Escalante Route

Best Time for the Escalante Route

Given the extreme exposure on the traverses here, cooler shoulder-season months are considerably safer than summer heat with no shade along most of the route.

Trail Tips

• Expect exposed side-hill traverses with boot-sole-wide footing above steep drop-offs, including the crossing near "Butchart's Notch," plus the Papago Wall, an exposed ledge climb of roughly 35 feet requiring careful hand-and-foot work.
• The Colorado River is the only reliable water source along the way, and it's often silt-laden and hard to purify.
• Seventyfive Mile Creek's narrow Shinumo Quartzite section is a scenic highlight, but the drainage floods without warning — this is backcountry travel requiring a permit, not a day outing from the rim.

Getting to the Escalante Route

Access it via the Tanner Trail from the east or the New Hance Trail and Tonto Trail from the west, since this is a connecting route rather than a stand-alone rim-to-destination trail. Camping is at river beaches near Cardenas, Escalante, Seventyfive Mile, Papago, and Red Canyon.

What to Expect on the Escalante Route

The Escalante Route is an unmaintained, non-corridor trail deep in the eastern canyon, running about 12 miles along the Colorado River from Tanner Beach to Hance Rapids, linking the Tanner Trail on the east to the New Hance Trail and Tonto Trail on the west. It's a route in the true sense — a boot-worn path across benches, ledges, and shoreline rather than a maintained corridor trail, recommended for experienced canyon hikers with solid route-finding skills.