Peek-a-boo and Spooky slot canyons are perhaps the most famous in all of Utah, and for good reason. Calf Creek Falls (Photo: Getty Images) Tackle a Slot Canyon Hiking along the Escalante River (and sometimes through it), you’ll see petroglyphs, an arch, a cliff dwelling and the namesake natural bridge. If you want the most bang for your buck, the hike to the Escalante Natural Bridge between Escalante and Boulder is one of the most rewarding trails in the monument. This 6-mile hike follows a creek along a sandy trail to a stunning 126-foot waterfall, perfect for cooling off at. Near Boulder, find an oasis at Lower Calf Creek Falls.

Access the trail on BLM 500 from Cannonville. Wear waterproof shoes as you may need to splash through the creek in parts. At 4.5-miles round-trip, it’s a fairly easy out and back trail that takes you through a beautiful canyon where the walls never narrow very far. If you like the idea of hiking through a narrow canyon but don’t feel comfortable climbing or squeezing through tight areas, Willis Creek Slot Canyon is the perfect choice. Willis Creek Slot Canyon (Photo: Dama Mancuso)

You may even find complete solitude on some trails, depending on the time of year. One of the best reasons to go hiking in the monument is that the trails see a fraction of the crowds of the national parks. There are plenty of incredible day hikes to choose from in Grand Staircase-Escalante from hidden waterfalls to slot canyons. You could spend years exploring every nook and cranny and never get bored but what if you only have a few days? Go For a Day Hike Recreation in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument abounds. What Is There to Do in Grand Staircase-Escalante? In this remote and rugged national monument, visitors can find incredible solitude as they hike, canyoneer, camp, drive off-road vehicles and otherwise explore this stunning part of Utah. Throughout this wildly varied landscape rock art and other Native American cultural sites can be found, along with a huge array of dinosaur fossils.

This incredible national monument is home to a mind-boggling array of natural and human history from the staircase-like cliffs in the west to the arid Kaiparowits Plateau to the slot canyons formed by the Escalante River in the east. It stretches all the way to the Utah-Arizona state line to the south. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument spans 1.87 million acres of central Utah stretching from the boundary of Bryce Canyon National Park in the west to the boundary of Capitol Reef National Park and Glen Canyon in the east.

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