When we were driving around last week we noticed the Cottonwood Canyon Road heading north from US89. A little research showed this primitive dirt road runs up to the southwest corner of Grand Staircase Escalante NM (BLM Run). The road runs all the way up to Kodachrome Utah State Park entrance road. Since we wanted to give Leslie’s ankle a rest, we decided a drive today we be good. The weather was clear and dry which is important since this road is impassible when wet. Several reviews confirmed we did not want to be on it if there was a chance of rain. We stopped at the BLM Visitor Center and confirmed the road conditions and to pick up a map and suggestion for stops along the road. We drove the Cottonwood Canyon road 30 miles to the Grosvenor Arch. There were three places where the road grade was 20+% where we dropped into four-wheel drive to make sure we had enough traction to get up. We stopped at the 95 million year old Oyster Beds, then the Lower Cottonwood Canyon Narrows and walked into the canyon until a boulder wall block progress. As we drove up the road we came across three cowboys herding a group of cattle up the road. We followed along behind, intimidating the cattle to keep moving, until we were waved through by the lead cowboy. We also stopped at Grosvenor Arch. We had thought we might drive through to Kodachrome park but decided that we did not have time to enjoy it since the drive up took longer than we expected. So we drove back to US89 and on to Page. The terrain along the road is beautiful.
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| Entrance Sign |
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| 95 Million year old oyster |
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| Keep them moving |
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| Cottonwood Narrows |
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| Grosvenor Double Arch |
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| Another Arch on the backside of Grosvenor |
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