Lick Wash & Park Wash

Lick Wash cuts through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in white and cream-colored Navajo sandstone, narrowing into tight passages before opening into a broader canyon lined with tall pines under 600- to 800-foot cliffs. After a couple of miles the canyon meets Park Wash, and from there a rough, eroded goat trail climbs to the base of No Mans Mesa.

Route and hazards

• Roughly 9 miles round trip through Lick Wash alone; farther if continuing to Park Wash or the mesa approach
• Flash-flood danger in the narrows — check the forecast before dropping in
• Little shade once out of the canyon; heat and dehydration are the real risk beyond the narrows

No permit is required for day hiking this route, and there's no maintained tread once you're following the wash bottom — this is a canyon-country hike for people comfortable navigating by terrain rather than trail markers.