The Hole-in-the-Rock Trail today may be (arbitrarily) separated into three sections:
1. Escalante, Garfield County, to the actual “Hole-in-the-Rock.” This “hole” was a steep natural crevasse, or notch, through the sandstone down to the Colorado River.
2. The next leg or segment of the journey came after descending to and crossing the Colorado River. This forbidding route ran up through nearly impassable land to Salvation Knoll, where scouts could finally see some landmarks to get their bearings.
3. The final segment of the journey took them down through Snow Flat to Comb Ridge and up over San Juan Hill to what is now Bluff, San Juan County.
The first section, from Escalante to the Colorado River, is a stretch of about 60 miles. The route follows a relatively easy path past Dance Hall Rock to a point several miles before reaching the actual notch in the rock, or "Hole-in-the-Rock," which descends to the river. Presently, it is possible to drive to the Hole-in-the-Rock site.
The last several miles require a high-clearance vehicle. Four-wheel-drive is nearly essential. It is no longer possible to take any vehicles further down through the actual channel or Hole-in-the-Rock to the Colorado River (as shown in these images). One may make the descent to the river (now Lake Powell) on foot, but even that is challenging for most and not possible for many. Contemplating the actual event of pioneers taking wagons down through that steep, narrow chute is hard to imagine.
Kenneth R. Mays is a board member of the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation and has also been an instructor in the LDS Church’s Department of Seminaries and Institutes for more than 35 years.