Trip Review: NM, AZ, UT, CO Road Trip

20 June - 7 July
5,215 miles on my 2010 Ford Fusion
100 hours and 5 minutes in the car

8 National Parks
8 Nights in a tent (7 campgrounds, 1 wilderness backpack)
3 Airbnbs
2 Free nights at Park Hyatt Beaver Creek to end the trip on.

36 miles hiked
25 miles biked (we're not good at mountain biking. It's hard as shite).

Descriptions and pics of food and mountains to come.

DAY 1: We drove 17 hours to Sante Fe

Day 2: After staying at a lovely Airbnb in Sante Fe, and doing a local subalpine morning hike, we drove toward Flagstaff (great lunch), and ultimately Jacob Lake, AZ (north of GCNP).

Petrified Forest National Park, AZ
not much for us here in the 100+ degree heat
>
Day 3: we were in the car by 4:15 AM from Jacob Lake (45 mi north of the North Rim). I nearly hit SO many deer.
One thing that I learned about Grand Canyon National Park was that it's beautiful APART from the Canyon. There are lush subalpine forest just 10-15 minutes north of the north rim. Full of wildlife too. It's stunning enough to stand alone. I'd like to backpack that area in the future.





Day 3 continued: After breaking camp we traveled north to Zion NP and then onto a campground called Pine Lake CG, which is just 20-30 minutes from Bryce Canyon depending on how fast you drive the gravel road. We were under the smoke of a wildfire for most of the drive from Zion. Scary.

Zion NP: we like to hike, but we kind of flew through the Utah Parks. It was hot. We did the little Canyon lookout hike.




Day 4: bike ride around Pine Lake, bike ride at Red Canyon (very nice paved trail), Wall Street/Navaho Loop hike in Bryce Canyon, then a shower at Ruby's Inn (I recommend this place for that reason).






After Bryce Canyon we drove two hours on Hwy 12 to Pleasant Creek Campground (walked in, no reservation).
Highway 12 is incredible. At one point the road is on a ridge and that's all there is. The area was unchartered longer than any other in the lower 48.
The highway is also extremely diverse. This is a subalpine spot near Boulder, Utah looking out over the desert we had just traversed. Henry Mountains in the background (another great camping spot if you have 4wd).



My philosophy on camping Arizona and Utah in late June: Find the elevation. We were never uncomfortable because every night we were above 8,000 feet.

Day 5: A three hour drive to the Abajo Mountains and Buckboard Campground...just east of Monticello, UT. This area gave us our first view of Colorado, the San Juans.
It was an excellent campground with a ton of Aspens and nearby hikes. I'd call the Abajo Mountains a hidden gym. The hikes are pretty hard to find if you're not a local. I can elaborate if needed.
We hiked Abajo Peak ~12,500 (5.2 mile out and back)


Buckboard Campground:


From this campground we were 60 miles from Moab, UT--a place that thinks it's cool, but secretly wishes it were Steamboat, Telluride, or even Durango. I bought a great book from their bookstore though.
Moab provides easy access to both Canyonlands and Arches. Blah. Both certainly boast unique features, but again, in Late June you don't want to venture out on foot to see them. Oh yeah, somewhere along the way we drove through Capitol Reef National Park too. That must have been en route to Pleasant Creek CG. At any rate, what a shithole. I'm still wondering why that's a National Park. There wasn't even a fee required. It's no better than most of the scenery you'll see while driving hwy 12.

Day 6: Canyonlands Needle District, Moab, Arches, then the Le Sal Mountains (Warner Lake Campground--beautiful place)
I just expressed how underwhelming Arches and Canyonlands is from a car, but the Le Sals did not disappoint. We did a 4 mile hike from Warner Lake to Oowah Lake at about 5:30 that evening.
Canyonlands:

Arches:


Warner Lake (Le Sals):





That's sums up AZ and Utah.

COLORADO: