The fascinating Geology and Geography of Grand Staircase Escalante

           As I photograph different areas of the remote Grand Staircase National Monument in Utah, I am grateful that it was declared to be a protected area in 1996. It protects a huge area of southern Utah encompassing the Grand Staircase in the west, Kaiparowits Plateau in the east and the canyons of the Escalante. The Grand Staircase is a geological formation spanning eons of time and is a territory of multicolored cliffs,  mesas, buttes, and canyons.

           It seems sacrilegious to mine for coal in these beautiful cliffs, which is what had once been intended for this area.  The unusual rock formations at  Devil's playground and the painterly colors at Kodachrome Basin Park and the Toadstools are truly geological wonders.   It has been a real pleasure to wander through these varied scenes each representing a different geological time, in a small area.  This area will draw me back again and again.  I hope to both capture what I see and study this area's geology in more depth.