Zebra Canyon, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Utah

This short narrow slot canyon is tucked away off a wide sandy wash several miles from the nearest road in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Over the ages, a small intermittent stream carved down through this vividly-striped layer of Navajo sandstone to produce these marvelous, sensual forms. Many small and intimate gems such as this are scattered throughout the 1.9 million acres of Grand Staircase-Escalante. Back in the 1930s, a truly vast monument, including these canyons, was proposed by the director of the Interior Department and would have extended the entire length of the Colorado River from the Arizona border to Moab. This plan was met with tremendous local opposition and was buried by the onset of WW II. Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument was created by President Clinton in 1996 amid vociferous local opposition. The vast majority of Utahns today have come to appreciate this marvelous region of deep narrow canyons and desert streams.