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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
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Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument
"The empty spaces are filling up in the West. We have to imagine what
the western landscape is going to look like in 50 years and try to anticipate,
rather than wait for conflicts to happen."
-- Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt,
December, 1999
The Antiquities Act
The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a large area of primitive
land that was set aside by presidential proclamation so that historical data
can be studied and preserved. Congress gave Presidents the authority to designate
land a monument through the Antiquities Act of 1906. In 1996 President Clinton
used this law to protect the vast wilderness of southern Utah.
What is there to protect in the
Grand Staircase-Escalante?
There are millions of years of history and evolution in the mountains, valleys
and buttes of the Grand Staircase-Escalante, including geology, world class fossils,
archeological sites and hundreds of species of animals and plants; many of which
are unique. The Grand Staircase protects world class paleontological sites and
over 20,000 archeological sites. Clues to un-answered problems about global warming
and why dinosaurs did die-off are even believed to be contained in the Grand
Staircase-Escalante. To obtain the BLM's goal of preserving these important sites,
the areas that are open to the public are limited.
Digging up unusual Dinosaur bones
Digs in the Grand Staircase-Escalante have uncovered rare or unknown species
of dinosaurs like the duck-billed Crested Hadrosaur, the horned dinosaur Ceratopsians,
the dome-headed dinosaur Pachycephalosaur, the Therizinosaurid
dinosaur, an early Tyrannosaur and at least two new species of giant crocodiles.
Preserving the Paleoecological Story
Geologist David Gillette describes the Therizinosaurid dinosaur as a "one
ton plant-eating carnivore with really bizarre claws. It had slender arms and
really long bones in the hand with bladed claws that look like sickles. With
the sheath, the claws are about 15 inches long." The Hadrosaur was found
with the
rear section of the body in an "exceptional state of preservation
and articulation." Skin impressions were also found and the dry environment
of the site has provided an exceptional specimen to study. Scientists believe
that most of the dinosaur remains yet to be uncovered in the monument will represent
new species. The BLM does give occasional guided
tours to the digs.
What can you do to help preserve the History in the Grand Staircase Escalante?
Follow the "Leave no Trace" principles. Do not litter or take anything
that you might find. Never carve into the rocks and trees. Stay
in the areas and roads designated for public use. Off road paths invite invasion
of flora and fauna that favor disturbed environments (like annoying grasses
and weeds), killing the primitive and original life that has been preserved
in the remote lands of the Grand Staircase-Escalante.
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