Up to date with current events, boundaries, and public land information Descriptive trail guides for 25 hikes with color photos and color maps Detailed natural history and archaeology This guidebook covers the original 1.88 million acres of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument designated in 1996 to protect its natural wonders and preserve the area for scientific research. In 2017, the monument was trimmed to 1 million acres, reducing protections around some of the world's most geologically diverse landscapes. The hikes featured in this book range from family-friendly day hikes to multi-day backpacking trips that will excite the most adventurous of spirits and will educate readers about the importance of protecting public lands, visiting sensitive areas with respect, and considering low-impact recreation as a pillar of multi-use policy for enhanced conservation.

Provides up-to-date trail information encompassing the original and current boundaries, as well as natural history, paleontology, archaeology, and public land policy

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is the location of one of the best-known terrestrial records for the late Cretaceous. Prior fieldwork confirmed the richness of the area, but a major effort begun in the new century has documented over 2,000 new vertebrate fossil sites, provided new radiometric dates, and identified five new genera of ceratopsids, two new species of hadrosaur, a probable new genus of hypsilophodontid, new pachycephalosaurs and ankylosaurs, several kinds of theropods (including a new genus of oviraptor and a new tyrannosaur), plus the most complete specimen of a Late Cretaceous therizinosaur ever collected from North America, and much more. The research documented in this book is rewriting our understanding of Late Cretaceous paleobiogeography and dinosaur phyletics. At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah is a major stepping stone toward a total synthesis of the ecology and evolution of the Late Cretaceous ecosystems of western North America.

Grand Staircase-Escalante is a hiker's dream -- the nation's newest national monument. The landscape looks innocently beautiful but is surprisingly challenging. There are slot canyons, sheer drop-offs, slickrock, rough rock, steep climbs, and flat expanses. Serendipity reigns here, and if you follow your instincts, you can find grottos of ferns hanging over pools of crystal clear water. You can camp for days and hardly see another soul. In 120 gorgeous color photographs, Anselm Spring showcases this romantic landscape. Accompanied by an essay of Mark Taylor's personal experiences, it is easy to see that this land is more than beauty -- it is spirit and soul, a mystical place where one can find oneself.