There is currently no entrance fee for visiting the monument. Free permits are required for all overnight backcountry camping or backpacking. There is a fee to camp in the monument’s three developed campgrounds.

Hikers in the Paria Wilderness area are required to buy a permit (this includes Paria Canyon and Coyote Buttes), as are hikers at the Calf Creek Recreation Area.

Only two paved roads pass through the monument, both in an east–west trajectory. Hwy. 12, on the northern border of the park, links Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks with access to the Escalante canyons. This is one of the most scenic roads in Utah—in fact, Car and Driver magazine rates this route as one of the 10 most scenic in all of the United States. Its innumerable swallow-your-gum vistas and geologic curiosities will keep you on the edge of your seat.

U.S. 89, which travels along the southern edge of the monument between Kanab and Lake Powell, is no scenery slouch either. It is also the access road for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Three fair-weather dirt roads, each with a network of side roads and trails, cut through the rugged heart of the monument, linking the two paved roads. Before heading out on these back roads, check with a visitors center for conditions; high-clearance vehicles are recommended.