Utahcanyons is for the true canyon adventurer. Here you will find all the backpacking trip information you'll need to get out into the Canyons of the Escalante, including our excellent, reliable, knowledgeable, local guide for a safe and satisfying adventure. See the route descriptions below.

Traits:
• Dry in nature
• Out and back
• Great views
• Amazing geological formations (arches, windows, and hoodoos)
• 5.4 miles round trip

This easy two day 1 night hike has so much to offer. We start in a massive wide bottomed canyon with towering Wingate sandstone walls looming over us, but ever so slightly they seem to shrink as we climb the gentle valley slope. Soon though, the canyon changes quite dramatically, the sandstone changes to a white Navajo sandstone and the walls begin to close in. At this point our easy stroll in the sandy wash bottom changes to a boulder-lined gorge and travel becomes more difficult. The walls continue to close in on us until travel seems impossible. Then we arrive at hat appears to be a crack in the wall, we climb a log up and into the serpentine crack into a slot canyon lined with Cliff Rose and Oregon Grape. Each turn reveals more amazing rock formations as windows and hoodoos abound. Soon the tight canyon opens up and we find ourselves on a mezzanine high above the valley below. This will be our camp for the night. In front of us lies a red swirling rock formations. "The Fortress" as we call it has only one tricky route on top of it and we will lead the brave through its maze like structure. Truly you have never experienced anything like it before. Once on top of the fortress, you have views 360 degrees, from Boulder Mountain to the Henry Mountains and all the way to Navajo Mountain on a clear day. You won't want to forget your camera.

2 days one night - Moderate

Traits:
• Water is abundant
• Loop hike
• Lots of archeology and plant life
• Fishing
• 7 miles round trip

Water is usually a scarcity in the desert. Our unique location next to the Aquarius Plateau provides lots of water in an otherwise dry desert location. This is a trip through one such aquatic masterpiece. This creek starts out in snowfields at 11,000 feet above sea level. Our hike starts out high on a bench of Navajo sandstone with a covering of bowling ball sized volcanic boulders. Once we drop off the bench we enter a creek lined with willows with a slickrock bottom full of bathtub sized pot holes. Travel is easiest and most enjoyable wading in the middle of the creek. Soon the canyon narrows and we drop through a series of narrows that open up into verdant riparian swimming holes. This area is a great place to just relax and forget the world for a couple of days.

2 days one night - Strenuous

Traits:
• Dry in nature
• Loop hike
• Outstanding views
• Exposure
• Amazing geology
• 9 miles round trip

Located in the seldom visited Smokey Mountain region, a massive escarpment that rises abruptly to the west, this hike will summit the escarpment and then loop around to see views of the entire Potato Valley (Escalante), into the Escalante Desert and up into Boulder Mountain. The flora is quite different in this area and although dry, there are signs of the ancients everywhere. This is an intimate environment; from afar, the area looks like a large beige mountain without much texture or interest, but when walked through, the rock layers prove themselves with arches and slot canyons, the trees are old and seem wise and the views are second to none.

3 days two nights - Moderate to Strenuous

Traits:
• Lots of water in canons, dry at base camp
• Base Camp
• 1 loop hike, 1 out and back hike
• Geology, archeology and aquatics
• Waterfalls and swimming holes
• 12 miles both hikes together

Our perch is strategically located in between two major creeks draining off of Boulder Mountain. In ever direction there is a sea of slickrock dunes full of seasonal "Tanks" that hold water all but the hottest months of the year. Our trip starts with a day trip down to a water fall, where we can swim underneath it in a massive rock bottomed pool. Above the water fall lies some creek fed "tanks" that are also great to get into on a hot summer day. The second and third day will be a loop hike into a creek with some awesome narrows and a campsite next to a seldom seen natural bridge and a panel of petroglyphs. The first day trip is quite easy; the second and third day will be long and strenuous but very rewarding to the adventurous.

3 days two nights - Moderate

Traits:
• Canyon environment with intermittent stream
• Loop hike
• Towering sandstone cliffs and towers
• Narrow canyon with waterfalls and swimming holes
• Cross country dry hike
• 15 mile loop

This loop hike starts in a seemingly uninteresting canyon, but after a few miles, the walls close in and we are forced to swim through the confines of a narrow canyon with a beautiful creek with towering ponderosa pines around us. We surmount some small waterfalls and camp at the most idyllic location you can imagine. As we make our way through the secret canyon, we will spend some time going past our exit point in the canyon to explore the deep dark confines of the narrow. We will spend as much time as the cold will allow us to. We then exit the canyon and cross country hike along the bench lands and into another canyon. There is a massive tower rock formation to spend a minute by admiring. We then follow this dry canyon back to civilization. Secret canyon is one of the places few people visit or even know about.

Traits:
• Lots of water and swimming
• Loop hike
• Lots of archeology and local history
• High views and tight canyon scenery combined
• Cool high mountain stream transitioning into a desert environment
• 20 miles

This canyon is a deep dark chasm through some of the most beautiful scenery in all the southwest. Although the name sounds ominous the canyon was named from a cow falling off the top of the rim trying to descend into it. Our route follows the famed Boulder Mail Trail, a trail once used to deliver mail to nearby Boulder, Utah. We enter death hollow at this junction and descend it all the way to the Escalante River back to the town of Escalante. This loop hike has the best that Escalante has to offer, streaked sandstone walls, verdant mosses and maidenhair ferns and arches that touch the sky.

4 days three nights - Moderate

Traits:
• Warmer water
• Loop hike
• Lots of pictographs, grainaries and "archeo" stuff
• Lots of side canyons to explore
• 20 miles

Our hike starts off of the Burr Trail, a desolate route through some of the roughest terrain the in state of Utah. As we descend the wide open canyon, we pass strange rock formations with holes or "huecos" in them. As this massive canyon descends through the rock strata the walls change to the sharp varnished cliffs of the Wingate sandstone. The towering walls and the increase of the water make this trip another must see. This adventure is for those who are especially fond of slot canyons. Many side canyons offer incredible scenery. This area has not been photographed very much and offers lots of excellent shorts. The walls seem to glow in the late afternoon to evening in this area.

Prices per trip are as follows:
Baseline trip price per person per day: $225.00
Surmounting the Circle Cliffs - $455.00
Desert Aquatics - $450.00
Escalante Rim - $450.00
McGath Point Adventure - $705.00
Secret Canyon Loop - $705.00
Death Hollow Loop - $940.00
Trail of the Ancients - $940.00

The price point is as follows:
$10.00 extra per day per person (more than two)
$5.00 extra for 2 day (surmounting the Circle Cliffs)