Friday, March 31, 2017

Dance Hall Rock - Grand Staircase- Escalante NM


Can you imagine being part of the Morman "Hole In The Rock Expedition" stopping here to rest and then play music and dance in celebration? 


This natural amphitheater with flat dancing surface provided an entertainment location for the tired Mormon travelers that came to settle in Utah.


Most wagon trains had people that could play music.  The would entertain everyone at night.


Accounts relayed from the people that first came here that the sand in this area made travel difficult, requiring wagons to be pulled a 100 feet or so before getting bogged down.  It was necessary to go backwards and take another running start to make it another 100 ft.  They needed to do this through heavy sand areas like at Dance Hall Rock.


These markers with a picture of a covered wagon show the location of where the wagons traveled. 


The Dance Hall Rock is on the southern end of Hole in the rock Road that came across the Colorado River up into southern Utah.


Sandstone here has a number of smaller holes that have eroded over time.  It is one of the best locations in this area to take children as they can hide and climb for hours.

Dance Hall Rock is also one of the few stops that provides pit toilets on the very long Hole In The Rock Road.


Above and below is where water is carving a slot in the sandstone. 



Over thousands of years the slot gets deeper and wider forming the larger slot canyons to the north of Dance Hall Rock.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com





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