Fortymile Gulch

not verifiedpermit verified 2026-08-15 Ungraded Unknown flood risk Escalante, UT

The northern branch of a 20 plus mile system shared with Willow Gulch, cut as much as 500 feet into sandstone below the Straight Cliffs, narrowing into slots and pools before it reaches the Escalante.

Fortymile and Willow are usually walked together and Willow carries the headline features: Broken Bow Arch about a mile below the Hole-in-the-Rock Road trailhead, roughly 94 feet wide and 100 feet high, and the Sooner Rocks domes at the head of one branch. Below the arch the canyon squeezes down and runs through a deep pool. How much canyon exists at the bottom end depends entirely on Lake Powell, which floods and drains the lower reaches with the reservoir, so a trip report from one water year describes different ground than another; check the current lake elevation before you trust anyone's mileage. Fortymile Springs was the winter camp of the 1879 San Juan Expedition while a scouting party worked out the route down to Hole-in-the-Rock, and the Entrada dome of Dance Hall Rock sits nearby. RopeWiki grades it 2B and carries no route description of its own.

Logistics

Manager	BLM Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Permit	Monument wide rule, not a canyon specific finding. BLM requires a free permit for all overnight stays anywhere in Grand Staircase-Escalante, self issued at developed trailheads or at the Escalante, Cannonville, Kanab and Big Water visitor centers. Day use by a private party requires no permit: BLM issues Special Recreation Permits for commercial use, competitive events, organized groups and recreation events, none of which covers a private party descending a canyon. The lottery permits BLM lists alongside the monument, Coyote Buttes North and Paria Canyon, are Vermilion Cliffs units administered from Kanab and do not apply here.
Technical	longest 0 ft
Coordinates	37.3336, -110.9915

Fortymile Gulch

Logistics

Sources