Paddling near Escalante, UT

Escalante sits in Garfield County amid the canyon country of the Colorado Plateau, gateway to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The marquee paddling destination here is the Escalante River itself — a remote, deeply entrenched canyon run of roughly 74–100 miles from the Highway 12 bridge to Lake Powell, rated Class II(III) and prized for its towering red and white sandstone walls, side canyons, and sheer isolation. Flows are fickle and dependent on snowpack, making this one of the more demanding expedition paddles in the American Southwest.