Escalante, Utah

Escalante sits about 45 miles east of Bryce Canyon on Scenic Byway 12, roughly an hour's drive across one of the most dramatic sections of highway in the country. With around 860 residents, it is the largest town in the immediate area and the main staging point for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument backcountry.

History and an Ironic Name

The valley was first known to settlers as "Potato Valley," named by a Utah militia unit under Captain James Andrus during the Black Hawk War of the 1860s after they found wild potatoes growing there. Mormon pioneers from Panguitch settled the townsite in 1875-76. When members of John Wesley Powell's survey expedition passed through, they recommended the new community be named for Spanish missionary Silvestre Vélez de Escalante — even though Escalante's actual 1776 expedition, searching for a route to California, never came anywhere near this valley. The name stuck anyway.

Grand Staircase-Escalante Headquarters

The Escalante Interagency Visitor Center, jointly run by the BLM, Forest Service, and state parks, is the best single stop in the region for road conditions, permits, and trail advice before heading into the monument's slot canyons and backcountry routes.

The Hogback and the Drive from Bryce

The stretch of Highway 12 between Escalante and Bryce Canyon crosses "the Hogback," a narrow ridge of exposed slickrock with steep drop-offs on both sides and sweeping views into the Escalante River drainage — regularly ranked among the most scenic highway segments in the U.S.

Lodging and Access to Slot Canyons

Escalante has more lodging variety than the smaller Bryce Valley towns, including Canyon Country Lodge, Escalante Canyon Inn, Slot Canyons Inn, and the boutique/glamping-style Ofland Escalante. It is the standard base for visiting Calf Creek Falls, Devils Garden, and popular slot canyons like Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch.