Spring 2026 - Idaho, Utah, Arizona, 5.2.26 - 5.27.26, Part 9: The Paria Plateau

If you read my last report (Part 8: South Coyote Buttes), you have a rough idea of where the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument and the Paria Plateau are located. Here is a map of the entire plateau.

Since we did not end up traveling to the south end of the plateau, this second map is zoomed in a bit to show some details.

I want to point out a few key spots on this map. The access road we used to get to South Coyote Buttes comes off the left side of the map near the middle of the photo. We took the first road you see going north to the upper left corner which is where South Coyote Buttes is located. If we had gone a bit further before turning north, turning left at Pine Tree Pockets would have taken us to White Pocket. Other than those places, the rest of the entire remaining Paria Plateau is almost completely unexplored. This vast area is all but unknown to the masses. There is almost no information on the area that can be found on the internet and searches mainly come up empty. So how did I find out about it and why were we planning to go there?

After having explored both White Pocket and South Coyote Buttes I was intrigued with just how much of the plateau was unknown to me. One fateful day I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and came across a man who posted a few photos from a place called Middle Reservoir. It looked really nice with a large area of multi-colored brain rock. I began to study my map and found this place to be just about dead-center on the Paria Plateau. I researched for over a year and slowly discovered that there is a plethora of cool stuff beyond South Coyote Buttes and White Pocket that no one seems to go to at all. But why? My best guess, and I am including myself in this assumption, is that most people fear the unknown. The roads to White Pocket and South Coyote Buttes can be easily driven with a stock 4WD vehicle, but can also have times when deep rutted sand can be encountered. Conditions on these roads are constantly changing. Getting stuck on the way to these places can be extremely costly at the very least, or even deadly if you’re unprepared for it.

I inquired with a couple of friends to see if they had an interest in going out there to explore this vast empty plateau and got a resounding “Hell no”. I certainly didn’t want to go out there alone so I reached out to Darren who immediately loved the sound of the idea and signed on. This was a year ago. In the interim I reached out to the person that posted the photos. He gave me some valuable information which led me to a different guy who had posted some very informative videos on YouTube. Both of them said I needed to get a book by MIchael Kelsey called Hiking and Exploring the Paria River. This book had hand drawn detailed maps and great information about a large area including the Paria Plateau. Now I was getting somewhere!

I learned that the southern rim of the plateau called Soap Creek Pasture was incredibly interesting but also had the deepest sand roads on the entire plateau. Kelsey stated in his book that the area around Middle Reservoir might be the third coolest spot on the plateau. I have to assume that the first and second would be South Coyote Buttes and White Pocket. The original guy who posted on Facebook told me of an area of cool domes way up north so bit by bit I developed a list of some very intriguing spots to explore. Either by indifference or perhaps because I was asking too many questions, the only two guys I could find that had been out there both basically said, “Just do what I did. Go out there and just explore”! Clearly they didn’t know how much of a detail hound I am. I like to know what to expect and on a trip to a place as remote and wild as this, I didn’t want to leave things up to chance.

I determined that my original plan of action for the Paria Plateau was too ambitious. The area is so big I couldn’t possibly see all I wanted to see in one trip. I scrapped the idea of going to the south end and exploring Soap Creek Pasture. That would have to wait for another time. Instead, I hoped to drive in to Middle Reservoir, continue way to the north to see the cool domes up there and then drive back to Middle Reservoir to spend the night. The next day we would take a different route back out, seeing a few things along the way. There were still a lot of unknowns but I now had a specific plan. I calculated the mileages and created routes on Gaia that I downloaded for offline use. And now the time had come to execute the plan.

On the morning of May 21st, we set out in both Jeeps. Back down 89A, back up House Rock Valley Road to Road 1017. Once again aired down we took 1017 beyond the turnoff for South Coyote Buttes and at 6.2 miles we came to Pine Tree Pockets. We had both driven this far before. Turning north here on a different road would have taken us back to White Pocket but we had grander visions. With my heart a-thumping, we forged straight ahead leaving the rest of the world behind and plunged into the unknown. We would not see or hear another person or vehicle until we got back.

The Paria Plateau has a lot of ranching history so there are actually plenty of old jeep roads that criss cross the plateau. We followed our track mostly through scrubby sage and pinyon. Heading east and then curving a bit to the south, we started on Road 1105 and turned off on 1107. The roads sometimes matched our map and sometimes didn’t. After about three turns we began to head into an area on the map called Pinnacle Valley. True to its name, the scenery began to get more interesting. Rock outcroppings began to pop up on both sides of the road. A big rock mound covered in grey brain rock rose across a field and we almost stopped to hike over to it. Pinnacle Valley led to Cathedral Valley and we slowly worked our way up towards Middle Reservoir. So far the roads were fine. There were a few sections with some deeper sand but nothing as bad as the road to White Pocket. By driving steadily and keeping the foot on the gas it was easy to get through any sandy sections.

**Lots of cool rock outcroppings through Pinnacle Valley**

We came to an old ranch at a T junction with the Bush Head Road. Turning left and going through one of several gates, we proceeded in a northeasterly direction until we came to the turnoff for a little side road that would lead to Middle Reservoir. At each gate, since I was leading, Bridgit The Gatekeeper would hop out, unlatch the gate and swing it open. Darren and I would drive through and she would then re-latch the gate and hop back in the Jeep. Now we were heading due north past Little Knoll. Following the route on Gaia, we discovered that the road we wanted to take didn’t even exist anymore. This happened a couple of times during this two day exploration but it was easy enough to find ways around to continue where we wanted to go. We drove a really long way to the farthest north any road goes on the plateau and parked at the top point of the road. From here we could see some domes up ahead across the barren desert and even the top of the crack that was Buckskin Gulch in the distance. This was really way out there. The reason we had driven all the way up here was to see if we could explore the domes I had seen a photo of. I had also seen one of the other guy’s videos where he explored this area and came up with his own name - The Domes of the Gnomes.

And now we come to the part of the story where I made my dumbest move of the trip. I had analyzed the heck out of this spot and knew exactly what I needed to do to get to the Domes of the Gnomes. I had a good map, I had an accurate route downloaded on Gaia, I had visuals. But for some reason, I didn’t utilize any of that information. I must have been so excited that we had even made it this far and that we could see domes in the distance across the desert that I completely blanked out on using the tools I had prepared. Off we went, trudging through the sage, no trail of any kind.

When we got to the domes, we wandered through them a bit and then climbed a small sand hill. I expected to see the main set of domes just over this hill but when I topped out there was nothing but desert beyond. For a second I was was confused but then all my research came flooding back to me. We had completely missed our mark! This was not the Domes of the Gnomes at all. If I had even once looked at my Gaia route I would have known we should have started our hike aiming further to the northwest. I could now see where the Domes of the Gnomes were but they looked a long way away. If we had headed in the right direction to begin with it wouldn’t have been much further but to get there from where we were would now involve working a long detour around the end of a large chasm called Fourth Crack. If I had paid attention, we would have hiked to right in between Fourth Crack and Third Crack. I felt like I had failed the team. Luckily we hadn’t hiked too awfully far but the rocks we had hiked to weren’t anything amazing. There was one other purpose for coming all this way up north. I had hoped that at the Domes of the Gnomes we would be able to get all the way to the south rim of Buckskin Gulch and possibly look down and see the river. From where we had ended up hiking to, the rim didn’t look all that far away so while the girls hung out in the shade of the rocks, Darren and I plowed across the desert once more, this time heading slightly northeast about ¾ of a mile until we came to an incredible vantage point. We were right on the south rim at a spot where the Paria River emerges from the narrow confines of Buckskin Gulch. We could see down to the river and a way up and down Buckskin Gulch. We were just west of a spot where there is a backcountry camp down at the river. This spot on the river also has a place where there is an escape route up and out of the canyon past Wrather Arch. I think I could see the bottom of the escape route but couldn’t be sure.

**The Paria River from the rocks we had hiked to**

We didn’t linger too long. We hiked back to the girls and the four of us made our way back to the Jeeps. Darren and I ended up hiking about three miles total. Looking back I could see where I screwed up. The Domes of the Gnomes can’t be seen from the parking spot. There is a hill you must climb over first to get to them. I knew all this beforehand but shake my head as to why I din’t follow my own plan. Oh well, at least we didn’t get bitten by a rattlesnake.

Looking back from the parking spot. We hiked to the rocks on the right. Domes of the Gnomes would be over the hill beyond the green tree. It doesn’t look that far but there is a very long and deep chasm between the two.

Leaving the north rim, we drove back the same way we had come in. When we got back to the turnoff to Middle Reservoir we turned left and after a very short distance we had arrived at Middle Reservoir. I’m sure the others were wondering why I chose this spot to camp. We pulled in to a flat area with a huge old rusty water tank and a very tall wind vane. The breezes were picking up and every time a breeze hit the vane it would slightly move, emanating an eerie banshee sounding groan which was creepy in the most old west romantic way possible. Ah, but when we got out of the Jeeps and walked to the edge of the hill, there below us was a vast area completely filled with brilliant orange, grey and white brain rock. This was the area I had seen a photo of and now it looked bigger and more impressive than I had even imagined.

**Our camp at Middle Reservoir. The brain rock is just beyond the trees and down a little hill.**

We set up our tents at the rim of the hill and broke out the camp chairs and snacks. I couldn’t sit still long so Darren and I dropped down the hill to explore the brain rock. On the north end of our camp was a small hill that led down to a barb-wire gate. Going through the gate we immediately transitioned onto grey brain rock. The north end also had a large area of green marshy looking grass. This is normally filled with water and thus the name Middle Reservoir. I was really hoping it would have water in it for reflection shots but this has been a really dry year and Middle Reservoir was bone-dry.

Darren and I were like kids in a candy store wandering through this area. It was quite large and roughly rectangular. We hiked along the brain rock to the south. There were tons of moqui marbles all over the place. These are round black balls of sandstone surrounded by iron-oxide. They were mostly about an inch in diameter. However, something I had never before seen anywhere else was that most of these were double moqui marbles fused together. I have no idea how these were formed or why only in this place were they doubled. If any geologists are out there reading this that know how these were formed, please let me know!

All along the front of the brain rock were lower more greyish rocks. Behind these were much taller mounds of bright orange brain rock, providing outstanding contrast. From a higher spot we could see an entirely different area of brain rock off in the distance but it was too far to walk to. We wandered all over as I scouted out spots for another session closer to sunset before heading back to camp. After dinner we waited until about an hour before sunset and went down for another round of photos. The light was just fantastic and I was very pleased with how some of these shots turned out.

**Middle Reservoir. The green area on the left is usually filled with water.**

I was up for sunrise but so satisfied with my sunset photo session I just didn’t have a burning urge to do a sunrise wander down in the brain rock. I think it is mostly a sunset spot anyway although there are ample opportunities for good sunrise shots there as well for any photo hounds that are thinking of heading out there.

We packed up and left Middle Reservoir at seven-thirty to head back to Kanab. Since we were in no hurry, I wanted to check out a couple of other spots I had read about in Kelsey’s book along the way. To get to the first one we went out to the Bush Head Road and started north on the same route we had been on the day before to get to the Domes of the Gnomes only this time, as soon as we got north of Little Knoll we parked near the south end of an unnamed butte 6,251’. A half mile hike straight across the sage took us to a sunken depression and a brilliant orange dome nestled in the bottom with a cap. Kelsey had thought this cap looked like an upside-down cowboy hat so he named it “The Cowboy Hat”.

**The Cowboy Hat and a couple of cowboys**

From the Cowboy Hat we backtracked a short way and turned west onto Road 1106 which took us around the south end of Little Knoll. A few miles down this road we came to an area known as Big Sink. I had also wanted to stop here after seeing a photo in Kelsey’s book. We spotted some interesting looking grey hoodoos just north of the road so we parked and Darren and I trudged up through the sage and under a fence to get there. It turned out to be a really cool area of flat grey rock covered with pinnacles and water pockets (dry). It wasn’t an extremely large area so we circumnavigated the entire area before heading back to the Jeeps.

After Big Sink we slowly worked our way further west until we came to a junction with the road that goes to White Pocket. As we drove from Big Sink I couldn’t help but marvel at how much cool scenery we had seen and that we had barely scratched the surface of what the Paria Plateau has to offer. There are just a ton of cool rock formations and so much to see. It still amazes me that this is still a truly undiscovered gem. I sometimes worry about reporting on these kinds of places but in truth, very few people would have the means to drive out to some of the places we go. Darren was particularly smitten with the Paria Plateau and is already pressing me to go back so we can finish the Domes of the Gnomes properly and also camp down by Soap Creek Pasture. We want to get to the south rim of the plateau and look straight down 3,000’ to Lee’s Ferry and Cliff Dwellers off 89A. He won’t have to twist my arm very hard for me to capitulate.

**Your fearless leader plying the roads of the Paria Plateau (Debbie pic)**

**Blazing a trail through the Paria Plateau (Debbie pic)**

Having not seen one person since the start of this trip the day before, it was a bit of a letdown to arrive at the junction with the road to White Pocket. It was about nine-thirty in the morning and as we turned south to head back to Pine Tree Pocket, we had to pull over for several big vehicles from guided tour companies taking their clients up to White Pocket. I guess I half expected that so it wasn’t too surprising.

The four days with Darren and Debbie were really great. I got the impression they don’t know too many other couples that are willing to adventure like Bridgit and I do. We seem to be kindred spirits in the gusto for life department and we had a blast. Now I can’t wait to go back there for more!

Spring 2026 - Idaho, Utah, Arizona, 5.2.26 - 5.27.26, Part 9: The Paria Plateau

Spring 2026 - Idaho, Utah, Arizona, 5.2.26 - 5.27.26, Part 8: Double Barrel Arch, South Coyote Buttes

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