October 16, 2025

By Tim Briese

The Nautilus: 1.4 miles roundtrip, 100’ elevation gain

Teresa and I left Mexican Hat, Utah early in the morning and headed for Page, Arizona.

early light on the bluffs above the san juan river in mexican hat, utah

agathla peak, arizona, along us 163

lake powell, near page, arizona

After a short stop in Page we drove northwest on US 89 back into Utah to do a couple of short hikes that afternoon. We turned south off the highway onto the dirt White House Road and drove a couple of miles to an unmarked pulloff at a wash crossing. This was the trailhead for the Nautilus, a unique rock formation that we had not seen before. There was one other vehicle there when we arrived. We headed east on a trail up a broad wash with scenic white and red rock along the sides.

the trail went through this gate and up the broad wash beyond

The Nautilus was scarcely a half mile up the wash but we went off trail up onto the slickrock to explore on our way there.

interesting hard black rocks scattered across the slickrock

The Nautilus is a unique slot eroded into the slickrock, with a curving shape that resembles a seashell, hence its name.

approaching the nautilus

interesting stripes and spots in the sandstone

After taking some photos and exploring the area some more we headed back to the car.

The Toadstools: 2.2 miles roundtrip, 300’ elevation gain

We returned to US 89 and went back east a couple of miles to the trailhead for the Toadstools, right along the north side of the highway. This hike is a popular one and there were at least a dozen vehicles in the parking area as well as numerous hikers. We had been here once before in January when the hikers were far fewer. We followed the nice trail north along a wash before it climbed up toward the toadstool hoodoos.

on the trail to the toadstools

It is a scenic place and its popularity is warranted.

After looking at the first group of hoodoos we hiked over to the west to explore some more.

We took numerous photos before hiking back to our car and heading back to Page for the night.