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About Grand Staircase
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument covers 1.9 million acres or rugged terrain in southern Utah. The name Grand Staircase comes from a series of cliffs of varying colors, one above the other. They cannot all be seen in one place, but as you travel along you can see each one in succession. They are formed in layers of sedimentary rock that have eroded away. They are called the Chocolate Cliffs, the Vermilion Cliffs, the White Cliffs, the Grey Cliffs and the Pink Cliffs, in ascending order. The name Escalante comes from the Escalante Canyons in the are around the town Escalante, named after the early explorer Silvestre Velez de Escalante.
The monument was created by President Bill Clinton in September 1996. It was done as a campaign move to please environmentalists in Arizona, and to the great dismay of residents and officials in Utah. The governor of Utah was not even notified until 24 hours before the formal announcement which was made in Arizona. The controversy was so heated that some local residents were jailed over it.
Much beautiful scenery is available in the monument. On UntraveledRoad, you can visit an area of the White Cliffs and the Paria River Valley on U.S. Highway 89 and on Johnson Canyon Road.
The monument is administered by the Bureau of Land Management rather than the National Park Service.
For More Information:
See the Bureau of Land Management's official Grand Staircase/Escalante site, or Wikipedia's Grand Sstaircase-Escalante National Monument article. Find Utah Landmarks to visit on vacation on UpTake.com.