Cottonwood Canyon

Cottonwood Canyon is a 46 mile mostly dirt road that connects the town of Cannonville, Utah to US 89 just north of the Arizona border.

Cars with good clearance can do the trip if the road is dry.  In wet weather, the road is slippery and hazardous even with 4 wheel drive; be especially cautious if any of the washes have water - cars sometimes get stuck in them.

If traveling from the south, look for the turnoff on US 89 between milepost 17 and 18.

From the north, follow the road 8 miles from Cannonville towards Kodachrome Basin State Park.

Current road conditions can be checked at Kodachrome Basin State Park, Paria Ranger Station (on US 89 near milepost 21), Kanab, or the visitor's center at Glen Canyon Dam.

Grosvenor Arch is accessible via a 1 mile side road, approximately 10 miles east of Kodachrome Basin State Park.  The double arch was discovered in 1949 by a National Geographic expedition, and named in honor of the society's president, Dr. Gilbert Grosvenor. 

Standing 152 feet above the ground, the largest of the 2 openings is 99 feet across.

A mile south of the Grosvenor Arch turnoff, just east of the main road, is a groupong of large alabaster stones known as Gilgal.  A miniature Stonehenge, the stones are arranged systematically in concentric circles of 12 stones each, one within the other, with a center stone of "altar table" in the exact center.  Stones of the outer ring symbolize the 12 Tribes of Israel; those of the inner ting symbolize the 12 Apostles.  Mathematical distances and placement of the stones are precise, according to Biblical numerology, and are symbolic of the second coming of Christ.  The monument was created in 1978 under the supervision of Dallas J Anderson, a professor of art at Brigham Young University, who was its originator.

South of Gilgal, the road descends into Cottonwood Canyon and follows Cottonwood Creek for about 15 miles.

There is a picnic area about 10 miles south of Grosvenor Arch.

Leaving Cottonwood Creek, the landscape changes once again, as the road parallels the axis of the Cockscomb.

This major flexure, or fold, in the earth's crust is just one section of the East Kaibab Monocline, which extends about 150 miles from the vicinity of Bryce National Park southward into Arizona.