Kanab: Base Camp to Southern Utah | Rock Art of the Grand Staircase
Sunday – Thursday, May 3-7, 2026
To this great wall, terminating the Triassic terrace and stretching from the Hurricane Ledge to the Paria, Powell has given the name of The Vermilion Cliffs. Their great altitude, the remarkable length of their line of frontage, the persistence with which their proportions are sustained throughout the entire interval, their ornate sculpture and rich coloring, might justify very exalted language of description.
After driving all the way across the Arizona Strip on Friday and spending the remainder of the weekend exploring the Sand Hills on top of the Paria Plateau, I drove back over the northern end of the Kaibab Plateau on Sunday afternoon and made my way down to Kanab at the base of the Vermilion Cliffs to spend the rest of the week attending the 2026 UGIC Conference for work. It’s been quite a while since I last spent much time in the landscape surrounding Kanab and there were quite a few rock art sites and other short hikes that I’ve wanted to check out, so I was planning to visit as many of these sites as I could during the week when I wasn’t busy at the conference. Luckily, I was able to find plenty of time for a few sandy drives and short hikes either before or after the conference each day and was able to find most of the sites that I was looking for this week, plus a couple extras along the way! These are just some photos from my week exploring the the cliffs at the base of the Grand Staircase.
After checking into my hotel on Sunday afternoon I headed out to finally check out the Clam Shell Petroglyph Site which has been on my to-do list for over fifteen years, so I was finally glad to cross it off! Of course, an incoming storm arrived right after I made it to the site and the strong winds and rain quickly chased me back down to the car.
Clam Shell Petroglyphs
While I have driven by Pipe Springs National Monument many times before, I’ve never made the time to stop there, so I figured this would be a great opportunity to finally do that.
Pipe Spring Wagon
It’s a small Monument and there aren’t many hiking trails, so I made sure to hike all of them while I was here.
East Cabin & Corral
Winsor Castle Door
Winsor Castle
Winsor Castle Courtyard
It was a little tricky to find a route to this next set of petroglyphs, but I was eventually able to find a sandy and rough road that got me close.
Desert Varnish Panel
Four Arms Panel
Big Corner Panel
This figure is missing a leg.
Big Sheep Panel
Block Head
Squiggles Panel
At the head of the canyon I climbed up into a big alcove behind this boulder to find a few pictographs.
Outline Guy
I was happy to find a little time to revisit this interesting pictograph site.
I ventured into the White Cliffs to find these interesting petroglyphs.
Three & Four Fingers
Snake Panel
White Lines
Exploring two-tracks below the White Cliffs.
Boulder Grooves & Designs
There were some nice large petroglyphs of sheep and elk at this site, but they were vary hard to see and photograph.
This small alcove contained some interesting pictographs.
Dotted Headdress
Eagle Gate Arch
Superman Site
Outline Pictographs
I passed by a few waterglyphs throughout the week.
Rosy Canyon Cliffs
Coral Pink Sand Dunes & Moquith Mountains
I had a few extra hours one morning before I needed to be at the conference, so I took a drive out to Gunsight Point for a massive view over the Kanab Creek Wilderness.
Snake Gulch comes in from the left and joins Kanab Creek below.
One day when I was at the conference until later in the afternoon I went for a short hike on the local Kanab Trails at the edge of town.
Vermilion View
Little Hole
Kanab Overlook
Kanab Trail
There was even a little faux waterfall along the Raven Trail.
Stone Design
I hiked up to the dinosaur tracks just north of town.
I spent a warm afternoon searching for the petroglyphs in the Raven’s Crack. This was the wrong crack…
The Guardian
Raven’s Crack Petroglyphs
It took me a while longer than I had hoped, but I eventually found the panel I was looking for!
Double-Header
My final hike of the week was up the Mansard Trail.
Walking along a nice colorful wall before entering the alcove with the petroglyphs.
The most interesting part of this site are the long grooves carved into the sloping floor of the alcove.
Grooves & Petroglyphs
Bow Hunter
Here is one final view of the Vermilion Cliffs as I hiked down from the Mansard Petroglyph Site.
If we proceed southward from the district of the High Plateaus of Utah, we shall gradually descend from an altitude of more than 10,000 feet to one of less than 5,000 feet. The country thus traversed is terraced off in a succession of steps, each terrace being terminated by a sinuous line of cliffs or abrupt slopes. Each cliff is the limiting border of a great series of strata, no member of which is encountered again for an indefinite distance to the southward. As we descend each cliff we find ourselves at its base upon the summit of a lower series.
Wow wow wow – so many interesting panels. Thank you for sharing all of this!
Thanks Janice!