When touring a national monument the size of Grand Staircase-Escalante, figuring out where to start can be a challenge. Erik Balken, a Salt Lake City-based skier and conservationist, leans on the expertise of a local guide to get a proper sense of the nearly 2 million acres of protected lands sprawling across southern Utah. Join Balken and Guide Jeff Sanders of outfitter Desert Dawn as the duo touches base in the nearby gateway town of Boulder before hiking through a remote landscape with a huge diversity of rock formations and varied terrain—from high desert to deep slot canyons and hidden waterfalls. “We have opportunities to explore in solitude,” Sanders says; this video is all the proof you need. This video was produced in partnership with Visit Utah