The mostly unpaved Cottonwood Canyon Road is a relatively popular cross-country route through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, starting from US 89 near milepost 18, and eventually leading past Kodachrome Basin State Park to Cannonville on UT 12. Some sections of the road are rather steep and narrow, with overhanging rocks, but 2WD cars usually can make the 47 mile journey although for a few hours after heavy rains the route may be impassable even by 4WD vehicles. The surrounding land has much of interest to explore; slot canyons, arches, springs and endless colorful, eroded rocky scenery. We drove the road from North to South.
Grosvenor Arch - 17 miles from in from Cannonville is the turn off to Grosvenor Arch, the prime natural feature along the Cottonwood Canyon Road. This is a large, spectacular double arch at the end of an isolated ridge of yellowish-white Henrieville sandstone, and is one of the most photographed places in the national monument.
Cottonwood Wash Narrows - After a lengthy stretch along the main valley, the creek takes an abrupt turn west and thereafter flows through a much narrower canyon; This is where we started our hike into the Cottonwood Wash Narrows.
The road continues north between ridges of The Coxcomb. The Coxcomb - an elongated series of ridges running along the valley, created by erosion of upwardly-pointing folded rock layers. The rocks at either side have strange faded whitish-grey colours; steep, tilted cliffs again with almost no trees or bushes
There is a general air of remoteness, only slightly spoilt by rather conspicuous telephone wires that run alongside the course of the creek, which is dry for most of the year.
Mollys Nipple - is a mountain summit in Davis County in the state of Utah (UT). Mollys Nipple climbs to 5,328 feet (1,623.97 meters) above sea level. Mollys Nipple is located at latitude - longitude coordinates (also called lat - long coordinates or GPS coordinates) of N 40.874943 and W -112.188002. Anyone attempting to climb Mollys Nipple and reach the summit should look for detailed information on the Mollys Nipple area in the topographic map (topo map) and the Antelope Island South USGS quad.
