The last area of the continental United States to be mapped and it took until 1996 for the spectacular multi-hued cliffs and plateaus of southern Utah to be officially set aside as Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

The monument sits on 1.9 million acres of the most remote and rugged land in the United States. Learn More...

Perhaps because it went so unnoticed for so long—it was the last area of the continental United States to be mapped—it took until 1996 for the spectacular multi-hued cliffs and plateaus of southern Utah to be officially set aside as Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
Three distinct regions make up the 1.9 million acre monument: the cliffs and terraces constituting the Grand Staircase; the rugged, austere Kaiparowits Plateau; and the canyons of the Escalante River.

DINOSAUR FOSSIL DISCOVERY
Grand Staircase rocketed onto the international paleontologic scene in 2000 with the first of what would become a stunning series of dinosaur fossil finds. Eighty million years of the earth’s history were literally peeled back.
2002 was a particularly exciting year with the discovery of a new species of dinosaur: a hook-beaked lizard named Gryposaurus monumentensis. Its powerful jaws were lined with more than 800 teeth. The skulls of two horned dinosaurs were also uncovered that year.
These and other paleontologic finds can be seen at one of the six information centers serving the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Big Water, Utah, near the Utah/Arizona border on US 89. Please see our Monument Visitor Centers page for more information and locations.

UNIQUE GEOLOGY
A series of cliffs comprise the Grand Staircase:
-the Vermilion. (Technically, not a misspelling; when the Cliffs were set aside as their own monument before Grand Staircase, the Congressional enabling legislation contained the typo.) Modernly comprised of Moenkopi sandstone, the fossils of fish and early dinosaurs from the Triassic Period have been found;
-the White, where Jurassic Period sand dunes have turned to Navajo sandstone;
-the Gray, with shale full of marine life evidence;
-the Pink (mostly contained within Bryce Canyon National Park), the remains of an ancient freshwater lake; and
-the Straight, stretching for 42 miles.
The Kaiparowits Plateau offers probably the best, most continuous record of late Cretaceous Period terrestrial life in the world. Underground coal fires simmer below 1,000-year-old juniper trees. Overhead, 17 species of raptors ply the skies.
Deep in the canyons of the Escalante, streams host lush riparian worlds. Alcoves with oozing seeps, produce thriving oasises of thickets and hanging gardens.

TOURS / ACTIVITIES
A number of local businesses offer a variety of Monument tours and activities including camping, hiking, horseback riding, photography tours, vehicle tours, bicycling tours, and educational tours. For a complete list, please visit our Tour Companies page.

CAMPING AND OVERNIGHT PERMITS
Overnight permits are required within the Monument for all overnight car camping or backpacking. Permits are free of charge and may be obtained at any of the Monument visitor centers or at developed trailheads. Stop at a Monument visitor center to obtain current information on road and weather conditions, maps, and permits, which are required for all overnight use. The BLM has provided some important camping information specific to the Monument so be sure to familiarize yourself it before your outing.
(Monument visitor centers = Monument visitor center page)
(camping information = www.blm.gov...)

SAFETY TIPS
If you plan to visit any area of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument please read and adhere to the list of safety tips provided by the Bureau of Land Management to ensure the most enjoyable experience.
(safety tips = www.blm.gov...)

CLINTON’S CONTROVERSIAL DESIGNATION OF THE AREA AS A NATIONAL MONUMENT
Before its amazing array of archaeological resources was appreciated, the designation of the monument was steeped in a controversy as deep as its canyons.
The 1996 presidential race between incumbent Bill Clinton and Senator Robert
Dole was hotly contested. When Clinton set aside the monument (without stepping foot anywhere near it), he was accused of blatantly courting the votes of the environmental community where his support had been flagging.
Locals were especially incensed because the designation brought to a screeching halt the proposed development of an underground coal mine on the Kaiparowits Plateau. The high-paying jobs at the mine would have gone a long way toward alleviating the poverty of residents otherwise prohibited from reaping any kind of livelihood from land locked in the vise grip of federal ownership.
Lawsuits were filed and wound tortuously through the courts, challengers to the monument losing at every turn.

PRE-MONUMENT BATTLES BETWEEN LOCALS AND THE BLM
Another front in the battle was the status of the rough roads—frequented mainly by cattlemen—traversing monument lands. Local counties maintained they owned the rights-of-way. (In the 1980s, in a similar fight, Garfield County, Utah, brazenly defied the federal government by paving the Burr Trail from the town of Boulder to Lake Powell.)
In a game of spite, Kane County, Utah, erected roadside signs in the monument encouraging off-road vehicle use, which was strictly forbidden by federal regulations. Bureau of Land Management officials took the signs down; county workers under the protection of the sheriff put them back up.
Another wave of litigation was sparked, the locals losing again and again in federal courts.

DIRECTIONS TO THE GRAND STAIRCASE ESCALANTE NATIONAL MONUMENT
Grand Staircase can be accessed from U.S. Highway 89 from the south and state highway 12 from the north, both of which offer spurs and scenic turnouts. or (See ALL Maps)