Smoky Mountain/Alvey Wash Trail

Smoky Mountain Road runs about 78 miles from Highway 12 west of Escalante to Big Water, climbing the Kaiparowits Plateau behind the Straight Cliffs before dropping toward Lake Powell country. The Escalante-side stretch is known locally as Alvey Wash Road, and it's where Harris Wash begins — up on the plateau it's called Alvey Wash, and the road threads that canyon for its last several miles past cottonwoods and sandy wash bottoms.

Good to know

• This is a high-clearance 4WD route, not a maintained hiking tread — rough, rocky, and remote once past the first few miles
• Impassable when wet, and closed off by snow in winter
• Figure five to six hours to run the full road without stops
• Best suited to experienced backcountry drivers comfortable being far from help