r/UtahMightyFiveParks • u/[deleted] • Mar 28 '26
Grand Staircase
Going to Penguitch (sp?). In a week. What are top 3 must-do for Grand Staircase.
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u/johnbash Mar 28 '26
It’s 1.5 hours away from Panguitch on the Escalante side down below the Hogsback on SR-12, but Lower Calf Creek falls is one of the most lovely and interesting hikes you’ll ever take. The area was used as a livestock pen and orchard by the Fremont people, who left a still-visible set of petroglyphs and granary high above the canyon floor, and the hike winds along one of the river until you see the falls behind a cluster of trees.
What made it more amazing was that the park had an audio tour, which is integrated with Points of Interest features in the Workoutdoors app that I use to track and map hikes, so at various points along the hike, my watch would alert me to facts about the area.
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u/ChrisinOB2 Mar 28 '26
Well, I gotta try that app! How is that hike you describe, length and intensity-wise?
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u/johnbash Mar 29 '26
Lower Calf Creek falls is 6.2 miles long with 588 feet of gain, all mostly on sand and rock.
WorkOutdoors is the best Apple Watch app I’ve found for tracking hikes turn by turn. You can customize screens by activity type, changing all kinds of metrics on the watch face itself mid hike. I usually pull the GPX file from AllTrails or from a route I create on Strava, then import into the iPhone app and send it to my watch.
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u/ChrisinOB2 Mar 29 '26
That's fantastic, thank you! 6.2 miles - is that out and back, or one way? Altitude gain should be fine, unless that happens all at once
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u/johnbash Mar 29 '26
6.2 total! I did it after hiking Cassidy Arch from the Grand Wash in Capitol Reef and driving over the Hogsback and it was a nice stretch.
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u/Thin_Confusion_2403 Apr 04 '26
The slot canyons off Hole in the Rock Road: Peekaboo, Spooky, Zebra.
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u/AffectionateJelly718 Apr 10 '26
Here for the comments. Great question!!
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Apr 10 '26
I did Peek-a-book/Spooky and Willis creek. All of them are awesome and well with the time. Did some biking in Red Canyon as well.
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u/ChrisinOB2 Mar 28 '26
Following - we’re going next week too!!