Thinking of Canyonlands/Arches NP in early March...

[Raz]

Just south of Arches N.P. and North of Moab is route 128. East on 128 are numerous BLM campgrounds situated on the Colorado river. No water, pit toilets, but you're right on the river with the canyon wall on the other side of the river. They were fcfs when we visited. Goose Island was a favorite.

[ZachO]

Originally Posted by Kai in Seattle

You are on the edge of the wild...don't go off the path!

Just sayin'

BEST
Kai

This is great advice. Leave the wilds to me The less people I see the better.

[Jack L]

Originally Posted by Kai in Seattle

One small piece of advice. IF you take any "off road" trails with a vehicle, get a map at the ranger station before you start, and PAY ATTENTION to any tiny, almost unnoticeable gaps in the "road" pathway as marked. Those may well leave you stranded in tiny dead-ends next to sheer drop-offs, within visual range of a parking lot and road out, but with literally no way to get there without wings. ASK the ranger, "Can we drive all the way around and out? Or do we have to turn around and come all the way back?" If you're lucky, they'll tell you. If you think it's a little bit of missing print, you may have one of the hairiest experiences of your life.


You are on the edge of the wild...don't go off the path!

Just sayin'

BEST
Kai

A handheld GPS to provide latitude and longitude and a good recreational atlas is a very good thing to have too. Benchmark and Delorme are important too. They are also great for planning an research before you leave home.

[Poodlesrule]

Goblin Valley is a great state park. Part of "Galaxy Quest" was filmed there.

[thrifty bill]

One piece of advice is don't trust your GPS directions. A good Atlas/map will show you all of the paved roads. The GPS sometimes will route you on a "shortcut" which becomes a dirt/gravel jeep trail. Best to stick with the main roads particularly when towing as turn arounds could be non-existent.

+10 Highway 128 south of Arches is terrific, follows the Colorado River, so it is windy. Lots of BLM camping.

[ZachO]

Yeah the GPS will help with orienteering, but not so much with dirt roads. It's why signs are starting to pop up on some roads saying "if your GPS is telling you this road takes you XXX park, it's WRONG. TURN AROUND NOW" etc. You'll end up at gate, or a cliff, or a dead end at a lake...

[EscapeBoulder]

If you want to travel a little south of Moab and get away from the crowds, there’s great boondocking in Comb wash, maybe 14 miles west of Blanding on hiway 96. The wash is right at the bottom of the shelf road, after one goes through the deep road cut in the comb. There are a lot of Anastasi (sp?) ruins in that area, easy to find if you ask around and explore a little, with even one right at a road side rest area. If you’re down there, check out Natural Bridges Nat’l Monument and then head south to the Moki Dugway. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_State_Route_261). Very interesting and spectacular.

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

When we had our Tacoma TRD Offroad 4x4, my wife decided she really wasn't into off roading, 4x4 adventures. so we'll be mostly sticking with the highway, maybe some easy dirt roads if they go somewhere cool. my wife can't hike or climb, so we'll mostly be auto touring, that puts a crimp on a lot of activities...

I understand completely. While the idea of getting far away from everyone and seeing remote sights appeals to me greatly, I've found that the appeal is mostly offset by the unpleasantness of driving very slowly on rough, rocky, bumpy, pothole-laden trails; it's tedious and uncomfortable.

[ZachO]

Those roads are why I've actually started leaving my trailer at home when I head to Utah. Then I can get down those roads most people don't want to travel, and, at least until the current UTV craze hit, find some solitude. The UTVs have kind of ruined that.

[Kai in Seattle]

We had an off-road/on-road jeep at the time, it was a dirt and slick rock "path" with what seemed to be occasional chalked signs tacked to hidden cacti. Paul had to drive partway UP a cliff while avoiding falling into the chasm on the other side, in order to turn around.

Before he began the maneuver, I got out and walked back down the path, feeling like a monster for abandoning him, but too scared to stay in the jeep. He said later it was more than fine-- my screaming had been an annoying distraction.

On the way back, it got dark. The chalked signs became impossible to find, our CB didn't get any response, we didn't have GPS (still don't) and all we could see was starlight and the little the headlights illuminated. Backtracking was very difficult. Slickrock doesn't hold tire tracks.

We only had one liter of water, and it was soon gone. The desert air is arid beyond anything we know in western WA. I could picture coyotes rearing their litters on our dessicated bods dragged into some spiny arroya.

We forged on slowly into the dark, starry night, finally at a great distance seeing a light. We did our best to head toward it, and after four hours, we were back at the now-closed, empty, dark ranger station.

It was both a nightmare and a real adventure. But to think we missed out on a cowboy BBQ dinner and songfest! I thought we had time to do both. HAH!


BEST
Kathleen


I'm beginning to think Paul and I are not great travelers. I had done a lot of prep for this, too, planned out the whole trip, mile by mile. Then again, we almost ran out of gas in the vast middle of Montana (what a huge state!) after leaving the emu farm. Not another car all day long. But mostly, that trip was fine.

Mostly.

[ZachO]

It gets harder as you get older. The exploring I did in Utah when I was in school there was a little crazy...and remembering back, I didn't even have a spare tire for most of those years. I got stuck fairly often but always eventually got unstuck. I think about it more now, but the only thing that's really changed is that I bring supplies in case I end up spending the night unexpectedly (safer to call it quits for the night and start moving again in the morning, if you came prepared), and I turn around a little sooner when roads start getting really crazy.

But probably something about starting to have those experiences at 19, rather than 40 or so, helped.

These days there's always a sleeping bag in my truck somewhere, a MRE, some water, a flashlight, a shovel, hatchet, and various other things. It's sort of funny when you realize you're stuck somewhere out in the mountains or desert for the night, unexpectedly, but that you're going to actually be comfortable.

[Al and Cindy K]

Kai - Would love to have camped with you and Paul back in the day.

Zach - In the sixties, we often visited an uninhabited barrier island off the NC coast with transportation provided by a decked over fishing boat capable of carrying four jeeps. Anything beyond gas, beer, ice and bait was considered optional (and the bait was negotiable if the guy who was good with a cast net was along). That island is now part of Cape Lookout NS and we still return almost every year. But we now visit with the Tacoma instead of the jeep as the extra capacity is needed for all the gear we bring.

Its revealing to go back and look at photos taken over the years and see how our 'requirements' have changed.

[ZachO]

Definitely. And to keep on my pessimistic theme, it's amazing how many of those experiences are going away as everything gets more and more developed. You can still find adventure for sure, but it's getting harder and harder, and as the places get to be fewer and fewer, they're going to be more and more overrun by people.

[Barbie B]

I highly recommend Dead horse point camp ground. One of my favorite camping experiences.