Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument is a dramatic, multi-hued landscape that is rich in natural and human
history. Extending across 1.9 million acres of Utah public lands managed by
the Bureau of Land Management, the Monument represents a unique combination
of archaeological, historical, paleontological, geological, and biological resources.
These strikingly beautiful and scientifically important lands are divided into
three distinct regions: the Grand Staircase, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the
Canyons of the Escalante. The Grand Staircase--A Museum of Earth History
The cream- and rose-colored cliffs of Navajo sandstone pictured here are the
third in a series of great geological steps that ascend northward across the
southwest corner of the Monument. This Grand Staircase-the Chocolate, Vermilion,
White, Gray, and Pink Cliffs--spans five different life zones from Sonoran desert
to coniferous forests. It is a masterpiece of geological and biological diversity.
Geologist Clarence Dutton described what he termed a grand stairway of sequential
cliffs and terraces in his Report of the Geology of the High Plateaus of Utah
(1880).
The Canyons of the Escalante--Wonders
in Water and Stone
The Escalante River cascades off the southern flank of the Aquarius Plateau,
winding through a 1,000-mile maze of interconnected canyons. This magical labyrinth
is one of the scenic wonders of the West. Even though Spanish explorer and priest
Father Silvestre Velez de Escalante never wet a boot or even saw the river,
his is the namesake given by the Powell survey crew that discovered and named
the Escalante River in 1872.
The Kaiparowits Plateau--An American
Outback
A vast wedge-shaped block of mesas and deeply incised canyons towers above the
surrounding canyonlands. The isolated, rugged plateau is refuge for wildlife,
rare plants, and a few adventure-ready individuals equipped to handle profound
solitude and uncompromising wild country. "The Kaiparowits was the name
for a point near the north end of the plateau so we decided to call the whole
mountain by that name," wrote A. H. Thompson. It is a Paiute name meaning
"Big Mountain’s Little Brother." Many sites from prehistoric
cultures have been recorded on the Plateau. Many more are preserved for future
study