more photos of this area. All pictures in this gallery are for sale. If you would like a print or want to use a photo for commercial use please contact me at alvance@charter.net.