Devils Garden Outstanding Natural Area — Hoodoo and Arch Playground on Hole-in-the-Rock Road

Devils Garden sits about 12.6 miles down Hole-in-the-Rock Road from Highway 12. It is a short walk-around playground of sandstone hoodoos, small arches, fins and goblin-shaped rocks, all set in a sandy basin. The day-use area has a picnic area with tables, shade structures and a vault toilet. There’s no water, so bring your own. No fee, no permit for day use, and you can wander the formations on foot for as long as you like. Metolius Arch and Mouse Arch are the local favorites. Sunrise and late afternoon light make the place glow, and midday crowds thin out by evening.

The road in is graded dirt and usually fine for careful high-clearance rigs when dry. Washboard can rattle everything loose, and after rain the clay sections turn greasy and impassable. Cell service is gone almost as soon as you leave pavement. Check current BLM rules before planning an overnight here, since this is a day-use area. Fill up and top off water in Escalante first, because the next 40-plus miles toward Hole-in-the-Rock are remote. Have a dirty day.

Hoodoos and arches, twelve miles off the pavement.