Grand Staircase Escalante-Toadstools Trail

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Grand Staircase Escalante

Toadstool Hoodoos Trail

August 23

We planned on having one day to kill in Kanab, Utah before the Wave hike.  This buffer day was added just in case there were any travel delays getting there by the 24^th.  Killing a day in Kanab is easy…this is an outdoor adventure mecca, after all. So, we arrived in Kanab around dinner time on the 22nd.  We checked into the La Quinta Inn and Suites and headed to a burger restaurant we passed by coming into town.  Big Al’s Burgers was very good comfort burger food with outdoor seating, but stealth…they are not. If not in a hurry, we would eat there again.

The morning of the 23rd we attended the required Coyote Buttes North safety orientation at the Kane County Office of Tourism Visitor Center, which is downtown Kanab. This lasted about half an hour.  It was at this County Office of Tourism where we discovered just what we would be doing the rest of the day.

From here we headed to the highlight of the day, hiking the Toadstool Hoodoos Trail about 40 miles from Kanab.

The 1-mile Toadstools Trail hike in from the trailhead at the road is fairly easy, but it was very hot so plenty of water was carried (and used…nobody told us it would be hot in the desert in August!)

The trail was typical gorgeous red rock desert, but once the toadstool were within sight we knew this was going to be special. The Toadstool rock formations are stunning, truly unique, and somewhat mystical.

  

As we were milling about the main toadstool viewing area another hiker told us to continue on a little further beyond for some views of the Paria River Valley. We were fortunate that this person told us to continue on because it was not an obvious direction to head, and the subsequent views were absolutely spectacular. This is yet another example of why it’s good to talk with fellow hikers.  On our way back, we in turn told a couple of hikers about the valley views.

Johnson Canyon

After the Toadstools Trail hike we decided to drive a scenic road through the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, along Johnson Canyon.  The highlight here was getting a quick glimpse of what’s left of the movie sets from the famous classic western tv show Gunsmoke.  Much of it was filmed in Kanab, and the remaining decrepit structures are on private land along Johnson Canyon Road. It was so decrepit in fact that we decided to just keep on driving without even slowing down. Miss Kitty and Sheriff Dillon would not be happy!

 

Back in Kanab we had dinner at the western themed Houston’s Trails End which was good hearty comfort food with friendly service.

After dinner we turned in early in anticipation of a long and exciting day ahead of us.

Next: The Wave – Coyote Buttes North