Key Information: Tour Duration: 4
- 5
day(s) Group Size: 4
- 12
people Destination(s):Utah Specialty Categories:Hiking & Trekking Season: May - September Airfare Included: No Tour Customizable: No Minimum Per Person Price: 1020 US Dollar (USD) Maximum Per Person Price: 1195 US Dollar (USD)
Each day hike in the Escalante Canyon offers the opportunity for difficult and demanding routes, however the only required hiking and the basis for the rating is that into and out of base camp. The hike into this base camp is rated moderate to difficult. The 4.5 mile hike to base camp includes an elevation loss of 600 feet. Agility is necessary for steep sections, slick rock and a narrows chimney. The day hiking can be quite challenging if you chose or easier guided options are available.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1 - We meet our office in Boulder, UT at 9 am. We provide a duffel bag for your gear (25 lbs. max.) and drive to the trail head. Our hike into the Escalante River starts down a long sand hill to the edge of the corridors and a descent on a fin of sandstone into a maze of crack canyons. We can explore some of these cracks then drop into a lush spring fed forested canyon. Camp is across the river from the mouth of this side canyon.
Day 2 - We climb an old stock trail onto a low slick rock bench. Sandstone monuments stand beside archaic camps with ash darkened sand, grindstones and agate tools. We drop into a deep canyon and hike up the narrows to a waterfall. An adventurous group can go above and chimney through the falls. This intricate, colorful canyon winds between massive domes of red sandstone. An old stock trail takes some back to camp, while others may opt for a return on the river.
Day 3 - We hike downstream under deeply cut overhanging walls. One overhang shelters an entire river bend where petroglyphs were made on a rock floor. Red walls follow the river meanders as we get to a cavernous cathedral. After viewing rock art as old as 2000 BC and a mud & stone granary, we climb ancient pecked steps to the upper contoured slick rock and head back to camp.
Day 4 - On this day we climb to the summit of Navajo sandstone monument in the middle of the corridors. We hike up a chute of rubble to a slick rock saddle then into a crack canyon. The summit is the most spectacular and revealing in the area. We take a different route back to camp down a long slick rock fin.
Day 5 - We hike out of the Escalante Canyon on the old horse trail. The circuitous route takes us over a 1000 foot high mesa with incredible views of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Back to the vehicle and to Boulder by 6 pm (dinner not included).
