Wild Lands of the West | The BLM, National Geographic Magazine: Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument
Morning fog fills a canyon below sheer sandstone cliffs of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Utah. The rugged and unique terrain of arches, plateaus, multi-colored cliffs, plateaus, mesas, buttes, pinnacles, and colorful canyon walls covers 1.7 million acres. The highest point is the Kaiparowits Plateau, an 800,000-acre region that forms the wildest, most arid, and most remote part of the Monument.
Grand Staircase is the largest of the 13 National Monuments that were designated by President Bill Clinton and Department of the Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt.