Hello!
Here is your location guide! I split it up into a category on lodging and one on ceremony & adventure day spots!
Weather Information
LODGING
Boulder CAve House
Location: Outside of Boulder
Information: 4WD & decent clearance required. Could be a fun spot for the two of you to stay before or after the wedding day. Would also like to look into the possibility of their public land access if you were interested in staying here, as there could be somewhere cool nearby on the Burr trail to have the ceremony! I loved this spot for an option for getting ready photos, or a slow morning the day after drinking coffee/getting some relaxed shots and then heading out for our adventure.
Kiva Kottage
Location: Between Boulder and Escalante
Information: Located on-site at Kive Koffeehouse, which I’m going to include below as a ceremony option. The coffee is great, and the views are stunning. This is just a couple miles from Lower Calf Creek Falls, if you’re familiar with that spot!
Escalante Cliff House
Location: Near Escalante, Utah. 5 hours from SLC
Information: Escalante Cliff House makes for a great option if you want your guests to stay in one area. They also allow ceremonies to happen on site, so could be a good option if you want something easy but beautiful for your ceremony, and then we can focus on the big adventure we plan for the day after!
Yonder Camp Escalante
Location: Escalante
Information: A new and cute lodging spot in Escalante. Wasn’t sure if you wanted to stick closer to Boulder, but wanted to include this as an option where everyone could be in one area, but have private lodging.
Additional lodging options. These are things that are a little more traditional in Boulder that I’ve stayed at that I’d reccomend:
LOCATIONS
Coyote Gulch
Information: Of course this is the first thing that came to mind when you guys were wanting to have more of an adventurous hike the day after your wedding. I’d be more than open to either a long day hike, or doing an over night to have a more leisurely trip. I think this could be an amazing way to spend your first day married! From what I have in my notes, you guys have done this hike? If not, I can start delving more into the logistics of what this would look like. However, I’m fully prepared with backpacking gear and a 4WD truck.
Singing Canyon
Location: A couple miles outside of Boulder
Information: Off of a well maintained dirt road, this canyon is not very deep in terms of how far back it goes, but is very majestic feeling in terms of height and width. Permits are required to have a ceremony here, so we can tackle that together if this spot speaks to you guys. I think in terms of ease of access (a 2-5 minute walk in) and how grand the views are, it’s one the best spots in the whole region. Bonus points, it’s a quick 20 minute drive from Hell’s Backbone for dinner.
Devil’s GArden
Location: Near Escalante
Information: I love that you guys already had your eyes on this! From my research, it looks like an ideal spot in terms of beauty vs. difficulty of access, which as you guys know is always tough to balance in the Escalante region. From what I can gather, this is a BLM area, not a part of the monument, so I have begun the process of figuring out who we would need to obtain a permit from. Typically with BLM land, a permit is not needed at all, but I’d still like to check off all of our boxes just to make sure. I love that this area is really walkabout/explorable, we could spend some time here just us before or after the ceremony, just walking around and exploring. This and Singing Canyon would be my top choices for the ceremony, as they both allow you to have some dirt road and hiking experience while still making it accessible for your guests.
Kive Koffehouse
Location: Between Boulder and Escalante
Information: This spot offers ceremonies in their dirt parking lot, that overlooks into a really beautiful section of canyons/cliff walls. This is what comes to mind if we are needing to find somewhere that people can pull up, park, and be at the ceremony spot, while still feeling fairly “wild” because of the views. The shop closes at 4, so there is still privacy.
Cosmic Ashtray
Location: Near Escalante
Information: This is another spot that I think would make for a killer adventure the day after the wedding! I have read extensively about this hike, but have not done it yet, so I would make sure to have done it at least once before we go out there. It does seem like it’s very exposed and requires decent route-finding skills/GPS, so we would just need to be aware of that. This is not a spot I would recommend to anyone other than people who are familiar with the area, in order to keep some of these quiet gems just that- quiet. :)
If we did this as a day hike, I could help pack out your dress clothes if you were wanting to be photographed in them out here.
Honorable Mentions
Other Day After Ideas: Excursions of Escalante (slot canyon tour), Escalante Natural Bridge, Golden Cathedral