Kodachrome Basin State Park lies about an hour east of Bryce Canyon a few miles out of Cannonville off Highway 12 in Utah.   We came from Grand Staircase – Escalante and spent the day in the park.   The paved road goes through the Ranger (fee) Station up to a campground.   Along the way are parking areas and trailheads.   We hiked the Panorama Trail in April.

[map style=”width: auto; height:400px; margin:20px 0px 20px 0px; border: 1px solid black;” maptype=”OSM Cycle” gpx=”https://kamloopstrails.net/wp-content/uploads/Panorama Trail.gpx” elevation=”no”]

Within the park are 67 rock spires.     Some geologists believe these sedimentary pipes were the remains of ancient geysers and hotsprings that have had the outer layers eroded away over time.

The trail winds through sandy scrub lands past a number of spires.   Red sandstone cliffs rise above the 5600 foot elevation bench.

The trail winds to a number of interesting features – Ballerina Spire, the Hat Shop, Secret Passage, Cool Cave, White Buffalo, Big Bear Geyser, Mammoth Geyser, Hogan Temple, and Panorama Point in a double loop route, a total of 5.4 miles.

The area begs for more exploration and some photography at sunrise or sunset.   Other trails to be done include Angels Palace, Grand Parade, and Shakespeare Arch/The Sentinel.

We went through the Basin Campground and found 26 sites, some with hookups.   Showers and flush toilets make this campground a good base for more exploration in the Grand Staircase-Escalante area .