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Old 06-19-2018, 12:28 PM   #1
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Name: Ryan
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Headed west!!

We are taking a 2 week roadtrip from eastern South Dakota to Utah. Meeting up with some family from Oregon and doing some sight seeing. If their is some must see or hidden places you would like to share I would love to hear about them. The area we will be headed towards is Lake Powell, Bullfrog campground area and a couple others a few hours away. Does and don'ts are helpful too.
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Old 06-19-2018, 01:13 PM   #2
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Torrey, UT. Good central location, 10 to 15 miles from Capitol Reef NP, two hours from Bryce Canyon. At the northern end of SR 12, this drive, from Torrey to Bryce, is a MUST! Most beautiful road in the USA IMHO. Goes over a couple of mountain passes, down into a couple of canyons, fantastic!

Wonderland RV campground in Torrey is a good choice! Walk to restaurant and a coffee shop across the street.

Wonderland RV Park

https://scenicbyway12.com

https://www.nps.gov/care/index.htm

All three: Capitol Reef, Highway 12 and Bryce Canyon are all must dos. We have gone to Utah every year since 1979. We were last there November 2017. We may miss it this year, as we are heading to AK.


Zion NP is incredible as well, about two hours further from Bryce. It can be really HOT in the summer, and VERY crowded. To wrap it up from there, you are just a few hours to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.


There is primitive camping in Capitol Reef NP. First come, first served! I've never been able to get a site there, and the camping at Torrey is more convenient to restaurants, stores, full hookups.
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Old 06-19-2018, 04:04 PM   #3
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I agree with Bill, but please add Arches and Canyonlands too.


Also, I have my camper for sale if you might have an interest.
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Old 06-19-2018, 06:38 PM   #4
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Arches NP, yep. And CO Natl Monument is a nice drive through scenic place, too. If you go to Zion NP, best thing to do is hike the the Narrows... you wade in the river with towering rock walls on both sides, and it is cool even in hot summer.
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Old 06-20-2018, 02:59 AM   #5
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If you do Arches in Moab, make sure you take a look at Goblin Valley on your way to Zion. Not sure about areas for trailers as the last time I was there a couple years ago I was mostly interested in the sights. They do have yurts, and some of the camping areas are cement pads with an asphalt road I think... Anyways, you'll enjoy the 'hoodoos' as they are called. Just as mysterious as the arches in Moab. Might need to call ahead.

Also, if you are in the Zion area, check out the Pink Coral Sand Dunes. Southeast of the park itself, it's a pretty big area of moving sand dunes almost like the Sahara. The sand is soft too, so prepare to have it get everywhere, but still have fun.

Edit: Just to let you know, there is a lot of flat, empty, desert ground sparsed by the random city on the way from Moab to Zion, and possibly from Zion to Lake Powell. If you are lower than 50 miles left on a tank, refilling doesn't hurt. Keep an eye on engine temperature as the road temps can and will get hot enough to fry eggs. I'm in northern Utah and it is already 100 F; southern Utah gets hotter. Water for you and your pets. Also, if the ground is too hot for you to walk barefoot, it is WAY TOO hot for dogs. I have seen enough horror pics on Facebook of paw blisters.

Stay on designated pathways, as the desert soil has a delicate form of fungi that holds it together and prevents Dust Bowl like conditions (it looks like someone sprayed the ground with a dying can of black paint.) In some cases it takes decades for the fungi to grow back. At minimum, years.

Believe it or not, we do have mosquitoes. Prepare for that.

Sunscreen and sunglasses. Unless you like becoming lobster.

Please, no graffiting the rocks or inanimate objects. Just because the Indians did it 2,000 plus years ago to preserve their oral traditions, doesn't mean you need to carve or paint your name into a rock. Even though a lot of the parks are public owned, please leave the souvenirs to the gift shops and let the rocks, flowers, and lizards live in peace. Please take care of your trash too. Don't be like the white trash that visits our state and leaves beer cans and garbage everywhere (I wish I was joking or exaggerating on this, but I'm not. I was told that one of the reasons why the State wanted to raise park prices is to make the average idiot that would do this not want to spend the money to come and trash the place. I'm still looking into if this is true or not.)

And lastly.... Don't be the guy that hogs the passing lane and the HOV lane. There are laws here in Utah that state slower traffic move to the right. People out of state don't care and native Utahns that don't care either. Unfortunately state troopers are understaffed and can't get the bad drivers tickets so they know not to be idiots and have 12 plus cars behind them. Please, we have enough problems with the local wildlife having the need to drive stupid and selfishly, you don't need to add to it. As a warning too, you will get pressed to drive faster because of said local wildlife has a death wish, even if you aren't in the left lanes.

If I think of anything more, I'll add to it later. I welcome you to our state, and wish you happy trails.

Patdeesky
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Old 06-20-2018, 07:38 AM   #6
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Goblin Valley has 14 reservable trailer (RV) sites with grills & tables. Bathrooms with hot showers. If you go, check out Little Wild Horse Slot Canyon just outside the park as well as the wonderful formations in the park.
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Old 06-20-2018, 07:43 AM   #7
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Goblin Valley is also a great place to take children, Hiking in the hoodoos is easy and something the younger ones love.
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Old 06-20-2018, 09:58 AM   #8
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Kodachrome Basin State Park is nice, not too far from Bryce Canyon. Capitol Reef is another of my favorites.
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Old 06-20-2018, 10:23 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Patdeesky View Post
Don't be like the white trash that visits our state and leaves beer cans and garbage everywhere (I wish I was joking or exaggerating on this, but I'm not. I was told that one of the reasons why the State wanted to raise park prices is to make the average idiot that would do this not want to spend the money to come and trash the place. I'm still looking into if this is true or not.)Patdeesky
This cracks me up! A few years ago we were driving in the Bluff/ Mexican Hat area. We crossed into a Reservation (Navajo?) and immediately the roadside was carpeted with empties. Liquor and beer bottles, soda cans, you name it. Went on for miles. It was remarkable to us because the roadsides in Utah are generally clean and tidy.
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Old 06-20-2018, 10:47 AM   #10
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Take your ATVs. Utah is the most ATV friendly state and has thousands of miles of maintained ATV trails, the most in the nation. Look up the Paiute Trail system and the Great Western Trail. Lizzy and Charlie's RV park at Marysvale, Utah is a one good location on the trails with direct access.
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Old 06-20-2018, 11:39 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Patdeesky View Post
Please, no graffiting the rocks or inanimate objects. Just because the Indians did it 2,000 plus years ago to preserve their oral traditions, doesn't mean you need to carve or paint your name into a rock. Even though a lot of the parks are public owned, please leave the souvenirs to the gift shops and let the rocks, flowers, and lizards live in peace. Please take care of your trash too. Don't be like the white trash that visits our state and leaves beer cans and garbage everywhere (I wish I was joking or exaggerating on this, but I'm not. I was told that one of the reasons why the State wanted to raise park prices is to make the average idiot that would do this not want to spend the money to come and trash the place. I'm still looking into if this is true or not.)
Pat this is not true. We have spent an enormous amount of time in the SW and Utah in particular. Once while camped at the Green River State Park in Green River, Utah we had a long discussion with the park ranger there who was very informative. Turns out your governor and his cohorts don't believe in subsidizing the state parks anymore and thus created a law, situation or what ever you want to call it where all of the state parks would have to pay for themselves going forward. This meant raising the fees exponentially overnight which is exactly what happened. If any state park couldn't make it on their own then they get closed down, simple as that.

BTW, the Green River State park is also a very nice place to camp, right on the river next to a golf course if that interest you but more importantly its a relatively good place to embark on other adventures in the area. Keep in mind for those who have not spent much time in the SW you need to figure on driving a lot to get to the next destination and adventure.

For those interested there are numerous petroglyph and pictograph sites fairly close to Green River, but as Pat suggested don't touch, don't contribute most of all to the art just observe and take photos. And please don't take the pot sherds and other artifacts often laying around in some of these places.

Hope this helps.
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Old 06-20-2018, 02:51 PM   #12
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We just returned home (NC) from a five week visit to northern AZ / southern UT. In the Glenn Canyon NRA (Lake Powell), I'd recommend the tour boat trip to Rainbow Bridge. We camped at Lee's Ferry while in that area - lots of Mormon history here and its the put in point for those rafting down the Colorado. We also took the dam tour which was interesting. We drove House Rock Road which links 89 and 89A through the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument and saw several Condors (Navajo Bridge NM is another good place to spot these awesome birds in late afternoon).

If you have 4WD and enjoy off-road adventures, the Notom-Bullfrog road is a good way to spend a day with a side trip up the Burr Trail and possibly dinner in Boulder at the Hell's Backbone Grill ($$$$). The Wedge is another well known offroad opportunity. If you like backroad driving, check with a BLM or USFS office for advice and maps.

We were not disappointed in any of the public lands we visited - National Parks, National Monuments, National Forests, State Parks, BLM and even Bureau of Reclamation and found their staffs to be extremely helpful in offering advice and suggestions. Don't be afraid to call on them.

Get any hikes in early in the day and take plenty of water.

Have fun and post back with your experiences.
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Old 07-16-2018, 04:46 PM   #13
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Name: Ryan
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Thanks for the all the good info. We started off from Brookings Sd and went west out to the Black Hills and took a scenic route through the Badlands. We found a nice city campground in Edgemont fairly cheap, under 20 bucks if I remember right. It's paired up with what seems to be the theatre and gathering hall and has the bathroom and showers right in it. Railroad runs next to it but didn't bother us. After a long drive and a couple beers I was out cold. Then we took off and headed to Colorado and stopped in Fort Collins for a bite to eat at great bbq joint. Then headed into the Mountains to find a place to camp. After flying by a bunch of them we stopped at one in kind of a open meadow next to a small river can't remember the name, nothing special just a place to crash. Next morning took off to meet up with with our group in Orem Utah, stayed the night in their in the front yard and took off again in the morning and headed to Sand Hollow campground east of Saint George. That's a great campground especially if you like to get in the water with Sand Hollow Reservoir within walking distance. I brought snorkeling gear so I spent most of my time doing that. Wiked rain storm the first evening made for a neat experience with all the water coming down the red sands and filling the drainage ditch making washouts everywhere. Spent a day at Zion doing some hiking. At Riverside campground by Hatch now and I need a drink
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