The “Staircase” is a series of gigantic cliff-band terraces that stairstep from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to the edge of Utah’s High Plateaus. Designated as a 1.8-million-acre national monument in 1996, the parkland has seen its share of controversy and is a lot smaller after a presidential executive order reduced it to just over half of its original size. 

This area of Southern Utah was the last to be mapped in the lower 48, and even this jewel of a national monument still feels mysterious, remote, and inscrutable. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument doesn’t even have an official entrance, although there is a Visitor’s Center in the small town of Kanab, Utah. You’ll find the most extensive network of slot canyons in Utah here—if you can find them. That’s why we encourage you to experience this incredible landscape as part of one of our Small Group Adventures, or let us connect you with a local guide who can show you the secret spots on unforgettable day hikes. Pick your base camp—Boulder, Escalante, Torrey, or Tropic—then hike to your heart’s content, cool off at Calf Creek Falls, take a trip along Hell’s Backbone, make your way through Peekaboo Gulch, and marvel at the arches in Devil’s Garden.