Calf Creek Falls - Photo by GR8GPN / Carl Simpson
The Canyons of the Escalante are a collective name for the erosional landforms created by the Escalante River and its tributaries—the Escalante River Basin. Located in southern Utah in the western United States, these sandstone features include high vertical canyon walls, numerous slot canyons, waterpockets (sandstone depressions containing temporary rainwater deposits), domes, hoodoos, natural arches and bridges. This area—extending over 1,500 square miles and rising in elevation from 3,600 feet to over 11,000 feet is one of the three main sections of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and also a part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, with Capitol Reef National Park being adjacent to the east.
The headwaters of the Escalante River are located on the slopes of the Aquarius Plateau, in Utah's Garfield County, just west of the town of Escalante. The Escalante River begins at the confluence of Birch Creek and North Creek, with the flow of Pine Creek added just below the town. The river runs a total distance of 80 miles from the Birch/North Creek confluence before emptying into the Colorado River in Kane County. The lower section of the river, southeast of Coyote Gulch, is now beneath the surface of Lake Powell.
Numerous side canyons also feed the main river, accounting for the large size of the basin. From the west, the major tributaries are Harris Wash, Twentyfive Mile Creek, Coyote Gulch, Fortymile Gulch, and Fiftymile Creek, along with the smaller Phipps, Fence, Scorpion, Davis, Clear, and Indian Creeks. Most of these larger creeks flow from the top of the Kaiparowits Plateau or from the base of its eastern edge, the Straight Cliffs Formation. An even greater number of tributaries flow in from the north and east, including Death Hollow and Calf Creeks, the combined Boulder and Deer Creeks, The Gulch, Wolverine and Silver Falls Creeks, and Choprock, Moody, Stevens, and Cow Canyons. Streams from the north flow from Boulder Mountain, while those from the northeast originate in the Circle Cliffs area, near the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park.
The sandstone layers now exposed in the Canyons of the Escalante were deposited during the Mesozoic era, 180 to 225 million years ago, when this area was part of a large area of sand dunes. Near the end of the Cretaceous period, about 80 million years ago, the entire western section of North America entered an era of uplift and mountain-building, an event known as the Laramide orogeny. More recently, additional uplift formed the Colorado Plateau province. These episodes of uplift raised the Aquarius Plateau to the extent that there were strong erosional forces acting on the Escalante River Basin. Wetter climates during the recent ice ages of the Pleistocene period contributed to deep cutting of the canyon walls.
Sandstone exposed in canyons nearer to the Colorado River are typically from the Glen Canyon Group. The dark red cliffs of Coyote Gulch, for example, are composed of Navajo Sandstone. The lighter sandstone domes of Dance Hall Rock and Sooner Rocks are formed from the higher Entrada sandstone layer. Due to tilting of layers throughout the area, sandstone exposed at higher elevations near the town of Escalante (e.g. Deer Creek) may actually be from a lower layer, Wingate Sandstone.
Lower Calf Creek Falls was one of those desert surprises that really make ya wonder how such a harsh and arid environment could harbor such a lush and beautiful oasis.
The gorgeous and colorful 126ft waterfall is sitting in a very peaceful cove at the head of Calf Creek Canyon. The green and yellow colors that lined the contours of the column of water came from algae growing on the sandstone that thrived on the falls’ miraculous year-round flow.
Fees:
There is a day use fee of $5. required of all hikers. An optional camping fee of $15. will apply if you are lucky enough to get one of the first come first serve sites. We were not lucky and had to sleep in our car.
Hiking Trail:
The trail to the falls is approx. 6 miles in length (round trip). This trail ranges from easy to moderate and is mostly flat (elevation gain is less than 1000 feet). The trail is mostly sandy with some rock ledges and steps to traverse. Take pleanty of water! The park reccommends 64 ounces per person. We had 3 liter camelbacks when we hiked it. Do not drink the water in the canyon without filtering it. Start hiking early. We hiked this trail at the end of July, 2019. We began out hike at 7 am. The trail all the way to the falls was shaded and cool enough that we wore light jackets! At 9:30 am, the sunlight illuminated the falls for spectactular pictures! The trail was mostly open sun on the hike back out and getting rather hot.
Cache Logging Requirements:
Please e-mail me the answers to the following questions:
1: Major erosion and sediment transport occur when what happens in the canyon?
2: There are at least 3 types/colors of sandstone that make up the canyon walls. Describe them to me and tell me which one you see the most of?
3: What do a desert redrock canyon and the planet Mars have in common? Where are these found in this canyon?
4: What important ecosystem exsist just before you reach the falls? What does the ecosystem do to the water that travels through it?
** Bonus Points for posting a picture of you & your GPSr at the falls and for posting round trip hiking times **
** DO NOT post answers in your log. Loggers that do not e-mail answers will be deleted.