On Saturday, October 10, I ran the Escalante Canyons Marathon—a tough, mountainous course that goes from Boulder, Utah, to Escalante, Utah. We took advantage of the race to make a weekend of it. From the “home base” of our cabin in Escalante, we hiked in Escalante Petrified Forest State Park (which was disappointing) and Lower Calf Creek Falls (which wasn’t).

The trail starts at the Calf Creek Campground on Highway 12, and is an almost six-mile round trip. Much of the trail is sandy, so gaiters are helpful. The payoff at the end, the waterfall itself, was well worth the trip.

By the way, there is an Upper Calf Creek Falls, but you have to take a different route to get there. We didn’t have time to do both, but this won’t be our last trip to this beautiful area.