After spending the morning exploring the stunning Kodachrome Basin State Park, we drove out to nearby Grosvenor Arch. The drive out to the arch through rugged Cottonwood Canyon was beautiful — it felt wide open and totally remote but in reality, Grosvenor Arch is located only 11 miles southeast of Kodachrome Basin State Park between Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks.
When we pulled into the Grosvenor Arch parking area, we could see the stunning double arch in the distance. All of our tummies were seriously growling through, so we grabbed a picnic table and enjoyed a picnic lunch… I just wish there was a little shade because it was HOT!
Visiting Grosvenor Arch
Grosvenor Arch is one of the largest sandstone arch formations within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and one of Utah’s most impressive arches.
Grosvenor Arch was named after National Geographic Society president Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor (1875–1966), who became the first full-time editor of the National Geographic magazine. Towering 150 feet above the ground on the edge of a sandstone ridge, it is a double arch with two separate windows — the largest spanning nearly 100 feet.
Grosvenor Arch Day Use Site has a small picnic area, a vault restroom, and a 0.25 mile handicap accessible concrete path that stretches almost all the way to the arch. At the end of the concrete path, you can keep walking in the dirt right up underneath the arches — it’s an incredible experience to stand directly under the arches and look up to the sky!
What was really beautiful though was the coloring of the stone. Unlike many of the other arches we have seen in Utah — many of which are reddish in color — Grosvenor Arch is a whiteish-tan color that looks almost yellow in the sunlight. The stone is called Henrieville Sandstone and it was deposited near the end of the Jurassic Period.
Know Before You Go
- Grosvenor Arch is located in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Kane County, Utah 84718.
- To reach Grosvenor Arch, take Utah State Route 12 south of Cannonville for about 9.0 miles to the Kodachrome Basin State Park turnoff. Continue on Cottonwood Canyon Road, a hardpack dirt road, for another 10 miles and look for the Grosvenor Arch sign.
- Parking and access is free year-round. Late spring and early fall are the best times to visit due to the intense summer heat and an impassable dirt road in the winter.
- There is a vault restroom and a few concrete picnic tables near the parking area.
- A campground with basic amenities (restroom, shower, and picnic area) provides a respite beneath this rugged natural wonder.
