Published by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1983 using survey data from 1964, “Escalante” presents a precise and evocative portrait of one of southern Utah’s most storied landscapes. At 1:24,000 scale, the map captures the town of Escalante and its surrounding terrain with the clarity and authority associated with USGS topographic mapping. This is a landscape of transition: settlement giving way to canyon country, cultivated or traveled ground dissolving into arid uplands, washes, ridges, and open desert. The map records a moment before later waves of tourism, conservation, and infrastructure reshaped public understanding of the region. Its careful contours, roads, drainage lines, and land-cover colors make it both a technical document and a historical snapshot of mid-twentieth-century Utah.

Escalante itself appears as the central human landmark, a small but historically resonant town founded in the nineteenth century and named for the Franciscan explorer Silvestre Vélez de Escalante. The settlement occupies a strategic position near the Escalante River, long an essential corridor through this rugged country. On the map, roads and tracks show the practical geography of access: routes connecting town, valley, ranchland, and surrounding high ground. The presence of designated roads, scattered place names, and developed areas hints at the rhythms of rural life in Garfield County during the 1960s. Rather than depicting a wilderness untouched by people, the map reveals a lived-in edge country, where agriculture, travel, grazing, and exploration intersect with a dramatic natural setting.

The topographic language of the map is especially compelling. Dense contour lines model the rise and fall of the Escalante region, making visible the hills, valleys, benches, and rugged breaks that define this part of Utah. The Escalante River and nearby drainage patterns thread through the sheet, suggesting the erosive forces that carved the broader canyonlands for which the area is famous. Subtle shifts of color, from greens to beige and tan tones, distinguish vegetated zones from drier open lands, communicating the ecological contrasts of the high desert. These cartographic choices do more than aid navigation; they translate geology, elevation, and vegetation into a readable visual composition, revealing the physical character of the land at a glance.

The map belongs to a period when USGS quadrangles were indispensable tools for planners, scientists, land managers, travelers, and local communities. By the time of its 1983 publication, Escalante’s surrounding region was increasingly recognized for its scenic and recreational value, though it had not yet acquired the full national prominence it would gain in later decades. The map’s 1964 survey basis is therefore particularly valuable, preserving the configuration of roads, settlements, and land use before substantial modern changes. It shows the Escalante area in a quieter era, when access to nearby canyons, plateaus, and backcountry routes was more limited, and when the landscape remained less mediated by contemporary tourism infrastructure.

For collectors, “Escalante” offers a refined combination of scientific accuracy, historical depth, and visual drama. Its subject is a gateway to some of the American Southwest’s most extraordinary terrain: canyon systems, desert valleys, high benches, and remote uplands associated with the greater Escalante country. The map’s beauty lies in its disciplined restraint—contours, symbols, names, roads, and color fields working together to describe a complex landscape with elegant precision. It evokes both the intimacy of a town map and the grandeur of a regional geological study. As a historical topographic document, it preserves the Escalante area at a pivotal moment, poised between traditional rural use and the growing national fascination with Utah’s red-rock wilderness.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Escalante
• Big Flat
• The Escalante River
• Specific designated roads
• Nearby valleys and mountainous regions
• Potential recreational areas, parks, and landmarks associated with Escalante and surrounding natural features

Historical context & cartographic details

• Published by the US Geological Survey (USGS)
• Created from 1964 survey data and published in 1983
• Historical 1:24,000 topographical map of the area around Escalante, Utah
• Features contour lines to show elevation changes and topographic relief
• Uses colors ranging from green to beige to indicate vegetation and arid land
• Depicts natural features and infrastructure, showing the area’s development and use over time
• Shows mixed terrain, including hills, valleys, and rugged landscapes typical of southern Utah
• Captures the Escalante area before extensive modern development and infrastructure changes

Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.

Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.

Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.

With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.