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Moab, Arches, Zion, etc. over Thanksgiving...

evldave

Well-Known Member
Messages
93
Location
somewhere west of north
So it looks like I'm actually going to get a vacation this year and have the $$ to make it down to Utah over Thanksgiving. I'm leaving Portland 11/16 and have to be back to work on the 26th, so 9+ days of driving/exploring!

Thinking of hauling through to Arches, Moab, Escalade, Grand Staircase and hit Zion then find a route back to Portland (maybe hop down the Grand Canyon if there's time). I'll be towing my M416 w/RTT with me and I'll likely be bringing my dogs (so Canyonlands is out, right?)...

Any 'must-see' places where I should go? I'll be solo w/a trailer, so I do have to be a little more careful, but I'm reasonably capable of getting most places and have no problem beating the crap out of it. Highways are nice (not!), but it would be great if any of the locals know a few day routes, longer off-road trails they can point me to...

Ideas? Thanks!
 

alrock

El Diablo
Staff member
Messages
10,442
Location
Scottsdale
Grand Canyon - North Rim access will likely be closed so you'd have to go to South Rim and that adds several hours to the trek. If you're headed to Zion and Escalante make sure you find some slot canyons. The most famous are the Antelope Canyon ones but you need to make a reservation and hire a guide. From what I hear it is worth it, but there's benefits to just finding your own. I checked some out in Escalante.

Arches is driving and hiking and well worth visiting. Amount of time depends on how much hiking you want to do to the various arches. Some are but 100 yards from the parking; some are a couple of hours.

Monument Valley is great. The tourist road is great and will use a couple of hours. If you go on a guided tour (you ride in their vehicles) you get to see a lot more stuff. I think it's worth the money to at least take a 1/2 day tour with them.

Canyon de Chelly is the only national park not operated by the government - it's operated by the Indian Reservation. You need to hire a guide (don't hire one ahead of time; get there and hire one and save money) and have a 4WD vehicle. They take you back into the canyons (again, about 3-4 hours is good) and you see great ruins, hear great stories, etc. The guide will ride with you in your vehicle.

4 Corners - got there if you have the bug to see it but it's more a quick stop that's often out of the way.

Moab - you can obviously spend days there but there are some good single and multi-day trails you can do. F5 would be a much better adviser than me.
 

f5moab

Mr. Beretta
Messages
1,986
Location
Hiding in a potato patch in Idaho
Grand Canyon - North Rim access will likely be closed so you'd have to go to South Rim and that adds several hours to the trek. If you're headed to Zion and Escalante make sure you find some slot canyons. The most famous are the Antelope Canyon ones but you need to make a reservation and hire a guide. From what I hear it is worth it, but there's benefits to just finding your own. I checked some out in Escalante.

Arches is driving and hiking and well worth visiting. Amount of time depends on how much hiking you want to do to the various arches. Some are but 100 yards from the parking; some are a couple of hours.

Monument Valley is great. The tourist road is great and will use a couple of hours. If you go on a guided tour (you ride in their vehicles) you get to see a lot more stuff. I think it's worth the money to at least take a 1/2 day tour with them.

Canyon de Chelly is the only national park not operated by the government - it's operated by the Indian Reservation. You need to hire a guide (don't hire one ahead of time; get there and hire one and save money) and have a 4WD vehicle. They take you back into the canyons (again, about 3-4 hours is good) and you see great ruins, hear great stories, etc. The guide will ride with you in your vehicle. Just some corrections: It is not a National Park. It is a National Monument (a big difference, really). It is on tribal lands (Navajo), but it is administered by the Federal government.

4 Corners - got there if you have the bug to see it but it's more a quick stop that's often out of the way.

Moab - you can obviously spend days there but there are some good single and multi-day trails you can do. F5 would be a much better adviser than me.

My suggestion in most places is to park the trailer at a campground and to the exploring of the area in the vehicle. If you don't want a campground, I can send you info on where to park the trailer on BLM lands in the Moab area and not have to pay any fees. (Primarily, any BLM lands, outside of wilderness or protected areas are open to trailer camping so long as you don't make your own trails. What you have to watch out for in Utah is there are a lot of small private spots that might be against camping, or state plots.

Dogs can be a problem in almost all national parks. Arches and Canyonlands have the same basic policy. Dogs only allowed in the vehicle on main roads or in parking areas. You can walk the dog within x-number of feet of a main road or in any of their campgrounds. Canyonlands does not allow dogs on the white rim trail and they patrol that two to three times a day. However, you can take dogs on the Potash road, up Shafer trail to the main paved roads in the park.

There is a very cool campground in Capital Reef, above Cathedral Valley and dogs are allowed. Middle of nowhere, but fantastic scenery. And Capital reef is in the general area you are talking about. Just northeast of Grand Staircase, Bryce and Zion. It can be a rough road to travel at times, but some fantastic views. on the way up the trail to the campgrounds.

BLM lands and Forest service have no problem with dogs. In campgrounds they must be kept on leases on trails they can be off leash, but be warned, there are a lot of dogs that get lost out here every year. And most people will say how well trained their dog is. But dogs will be dogs and chase rabbits, get lost and eventually become coyote poop. So be careful.

Grand Staircase Escalante is a national monument, but it is controlled by BLM (not by the park service), so dogs regs are the same as on any BLM lands.

Zion has one trail where dogs are allowed, but other than that one trail, same rules apply as for Arches.

I'll be in Zion NP from Sunday Oct 16 through thursday. Camping in a one of the sites in Zion. Then going onto Bryce for two days. I'll be doing mostly photography in the area and just relaxing.
 

Neo

Badfish
Messages
1,658
Location
Brookings, OR
glad you made it , was nice to meet another 06 owner from way back . have fun out at Deadhorse and if we dont see you before the end of this trip hopefully we will see you in April .
 

evldave

Well-Known Member
Messages
93
Location
somewhere west of north
Thanks, and especially thanks for the hospitality! I might burn all that firewood just to have an excuse to stop back by!

Sent from the middle of nowhere using whatever technology happens to work...
 

Kurt

Well-Known Member
Messages
955
Location
Orange County, CA
Valley of the gods is a fun 16 mile trail just connected to Monument valley, it's off Indian land so no guides are needed, it's a few miles north of Mexican Hat, UT

It's a mild trail, but scenic. They've shot many tv series and films in that area.
 

f5moab

Mr. Beretta
Messages
1,986
Location
Hiding in a potato patch in Idaho
Valley of the gods is a fun 16 mile trail just connected to Monument valley, it's off Indian land so no guides are needed, it's a few miles north of Mexican Hat, UT

It's a mild trail, but scenic. They've shot many tv series and films in that area.


?? Valley of the gods is not connected to Monument valley, in fact it is many miles north of the Navajo reservation. And in Monument valley you don't need a guide if you stay on the road they have opened for tourists (you must pay though). Guides only needed if going off the tourist road.


And if you do Valley of the Gods, don't forget to drive up and down the Moki dugway, and then a short trip over the the Goosenecks State Park.
Gooseneck3.jpg


And before Valley of the gods, is riverhouse. And if someone decides to visit, I have the GPS tracks...
Riverhouse1.jpg
 

evldave

Well-Known Member
Messages
93
Location
somewhere west of north
Well, I'm back in Washington! Thanks for all the suggestions! I didn't get to even 1/2 of what I wanted to see, but such is life - what I did see was more than enough motivation to come back!

My final path...

Day 1/2 (Mon/Tue)- Vancouver, WA -->Moab, camp Deadhorse Point State Park
Day 3 (Wed) - Arches (including mtn biking slickrock trail), camp @ Arches
Day 4 (Thur)- 191 to Blanding, then 95 to Natural Bridges, then Glen Canyon, then somewhere outside Capital Reef - camped at the base of Factory Rock west of Hanksville
Day 5 (Fri) - Capital Reef, Burr Road, Grand Staircase, Escalante, Bryce Canyon, camped Dixie Nat'l Forest
Day 6 (Sat) - Dixie back straight through to Vancouver

A lot of driving (2,700 miles), but I got to see as much variety as possible on the trip. When I come back, there's a few more leisurely things I'll do:

Backpack Bryce Canyon
More mtn biking slickrock
Zion, slot canyon backpacking

Overall a great trip! Here's a few pictures...

Deadhorse State Park



Campsite at Arches


Burr Road Trail



Factory Rock



And a few panoramas from Bryce Canyon





 

ArtHummer

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,220
Location
Gaithersburg/MD
MEH it's over rated :wink::horns::mock:the scenery is nice but I drove 4400mi for the the company (THANK YOU NEO & NAV & others )

There is a saying in Russia: "It is always good there, where we are not". When you live in the beautiful place you get used to see it and do not appreciate it as much. I grow up in the mountains of Tian Shan and loved the outdoors and scenery. Now I live in DC metro area and the only mountain that is close by is the Sugar Love Mountain. Not even sure why they call it a "mountain". To me it looks like a pimple on flat ground area. It's just pathetic. You can climb to the pick of that mountain in like 10 minutes.
Looking at thous pictures I think I could clime all over there for months and enjoy every bit of it. But when you have a great crowd to accompany you this makes it even better. So, guys, enjoy the staf that some of us don't have.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sugarloaf_air1.jpg
 
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