Zebra Slot, Devils Garden and Escalante Natural Bridge: A Weekend in Grand Staircase-Escalante

 Directions and photography advice for timeworn sandstone monoliths and water-cut slot canyons in the remote wilderness areas accessed from Hole In the Rock Road.

Zebra Canyon in Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument

Trip Stats
Overview:  Devils Garden, Zebra and Tunnel slots are some of the first hikes off of Hole in the Rock Road when traveling south from the town of Escalante, Utah through remote canyons and wilderness areas.  Pass by colorful sandstone formations, like Cruise Ship Crag on the way to Zebra Slot, and observe the hoodoos and natural arches at Devils Garden where sunset and sunrise are the best times to capture their dramatic color and forms.
Location:  Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, south-central Utah.
Coordinates:

• Zebra Slot Trailhead = 37.63947  -111.44559.  Located 7.8 miles down Hole In the Rock Road - parking in large gravel lot on south side, just past a cattle guard.  Cross Hole In the Rock Road, hike northeast and descend into Halfway Hollow. In about two miles, reach Harris Wash, where you bear left.
• Zebra Slot opening = 37.66091  -111.41723
• Devils Garden = 37.585671, -111.414701.  Located 11.8 miles down Hole In the Rock Road, look for sign to turn off onto BLM 225 for ~ 1/2 mile to parking area.

Distance: 

• Zebra/Tunnel slots loop = 8 miles (using northern "overland" route).
• Devils Garden = 0.4 mile-loop.

Maps and Apps:  Trails Illustrated Topo Map for Canyons of the Escalante - Grand Staircase-Escalante NM (#710), AllTrails, USGS Tenmile Flat 7.5 min quad (Zebra).
Date Hiked:  May 30, 2025
Fun Fact:  "Hole in the Rock" was the name given to a narrow v-shaped crevice in the cliffs that the San Juan mission of Mormon pioneers encountered on their expedition in 1879, coming down from the town of Escalante.  This was their only passage leading to the Colorado River, over 1,000 feet below them.  They used picks and axes to carve out a larger opening in which they lowered 83 wagons.  By locking the wagon wheels and placing blind folds on horses, they successfully reached the river, which is now Lake Powell in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.  Hole In the Rock Trail is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Considerations:  cross-country navigational skills (a topo map, GPS, and route-finding skills) are necessary if you want to hike the overland slickrock connection between Zebra and Tunnel slots.  This trail was cairned or marked in only a few  places.

Our Zebra/Tunnel slot hike ~ 6.5 miles - (orange line), with trailhead on Hole In the Rock Road.  The yellow = amount of sun exposure at 10:00 a.m., late June.  In other words, at least 95% of this area does not have shade!  We were very warm coming back on the hike in late May.
​Caltopo Maps.

Photographer Mike Shedlock getting to work in Zebra slot.  He uses focus stacking (taking multiple shots of the same scene focusing from near to far), especially in situations like this where the image requires a large depth of field to get everything into focus.
MishMoments.com

This was a great weekend spent with fun friends Mike and Liz.  We rented a "tiny house" in Escalante, Utah with killer views, drinking wine on the deck by night and exploring slot canyons, natural bridges, hoodoos, and petroglyphs by day.  We have adventured with Mike, A.K.A. Mish, on other gorgeous hikes:  Golden Cathedral in Grand Staircase, and trips to Zion NP.  Photographer Mish has helped me brush up on my photography skills - he's passionate about his art and knows when and where to capture the best images.

The first morning, we were out the door by 6:30 a.m. to get to Zebra Slot Canyon for the perfect light.

Zebra/Tunnel Slot Canyons Hike Summary - Two slots on one hike!
​The Zebra slot is short but dramatic with sinuous, striped walls that hold occasional protruding iron concretions.  It's a 2.5 mile walk to its opening from the trailhead 7.8 miles down Hole In the Rock Road out of the town of Escalante, Utah. Its walls allow only enough space to squeeze one body through.   In one spot, so narrow we had to a bit of chimneying and scoot up and across the left-hand wall.
​
The trail to Zebra is pretty easy to follow and occasionally marked with rock cairns and ducks.  When we reached Harris Wash, we walked a combination of the wash and the sand bar next to it.

Cruise Ship Crag towers above you on the left after you pass a fence across a wash.  When you get to wide Harris Wash in about two miles, Zebra is to the left, north of Harris Wash and Tunnel slot to the right continuing through Harris Wash.

We entered Tunnel slot from the north after hiking overland across amazing slickrock, abundant moqui marbles and boulders.  This overland route is accessed immediately to the southeast (left) at Zebra's opening as you face away from it.  I used Topo Maps US app to navigate to Tunnel, following a faint foot trail.

• Trailhead to Zebra slot = 2.5 miles 
• From Zebra slot, overland through Tunnel slot = 1.0 miles
• Tunnel slot to trailhead = 2.9 miles

TOTAL MILES = 6.4

Photography advice:  the early morning light (8:00 a.m.) was perfect.  Mid-morning is good, before the sun hits the walls.  You need a fast ISO and a tripod is a must, however, only one tripod can fit at a time.  Large depth of field and/or focus stacking is needed since the side walls are so close.

Devils Garden
Metate and Mano Arches, as well as four side-by-side whimsical hoodoos perched on a pedestal are a few of the impressive Entrada sandstone rock formations at Devils Garden, a photographer's delight at sunset or sunrise.

Entrada sandstone is made of sandstone layers - some softer than others.  The harder, better cemented layers resist erosion and therefore provide the "caps" to many of these forms.

This magical area almost feels like a playground as you go from one formation to another; one view of a monolith looks totally different after you walk around to the other side of it.  

Photography advice:  "Golden Hour" light is the best for Devil's Garden photography.  The soft light an hour before sunset or an hour after sunrise makes light easier to work with, since it's diffused.  Subjects get more even lighting.  You need a 24mm lens in order to have a wide enough image to capture the entire Metate Arch.

Unless you're lucky, it may take multiple times visiting Devil's Garden to get a great shot because the light changes so quickly.

Monolith in Devils Garden.

Is it a Bridge or an Arch?
I also photographed Escalante Natural Bridge on this trip, along the clear Escalante River, as well as the petroglyphs near the Escalante River trailhead accessed 13 miles east of Escalante on Highway 12. 

A natural bridge is a type of natural arch.  According to the website The Natural Arch and Bridge Society, there's no fundamental difference between a natural bridge and natural arch: "a natural bridge is just one of many types of natural arch. A natural bridge is a type of natural arch where a current of water, such as a stream, clearly was a major agent in the formation of the opening (hole)."

When you see a natural arch, you can consider these five attributes used to classify them, and there's many classification schemes for natural arches.  The observable attributes are (from The Natural Bridge and Arch Society):

• Contextual – aspects of the surroundings in which the natural arch occurs.
• Morphologic – the general shape and orientation of various parts of the natural arch.
• Metric – the size of various parts of the natural arch.
• ​​Geologic – the type(s) of rock and/or geologic formation(s) in which the natural arch occurs.
• Anthropomorphic – actual or perceived relationships between the natural arch and man.

Check out this excellent website to delve further into learning about natural arches and see many photos of a huge variety of arches.

I struggled to set up my tripod amid a vicious swarm of mosquitos, getting bit numerous times.  I hiked up the steep, rocky slope directly under the bridge but they followed me, so I didn't get many images before I was driven out of there.

Autumn would be a good time to photograph Escalante Natural Bridge because of the golden cottonwood trees in front of it.

Keep on Exploring!!

Zebra Slot

Zebra slot

Devils Garden

Above two images:  Hoodoos in Devils Garden

Metate Arch (left) and Tunnel Slot Canyon.
Oil paint filter applied to the arch image captured with my Sony mirrorless camera.

A "pavement" of moqui marbles, iron concretions that have weathered out of sandstone.
Concretions form when minerals like iron oxide (hematite) that are carried through the porous sandstone by groundwater precipitate and form concentric layers around a sand grain.

Escalante Natural Bridge
Captured with Sony alpha a7c mirrorless, full frame camera.

A bit too late to capture the setting in the middle of these hoodoos in Devils Garden.

Metate Arch at sunset.

Petroglyph panel near the 100 hands pictograph, accessed from Escalante River Trailhead, 13 miles east of Escalante on Highway 12.
The line with the circle around it appearing to be attached to the arm of the left-most figure may be an atlatl or spear thrower, man's first efficient hunting weapon.  The use of the atlatl continued until ~ 500 A.D. in the southwest.  The circle depicted the hand grip. 
Source:  Rock Art Symbols of the Greater Southwest by Alex Patterson.

Liz and Fred near petroglyph panel, east of Escalante, Utah.

Mike heading to Escalante Natural Bridge along the Escalante River.

Along the Escalante River.

Escalante Natural Bridge, an easy walk from the Escalante River Trailhead, on Highway 12.

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