Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument including Singing Canyon

We took a day trip along Scenic Byway 12 and Burr Trail Road to Singing Canyon, a small slot canyon in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

The monument is a massive area, almost two million acres, administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

The drive we went on was just a tiny fraction of it; inspired by this article.

The Grand Staircase is a massive series of cliffs, going from Cedar Breaks National Park to the Grand Canyon; here’s an image from the Wikipedia article:

The Grand Staircase

Heading along Scenic Byway 12:

Scenic Byway 12

Lots of interesting rocks along the road:

Road and rocks

Monument sign:

Sign

One of the visitor centers for the monument, in Cannonville, Utah:

Visitor center

Visitor center

Back on the road:

Road and rocks

Road and rocks

Road and rocks

Another visitor center in Escalante, Utah:

Visitor center

Visitor center

Visitor center

Visitor center

Road and rocks

Road and rocks

Jenn & David

Road and rocks

Road and rocks

Road and rocks

Road and rocks

Road and rocks

Road and rocks

Road and rocks

Trying a prickly pear cactus candy snack from the first visitor center (pretty tasty):

Cactus candy

Road and rocks

Road and rocks

Road and rocks

Road and rocks

Singing canyon, so named due to its amazing acoustics, which we can confirm; we had it all to ourselves, too:

Singing canyon

Singing canyon

Singing canyon

Singing canyon

Singing canyon

Singing canyon

Singing canyon

Singing canyon

Singing canyon

Jenn & David

Singing canyon

Singing canyon

Singing canyon

Singing canyon

Interesting rocks outside the canyon — actually it’s still in a canyon, Long Canyon:

Singing canyon

Interesting rocks

Interesting rocks

Interesting rocks

Interesting rocks

Interesting rocks

Interesting rocks

Interesting rocks

Interesting rocks

Interesting rocks

Looking down into Long Canyon:

Road and rocks

Road and rocks

We encountered a couple of free-range cows on the road:

Cow

Road and rocks

Rocks

Rocks

Road and rocks

An enjoyable drive, and impressive slot canyon.