These snow-white rock towers in Utah’s desert look like another planet

They’re called the Towers of Silence

Deep in southern Utah, white rock spires rise from a desert canyon like something from a science fiction film. Dark brown stones sit on top of each one, balancing there as if someone placed them by hand.

These are the Wahweap Hoodoos, tucked inside Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument near the tiny town of Big Water. No permits.

No reservations. No entrance fee.

You just have to be willing to walk nine miles round trip through a dry creek bed to reach them. The payoff sits at the end of that creek, and it gets stranger the closer you get.

The name means "bitter water" in Paiute

The word Wahweap comes from the Paiute language, a nod to the alkaline seeps that run through the canyon. The white pillars are made of Entrada Sandstone, about 160 million years old.

The dark caps on top are Dakota Sandstone, closer to 100 million years old. That harder capstone acts like an umbrella.

It shields the softer rock below from wind and rain, and over millions of years, the exposed stone wears away while the protected columns hold their shape.

The whole formation sits inside a monument that covers nearly 1. 87 million acres, established in 1996.

Three separate groups line the canyon wall

The hoodoos break into three clusters along the west side of the canyon, each one tucked into its own cove.

The first group, sometimes called the White Hoodoo, sits right above the creek bed with scattered towers climbing the steep cliffs at different heights.

The second, known as Hoodoo Central, fills a wide cove with dozens of pillar shapes and toadstool-like balanced rocks you can walk among.

The third and final group is the Towers of Silence, the most photographed of all. You can reach all three in a single hike.

The Towers of Silence glow at sunrise

The Towers of Silence are tall, tapering white spires topped with reddish-brown capstones. Some of these hoodoos rise more than 30 feet.

They stand in a sheltered alcove surrounded by rippled sheets of white sandstone that look almost melted from millions of years of water and wind.

Others stand only a few inches tall. According to local tradition, the Paiute people believed hoodoos were the remains of people turned to stone.

Morning light hits the east-facing towers and makes them glow against the shadowed cliffs behind them.

You follow a dry creek bed for 4.5 miles

There is no marked trail. You follow the broad, mostly dry bed of Wahweap Creek north from the trailhead near Big Water.

The terrain stays flat and sandy, with only about 240 to 300 feet of elevation gain across the whole route.

The first hoodoos come into view after about three miles, and you reach the Towers of Silence around the 4.5-mile mark.

Most people finish the full nine-mile round trip in four to five hours, with extra time built in for wandering around the formations and taking photos.

Sand, gravel, and zero shade the whole way

The creek bed is a mix of sand, gravel, and smooth river stones, so the footing can be uneven. After rain, patches of mud and standing water can make the ground slippery.

There is no shade on this hike, not a single tree or overhang, so you walk fully exposed to the sun the entire time.

Cell service is limited to nonexistent out here, so download a trail map to your phone before you leave and bring a GPS device.

There are no trail markers to guide you.

Watch your step on the colorful desert floor

The ground near the hoodoos surprises you.

Streaks of green, purple, orange, and cream cut through the sandstone, and water has carved the soft Entrada rock into grooves and flowing shapes.

Cryptobiotic soil crust, a living layer of cyanobacteria, lichens, and mosses, holds the soil together. A single footstep can destroy crust that took 50 years or more to form.

Stay on the creek bed and existing paths to keep this ecosystem intact.

Nine miles keeps the crowds away

The Wahweap Hoodoos remain one of the least visited major rock formations in southern Utah.

That nine-mile round trip filters out the casual crowd, so you may hike the whole route and see no one. No permits, no reservations, no entrance fees.

The Bureau of Land Management manages the area as part of a Wilderness Study Area. The quiet is real out here.

If you want a stretch of desert to yourself, with no one in sight and no sound but your own footsteps in the sand, this is where you find it.

A gravel road leads to the trailhead

The trailhead sits about three miles north of Big Water, Utah, off Highway 89.

From town, you turn north on Ethan Allen Road, then left onto Fish Hatchery Road, a graded gravel surface.

Big Water sits about 20 minutes northwest of Page, Ariz., and roughly an hour east of Kanab, Utah. You pass fish hatcheries and a corral before the road reaches Wahweap Creek.

If you drive a standard car, park before the creek crossing. A high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicle can continue about three-quarters of a mile farther.

Flash floods and rattlesnakes are real risks

Flash floods hit this area, especially during the monsoon season from July through September. If rain shows up in the forecast or water is running high in the wash, do not go in.

Rattlesnakes live along the route. There are no bathrooms, no water sources, and no emergency services anywhere on the trail.

Carry at least three liters of water per person, pack sun protection, bring food, and have a first aid kit with you. This hike rewards preparation and punishes shortcuts.

Morning light and shapes that look almost liquid

The white sandstone formations look like nothing else in the Southwest. The swirling patterns on the white rock look almost liquid, as if the stone is still moving.

Erosion has carved some into broad, mushroom-shaped toadstools and others into impossibly thin, towering spires.

Morning is the best time to go, when the east-facing hoodoos catch the first light. And these formations are extremely fragile.

Do not touch or climb on them. The same softness that created their shapes makes them easy to damage.

Dinosaurs, slot canyons, and the last mapped land in America

Grand Staircase-Escalante was the last area to be mapped in the lower 48 states. The monument holds slot canyons, petrified forests, waterfalls, and ancient rock art.

Nearby, the Toadstool Hoodoos give you a shorter, easier hike to similar but smaller formations right off Highway 89.

The Big Water Visitor Center, across the highway from the Ethan Allen Road turnoff, has dinosaur fossil exhibits from the monument.

Since 2005, fourteen new dinosaur species have been named from fossils found here, making it one of the most productive sites for dinosaur discovery in North America.

Visit the Wahweap Hoodoos near Big Water, Utah

You can reach the trailhead from Big Water, Utah, inside Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

The turnoff is on Ethan Allen Road, directly across Highway 89 from the BLM Visitor Center at 100 Upper Revolution Way. No permits, reservations, or fees to hike.

Stop at the Big Water Visitor Center first for current trail conditions, maps, and directions. The center is open Thursday through Monday, with hours varying by season, and closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

Page, Ariz., is about 20 minutes southeast, and Kanab, Utah, is roughly an hour west on Highway 89.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• Utah’s tiniest town sits between three national lands and one legendary meal
• Utah’s most jaw-dropping overlook has no railings, no crowds, and a 1,000-foot drop
• Your next roadtrip should be this wind-swept Victorian seaport in Washington frozen in the 1890’s