Hole-in-the-Rock Road, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Hole-in-the-Rock is the evocative name given by Mormon settlers in 1879 (the San Juan Mission) to a short, steep valley leading towards the Colorado River, the only breach for many miles in the otherwise vertical cliffs of Glen Canyon that constituted an almost impassable barrier between the then unsettled lands in southeast Utah. Even here there was a sheer 45 foot cliff to overcome, and 6 weeks of labour was needed to construct a route down which the wagons of the party could pass. The lower 300 feet are now submerged below the cold waters of Lake Powell but the route to this point survives as the Hole-in-the-Rock road and today this provides easy access to the Escalante River and its western tributaries - the most visited area of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

I'm just glad we didn't have to go through all that hardship!  And to think we complain about pot holes!!  LOL

Aren't the flowers pretty, they were along the trails we walked, it amazes me how anything can grow in this soil.

We drove through the tunnels, there were 2