Desert Paradise

There are endless secrets hidden in the labyrinth of canyons that make up the remote Escalante area of Utah. When you start hiking at a seemingly random pullout on a dirt road in a plain of sage, there is no indication of the magical landscape that awaits a few hours away. The plain slowly gives way to shallow washes that dig deeper into the colored bedrock and then the first green cottonwoods appear along with small bubbling springs. The waters gather into a clear rushing stream and the walls begin to loom much higher, overhanging and sheltering the canyon from the desert sun. The river comes alive as the water flows over this small cascade near the deepest part of the canyon. Explore the canyon country! Paradise is out there, somewhere in those deep canyons beyond the sandstone horizon.