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Canyons Washed in Colors Nowhere But Here Space Rock Wind Water

Not all of the water runs off slickrock when snows melt or rains fall. Some of it seeps down into the rock, and begins a journey through tiny fracture lines and cracks deep in the sandstone. Water traveling through the rock may emerge hundreds or thousands of feet below, perhaps miles away, as a spring, sometimes as a gushing cascade, but more commonly as a trickle of seeping or dripping water. Navajo sandstone is particularly known for its water-bearing capacities.

Wind-blown dust particles adhere, layer upon layer, to the moist rock; mosses and flowering plants take hold. Maidenhair fern, monkeyflower, alcove-bog orchid, and Navajo sedge cling to the rock wall, creating miniature oases surrounded by barren rock. One can unexpectedly come upon a hanging garden in many canyons, but the Escalante, and its tributary canyons, Upper Paria, and Hackberry Canyons, and Bull Valley Gorge are particularly rich in hanging gardens.

Prince's Plume

Left: The ubiquitous prince's plume can tolerate selenium-rich soils, which are toxic to many other plants. Selenium is often found in the same formations as uranium. Right: Along many canyons in the monument, Woodhouse's Toads find refuge in hanging gardens of maidenhair fern and blooming monkeyflowers.

Woodhouse's Toads