The Grand Circle Part II - The Grand Staircase
- David Maiwald
- Feb 8
- 10 min read
Updated: Feb 18
Part II of the Grand Circle Series - Southern Utah
In this article:
Zion National Park
Zion National Park marks the western escarpment of the Colorado Plateau, where a large network of deep and narrow canyons cut through several layers of colorful rock formations. At the center of it all lies Zion Canyon which winds its way roughly six miles into the heart of the park and is characterized by sheer vertical walls rising on either side for up to 2.000 feet from the valley floor. Surrounding Zion Canyon are countless side canyons and rifts cutting through the plateau with cathedral-like domes, buttes, and mesas rising up high in between. All of this creates a rugged labyrinth of intensely colorful bare rock combined with lush river valleys, offering a variety of great hiking trails and several spectacular scenic viewpoints. Most of the park’s highlights are located in Zion Canyon, with Angels Landing and the Temple of Sinawava being the most popular landmarks. However, Pine Creek Canyon in the southeastern portion of the park in between the South Entrance and the East Entrance offers views and sceneries that are just as picture perfect as the ones of the far more popular Zion Canyon, with several beautiful hiking trails that should not be missed.
Located roughly 3 hours south of Salt Lake City and 2 hours north of Las Vegas Zion Canyon at the heart of Zion National Park can be reached via Hwy 9 which cuts through Pine Creek Canyon in the southeastern portion of the park and connects I15 to its west with Mt. Carmel Junction to its east. During the busy summer season from April thru October this is the only route open for individual thru-traffic from the East Entrance to the South Entrance. During this time, the only option to explore Zion Canyon is by taking a Shuttle which starts at the parking lot of the Zion Canyon Visitor Center near the South Entrance. In my own experience both Zion Canyon as well as Pine Creek Canyon are incredible outdoor destinations, each with their very own unique character. While Zion Canyon boasts some impressive dimensions and towering canyon walls, Pine Creek Canyon offers more of an idyllic scenery which is characterized by mesas and domes on either side. All in all, either part of the park makes for spectacular hikes, with my two all-time favorites - Pine Creek Canyon Overlook and Angels Landing - each located in Pine Creek Canyon and Zion Canyon.
I have visited Zion National Park in the early summer of 2022 and again in the winter of 2024, experiencing two entirely different parks during each visit. While I focused mostly on exploring the Pine Creek Canyon section of the park during my first visit, I did not opt for the free Shuttle to get into Zion Canyon. I immediately fell in love with the warm colors of the sandstone and the pine trees that were so sparsely scattered across the landscape. However, the absolute highlight of this first visit was the rather short but incredibly rewarding 1 mile out-and-back hike along the Canyon Overlook Trail. While the early summer heat and humidity was at its peak during that day the trail graciously offered plenty of shade along the way for the gradual climb towards the overlook. Once at the top of the Pine Creek Canyon Overlook I was overwhelmed by the spectacular scenery. The overlook is located right at the edge of a vertical drop some 600 ft above the canyon floor and offers some of the most impressive views into Zion Canyon and its prominent Streaked Wall roughly 2 miles west. While it was quite busy at times the overlook itself offered more than enough space to get away from the crowds and to enjoy the scenery together with the occasional local resident dropping by. On my way back I was surprised to see a family of bighorn sheep climbing the steep canyon walls just a few meters above the hiking trail - seemingly unfazed by the crowds below. All in all this has been one of the most eventful one mile hikes I have experienced so far.
During my second visit in the winter of 2024 I made my way into Zion Canyon, driving all the way to the Temple of Sinawava at the far end of the canyon and exploring the countless scenic viewpoints along the way. While it was the middle of January at an elevation of 4400 ft the temperatures at the bottom of the canyon were comfortably warm thanks to a bright and sunny day. That was when I hiked up the West Rim Trail to the beginning of Angels Landing Trail. While I did not get the required permit in advance to hike all the way to Angels Landing this hike was well worth it with spectacular views of the canyon below from all along the trail and of the impressive Angels Landing rock formation from the Scout Lookout. And while not technically difficult for the most part, the final steep and icy climb up Walter’s Wiggles was a bit challenging without proper crampons which is why I’d recommend to take on this hike only with proper hiking gear during the winter, even when not attempting to hike all the way to Angels Landing.
Quick facts about Zion National Park:
main roads: Zion Park Blvd (Rte 9) / Zion Canyon Scenic Drive
highlights: Angels Landing / Temple of Sinawava / Pine Creek Canyon
best hikes: Canyon Overlook Trail / Angels Landing
good to know: no cars in Zion Canyon (summer) / permit needed for Angels Landing
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park protects one of the most colorful landscapes in the United States and is situated prominently along a rugged ridge, towering up to 800 meters above the surrounding valleys. This ridge is part of a large escarpment, which is made up of several drop-offs that stretch out for up to 60 miles and make up the Grand Staircase. The entire region is characterized by a wide range of dramatic landscapes, where the Colorado Plateau gradually rises from the high-desert plains of northern Arizona and finally reaches its highest elevation of roughly 3.000 meters above sea level just north of Bryce Canyon. Within the park a continuous process of erosion driven by wind, rain, and ice has created an intensely colored, vast, and seemingly inaccessible maze of hoodoos and vertical cliffs right along the highest scarp of the Grand Staircase referred to by early settlers as “a hell of a place to lose a cow”. This is a part of the Mountain West that is uniquely wild and dramatic, offering spectacular scenic views reaching as far as Page and Navajo Mountain more than 80 miles or 130 km away and roughly 2.000 meters below. All that being said, it is the bright orange color of those large amphitheaters, countless hoodoos, and impressive arches which makes this place so uniquely beautiful!
Bryce Canyon National Park is well-developed, offering a paved park road which runs along much of the colorful escarpment and is connected to Utah State Route 12 just to its north. However, the park’s remote location means long drives in order to get there from any major city in the U.S. Southwest. Both Salt Lake City and Las Vegas are roughly 4 hours from the park’s entrance and driving there from Page takes roughly 3 hours. While the distances are quite long the drive to Bryce Canyon from any direction is incredibly scenic. Surrounded on either side by small rural towns and large protected wilderness areas there are countless spots along the way to stop and take in Southern Utah’s dramatic and beautiful scenery with its lush river valleys, narrow canyons, and vast open prairie-like basins. Within the park the out-and-back main road runs for roughly 20 miles or 30 km one way. Along the way countless scenic viewpoints offer a glimpse of the otherworldly landscapes below the escarpment. Most of the park’s highlights are situated just a short drive off the main road, clustered around the large amphitheater that makes up the actual Bryce Canyon. Here numerous trails lead into the maze below and several vantage points along the rim offer great spots to enjoy the sunset.
I myself have visited this area in the early summer of 2022 and again in the winter of 2024, both times starting from Page in northern Arizona and taking the remote and unpaved 40 mile / 60 km route through the Cottonwood Canyon. After I first visited the area I immediately fell in love with the pristine landscape and the exhilarating feeling of experiencing such a harsh yet beautifully wild country way off the beaten track and far away from the crowds. This route has led me through the sparsely populated basins and valleys below the upper rim inside the park and offered the opportunity to experience this stretch of land on a whole different level as compared to speeding along the paved highways and state routes north and west of Bryce Canyon. Unpaved roads are a good way to slow down, get away from the crowds, and connect with nature on a different level. Leaving the Cottonwood Canyon Road as well as the settlements of Cannonville and Tropic behind, Bryce Canyon City up high on top of the plateau took me right back into the hustle and bustle of civilization. While it was conveniently located just minutes outside the park and only consisted of a handful of hotels and campgrounds, it seemed worlds apart from the quiet towns and remote canyons beyond the rim. That being said, this place was nowhere as busy as the likes of Zion, the Grand Canyon, or Moab.
During my first visit in the early summer of 2022 the very first highlight inside the park awaited at the meadows near the Lodge at Bryce Canyon, with a whole town of Prairie Dogs stretching along both sides of the main road. Beyond that the southern portion of Bryce Canyon National Park offered great vantage points near the Natural Bridge and near Rainbow Point at the southernmost tip of the park. The latter was a spectacular spot almost 3000 meters above sea level which offered sweeping views all across the park. The thunderstorms approaching in the far distance made for an intense atmosphere combined with the dramatic landscapes below. The next morning brought clear skies and the perfect weather to enjoy the picture perfect scenery of the iconic amphitheater at Bryce Canyon with the views from Upper Inspiration Point being by far the most spectacular of the entire park. Trying to fully comprehend the dimensions of this place when looking at the hundreds of bright hoodoos against the backdrop of the mesas and steep drop-offs in the far distance just seemed impossible. This is a place that can hardly be described by words - neither its vast dimensions nor its spectacular beauty. Since I was so fascinated by these landscapes I returned for a second time while traveling through the area in the winter of 2024. This time I focused more on exploring the amphitheater and Bryce Canyon and took to the hiking trails into the maze of Wall Street, South Hall, and Queens Garden. After several hours of walking through the towering rock formations I finally reached the upper rim of Bryce Canyon just in time for a spectacular sunset which covered the entire landscape below in an intense rose color. An unforgettable moment which made me forget about the freezing cold winter temperatures for a moment. Later that night I returned to experience Southern Utah’s remarkably clear night skies from one of the vantage points. The crisp air was crystal clear and apart from some scattered lights in the valleys below there were hardly any traces of civilization visible except for the city lights of Page far away beyond the horizon which were hardly noticeable with the countless stars above.
Quick facts about Bryce Canyon National Park:
main roads: only one main park road (out-and-back)
highlights: Bryce Amphitheater (Inspiration Point / Sunset Point) / Rainbow Point
best hikes: Navajo Loop / Queens Garden Trail
good to know: cold temperatures possible throughout the year due to high elevation
Kodachrome Basin State Park
Located in the heart of southern Utah’s wild Grand Staircase-Escalante area Kodachrome Basin State Park protects an idyllic valley filled with brightly colored rock spires and surrounded by steep cliffs. Seemingly in the middle of nowhere this park is surrounded by a vast protected wilderness with the small settlement of Cannonville, Utah being the closest outpost of civilization roughly 10 miles from the park’s entrance. Much of the area surrounding the state park is characterized by vast open grassland plains and rolling hills with steep cliffs of the Grand Staircase rising to its north and west. The western cliffs are part of the rugged and colorful escarpment of Bryce Canyon National Park some 1.000 meters above the valley floor and roughly 15 miles or 24 km from Kodachrome Basin State Park by line of sight. To its south and east lie several wilderness areas that offer little to no developed infrastructure and consist of countless rugged canyons and remote river gorges, including the Paria Wilderness as well as the Cottonwood Canyon.
This means that the Kodachrome Basin is situated in the middle of a pristine wilderness area and that a visit to the park most definitely offers plenty of potential for some great outdoor adventures. The park itself offers an impressive display of dramatically eroded rock formations as well as towering cliffs that mix with vast open scrubland, making for an idyllic and colorful high desert scenery. The park is well developed and offers a dense network of hiking trails that lead to numerous scenic viewpoints that are scattered across the basin.
I visited the park in the early spring of 2022 as part of an extensive road trip through the Southwestern U.S., driving through the area on my way from Page to Bryce Canyon National Park. Since I was planning to include Kodachrome Basin State Park into my itinerary for the day, the best way into this remote area from northern Arizona was via the unpaved Cottonwood Basin road - an incredibly scenic 40 mile / 60 km drive through some of southern Utah’s most pristine and undisturbed wilderness. The drive itself was an absolute highlight, with some parts of Cottonwood Canyon being some of the most colorful and otherworldly places that I have been to in the entire U.S. Southwest. And most of the entire drive was with little to no other traffic - a true backcountry experience. There were several scenic spots along the way with Grosvenor Arch being one of the absolute highlights. The impressive double arch consists of bright yellow sandstone and is in my opinion one of Utah’s most beautiful natural arches. Inside the park I took on the fairly easy Panorama Trail, which is a roughly 3 mile out-and-back hike to Panorama Point. The hike was incredibly scenic and led past countless viewpoints and colorful rock spires. I particularly enjoyed the fact that this park did not seem too busy even though it was the peak season of early summer. However, this also meant that the temperatures during that late afternoon hike were quite hot, which made this short and easy hike somewhat difficult. Once I reached Panorama Point I was rewarded by sweeping views of the rugged surrounding desert landscape with its bright colors and vast distances. All in all this area was well worth the detour leading me right into the colorful heart of southern Utah’s incredibly scenic wilderness.
Quick facts about Kodachrome Basin State Park:
main roads: only one main road (out-and-back)
highlights: Panorama Point
best hikes: Panorama Trail
good to know: when coming from Page, take Cottonwood Canyon Road (Top Pick)
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