Desert Oasis: Backpacking in Coyote Gulch

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a huge and spectacular park in southern Utah, and while many hikes in the area have become quite popular and are often well documented, this doesn’t mean these hikes don’t come without a set of – sometimes unexpected – challenges. As we drove down the dusty back roads of Utah towards a remote trailhead to begin our backpacking trip of Coyote Gulch in April 2014, I was blissfully unaware that I’d soon find out firsthand some of the challenges that the desert and canyons here have to offer. The focus for this trip was to be the many sites along Hole-in-the-Rock Road, the main north-to-south road into the monument from the town of Escalante. My usual hiking buddy Ward and I drove into Escalante from the south along Cottonwood Canyon Road (another amazingly scenic drive), where we stayed the night before beginning our hiking adventures. On this trip, we would visit a multitude of slot canyons and natural attractions in the area, before finally visiting the ‘piece de resistance’ and subject of this article, Coyote Gulch. (Technically, Coyote Gulch is located in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, but the normal approach is from GSENM). There are several ways to get in and out of Coyote Gulch...

@Steve Ancik reports on this scenic trip through the twists and turns of Utah's Coyote Gulch - read the full article below in Issue 38:

Oasis in the Desert: A Coyote Gulch Adventure

Issue 38 Page 1