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Hiking Forum
The Ultimate Southwest Vacation includes the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument!
Stay in Mt. Carmel Jct., the heart of the parks, and visit
the treasures of the Southwest.
Mileage: Mt. Carmel Jct.
Zion Park 12 miles
Grand Staircase 9 miles
Sand Dunes 11 miles
Dixie Forest 22 miles
Cedar Breaks 45 miles
Red Canyon 47 miles
Coyote Butte 57 miles
Bryce Canyon 60 miles
North Rim 85 miles
Toroweap 90 miles
Plan your Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument vacation
with our Utah and Arizona maps.
In these pages you will find insiders information on the best
Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument hikes. This detailed
guide includes road maps, park maps, pictures, trail beta, backpacking, history,
fees, geology, flora, fauna, campgrounds, things for kids to do and even information
on the Grand Staircase hidden treasures.
Making summer memories in Utah's national monuments. |
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Directions: East Zion to Staircase
From
Salt Lake City, travel south on I15 to U-20. Exit on U-20. Turn south on U-89
and follow U-89 to Glendale.
From Las Vegas: Travel I15 to exit 16. Follow U-9 to the south
entrance of Zion and through to the east entrance. Take U-9 for 12 miles to
Mt. Carmel Jct, where U-89 and U-9 meet. Drive north on U-89 to Glendale.
From Glendale, turn right on 300 N. (Bench Road) Follow the
graded dirt road, Skutumpah, into the Grand Staircase. Remember the Grand Staircase
is a wild and remote place. The dirt roads may be impassible when wet and there
is usually no water, services or cell phone access. Skutumpah is a backway and
should only be traveled in dry conditions. Call for road and weather information
before travel: 435.644.4680
"For all the way up the long red slate slopes, that in the
distance seemed barren, you find little garden beds and tufts of dwarf phlox,
ivesia, and blue arctic daisies that go straight to your heart, blessed fellow
mountaineers kept safe and warm by a thousand miracles."
-- Our National Parks
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Grand Staircase Flora - Vegetation
"The three reasons for the importance of wilderness: to
protect the natural ecosystem and the life forms within it, to provide a scientific
baseline for comparison with other landscapes, and to provide recreational, spiritual
and other human values."
Cole, David N. 1996
Unique, Diverse and Ancient
Diverse, unique and even ancient are used to describe
the flora of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The Paria River
flows through the monument creating an environment for life to thrive. The vast
land covers five different life zones and thus is home to a large number of
endemic species. Over one-hundred species of plants exist only on the Colorado
Plateau or in the state of Utah. Many of the plants, (approximately 180), are
either endangered or on a watch list.
Pristine Land of the United States
Enormous evidence exists in the monument of late cretaceous terrestrial life.
Pages of almost unbroken history are untouched in the pristine areas of
the monument. The plants of the past have left an ancient trail for
current exploration. In
the monument, there are eleven unique species of plants and numerous rare plants.
Combine this with a meshing of warm and cold desert conditions, the result an
undeniably rich floral region.
Isolation Protects Original Flora
The multi-hued landscape of badlands, buttes
and canyons is a mecca of floral diversity. The lands are host to hardy pinyon
pines, some over a thousand years old and also to fragile desert wild flowers. Sprouting
from the soil, in the Grand Staircase Escalante, is over two-hundred million
years of history. BLM scientist, Eaton, states that, "The isolation of the
region has, for the most part, guaranteed the integrity of its original flora
and fauna.
84% of the Flora in Utah is in the Staircase
Eighty-four percent of the flora of the state of Utah is found in the Grand
Staircase and about fifty percent of the rare species in Utah. There are
one-hundred-twenty five species of plants that are only found in Utah or the
Colorado Plateau and eleven species are found nowhere else. However, Utah also
has plants listed as threatened or endangered. The Southwestern
location and the varied topography account for much of the diversity.
Holding everything together
Cryptobiotic soil covers up to 70% of the living ground cover in the Grand
Staircase, increasing
soil stability by connecting sand grains. This is important for preventing
wind and water erosion even during droughts when other land covers might fail.
Stay on existing trails and do not walk on the easily damaged dark bumpy
soil. Soil provides moisture, nutrients and stability
for plants.
Grand Staircase: Seasonal Flora
Beginning in March, wildflowers come to life with a colorful show. In the
fall, leaves change early in the higher elevations near Bryce Canyon, with brilliant
hues of gold and red appearing in early September. Expect the lower elevations
to be a few weeks behind.
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