Escalante Rim Trail

Escalante Rim Trail climbs 600 feet above the park to a broad canyon rim overlooking the Escalante River drainage — one of the last major river systems mapped in the continental United States and now protected within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument that surrounds the state park. The 4-mile round-trip provides access to elevated views unavailable from any other trail in the park, with panoramas extending across the canyon labyrinth carved by the Escalante River and its tributaries over millions of years.

The rim offers perspective on the geological staircase formation visible to the south — the Pink Cliffs, Gray Cliffs, White Cliffs, Vermilion Cliffs, and Chocolate Cliffs descending in sequence toward the Grand Canyon. The Escalante River itself, visible as a thin green ribbon threading through the orange canyon far below, drains a watershed that contains some of the most remote and least-visited canyon country in the American Southwest. Desert varnish patterns on the canyon walls below the rim are visible on clear days, dark streaks of iron and manganese deposited over centuries by mineral-laden water seeping across the rock face. The trail passes additional petrified wood specimens on its way to the rim, extending the paleontological theme of the park. Leashed dogs are welcome. The $14 per vehicle park entrance fee applies year-round.