Escalante is a city in Garfield County, Utah, United States located along Utah Scenic Byway 12 in the south central part of the state. As of the 2010 census, there were 797 people residing in the city.The city is named after Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, a Franciscan missionary and a member of the first European expedition into southern Utah.The nearest towns are Boulder which is 27 miles to the northeast on SR-12, and Henrieville which is 30 miles to the southwest on SR-12.The Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is located to the west of the city. Sections of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument abut much of the city's limits. The Hole-in-the-Rock Road, which begins 5 mi east of Escalante, is the main access road into the eastern section of GSENM. The road leads to the Canyons of the Escalante, the Devil's Garden and the Hole-in-the-Rock.