Soon thereafter the road begins a steady descent, and the broad drainage of Harris Wash comes into view in the middle distance, with the slickrock landscape of the Escalante canyons, the Circle Cliffs, and the Henry Mountains rising in the distance. Assess any flood damage to the road before proceeding. Hikers arriving late in the day will find a few undeveloped campsites en route to the trailhead. Get Adobe Acrobat. This beautiful canyon, part of the route of the Halls Crossing wagon road between 1881 and 1884, affords an excellent destination for a backpack of three to four days.
Hikers here can expect a good degree of solitude.
Harris Wash is comparable to Coyote Gulch in other ways. Although there are no arches or bridges here, the wash has carved a serpentine gorge through the resistant Navajo Sandstone, featuring a continuum of tremendous vaulting cliffs and alcoves around nearly every bend of the canyon. Indeed, Harris Wash is a canyon of alcoves, many of which afford excellent, shady places to camp. The perennial stream in Harris Wash runs clear, except of course following periods of heavy rain and runoff. Harris Wash drains a vast area of the Straight Cliffs south of the town of Escalante, and the potential for severe flash floods is great.