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Utah Road Trip Recap with heavy photos
Posted on 6/7/20 at 4:38 pm
Posted on 6/7/20 at 4:38 pm
My wife and I and our 2 kids (8 and 14) rolled out of Louisiana on last Friday morning and decided to take a longer route over to Zion, our path brought us through El Paso. The original plan was to make quick stops at the Petrified Forest National Park and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Both ended up being closed due to covid so we wasted some time and stopped it Tombstone, it was a very touristy town.
Our second night we stayed in Page, Az and the following morning made a quick stop at Horseshoe Bend off the Colorado River before driving the last 2 hours to Zion.
We stayed 3 nights at Cable Mountain Lodge in Springdale, just steps from Zion National Park.
View from the hotel pool
Some of the trails at Zion were closed due to corona and the shuttle service was not running which made access harder a portion of the park.
Zion Pics
We left Zion on Wednesday morning and headed for Bryce Canyon National Park. It was only about a 2-hour drive
We stayed in a hotel outside of Bryce Cannon for the night and got up the following morning and drove to Capitol Reef National Park, we didn't stay here long, just drove through before moving on.
After we left Capitol Reef, we headed for Durango for the night. Let me say that all the terrain in southern Utah was incredible and constantly changing. We drove a stretch of road for 120 miles seeing no evidence of humans except for roads, bridges, and a few cars. There was no cell service, no power lines, and no homes and this included crossing the Colorado River for the second time on the trip.
Durango was dead due to Corona, most hotels were closed and restrictions were the most restrictive of the entire trip. The following morning we drove southern Colorado passing through Wolf Creek Pass at 10,800' and had a short snowball fight then we moved on to the Great Sand Dunes National Park for a quick stop. We rented a few sand sleds to sled the dunes. The snowmelt had caused a shallow river that had hundreds of people playing in the water. We skipped the water and headed to the dunes.
We saw elk crossing signs in Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, we only saw one small heard away from the marked locations
We rolled on to Childress Friday night and arrived home yesterday. We were just shy of 4k miles and spent 9 days on the road.
Our second night we stayed in Page, Az and the following morning made a quick stop at Horseshoe Bend off the Colorado River before driving the last 2 hours to Zion.
We stayed 3 nights at Cable Mountain Lodge in Springdale, just steps from Zion National Park.
View from the hotel pool
Some of the trails at Zion were closed due to corona and the shuttle service was not running which made access harder a portion of the park.
Zion Pics
We left Zion on Wednesday morning and headed for Bryce Canyon National Park. It was only about a 2-hour drive
We stayed in a hotel outside of Bryce Cannon for the night and got up the following morning and drove to Capitol Reef National Park, we didn't stay here long, just drove through before moving on.
After we left Capitol Reef, we headed for Durango for the night. Let me say that all the terrain in southern Utah was incredible and constantly changing. We drove a stretch of road for 120 miles seeing no evidence of humans except for roads, bridges, and a few cars. There was no cell service, no power lines, and no homes and this included crossing the Colorado River for the second time on the trip.
Durango was dead due to Corona, most hotels were closed and restrictions were the most restrictive of the entire trip. The following morning we drove southern Colorado passing through Wolf Creek Pass at 10,800' and had a short snowball fight then we moved on to the Great Sand Dunes National Park for a quick stop. We rented a few sand sleds to sled the dunes. The snowmelt had caused a shallow river that had hundreds of people playing in the water. We skipped the water and headed to the dunes.
We saw elk crossing signs in Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, we only saw one small heard away from the marked locations
We rolled on to Childress Friday night and arrived home yesterday. We were just shy of 4k miles and spent 9 days on the road.
13
Posted on 6/7/20 at 5:20 pm to wickowick
Nice!
Posted on 6/7/20 at 6:31 pm to wickowick
Awesome
Posted on 6/7/20 at 6:58 pm to wickowick
Solid trip! Utah is by far the prettiest state in the country. I used to get upset that the mormons had taken it over so we couldn't have legal weed or easy access to booze. I am now glad they are there as they keep the place clean and keep the Californians from taking over.
Sliding on the sand at the dunes is harder than it looks. How crowded was that area? I am wanting to take off this week and hit up the Spanish Peaks and Taos area.
Sliding on the sand at the dunes is harder than it looks. How crowded was that area? I am wanting to take off this week and hit up the Spanish Peaks and Taos area.
Posted on 6/7/20 at 7:08 pm to 8thyearsenior
We just passed through, so I can’t comment on the amount of people in the area. I think we were only at the sand dunes a couple of hours. I would say that there were a lot of vehicles headed towards the mountains on Friday afternoon as we were heading south
Posted on 6/7/20 at 8:00 pm to wickowick
Nice trip.
I spent days back in February laying out my Utah trip for this June. Every day was laid out. And of course I had to cancel
Funny thing is my first stay at a hotel 2 weeks ago had the Forrest Gump stooping - his - jog moment in Monument Park, framed picture behind the front desk. In Bay St Louis. What a slap to the face. Lol
I spent days back in February laying out my Utah trip for this June. Every day was laid out. And of course I had to cancel
Funny thing is my first stay at a hotel 2 weeks ago had the Forrest Gump stooping - his - jog moment in Monument Park, framed picture behind the front desk. In Bay St Louis. What a slap to the face. Lol
Posted on 6/7/20 at 8:20 pm to 8thyearsenior
quote:
Utah is by far the prettiest state in the country
Is it?
Posted on 6/7/20 at 9:00 pm to wickowick
Looks like an awesome trip. 
Posted on 6/7/20 at 9:25 pm to canyon critter
quote:
Is it?
I think so with the mountain ranges, deserts, and canyons. It's got some of everything packed into that state other than the ocean which I don't care about. I can find something to love about anywhere and usually the last place I visited is my favorite until the next place.
Posted on 6/7/20 at 10:22 pm to wickowick
We passed you on our way then. Drove straight through to Walsenburg Colorado and arrived last night around 5:00. Got up this morning and drove the medano primitive road over medano pass to get to sand dunes. The dunes and creek are far less crowded around the castle creek area vs the large parking area just past the visitor center. Hit black canyon up this afternoon and driving to needles district of Canyonlands in the morning.
Had the wind been bad for you during your trip? I’m used to constant wind when I come out here, but not like it’s been blowing yesterday and today.
Had the wind been bad for you during your trip? I’m used to constant wind when I come out here, but not like it’s been blowing yesterday and today.
Posted on 6/8/20 at 7:40 am to wickowick
How did you end up accessing Zion? Their twitter indicates parking full by 6:30 every day.
Posted on 6/8/20 at 8:33 am to LSUfan20005
When they refer to Zion being closed, the are referring to Scenic drive which starts 2 miles from the visitor center and is reached from hwy 9. Hwy 9 runs from Springdale to the east and out the park. Hwy 9 can be driven at any time. Prior to Corona, the park ran shuttles from Springdale that accessed the park.
There are trail heads at the visitor center that can be accessed any time. Some people were parking along hwy 9 near the scenic drive and walking in (this is a long walk and it wasn’t for us with an 8 year old). The lodge in the park , Zion Lodge, gives people staying there access all the time. It is about 2.5 miles from the Scenic drive turnoff to Zion Lodge.
There are about 400 parking spots along Scenic drive and park rangers were blocking Scenic drive where it starts and also blocking the road at a couple of other checkpoints along the way. Later in the day, as people leave the Scenic drive more cars are allowed in as space allows. Bikes can be rented from Springdale and you can access the entire road, all 6 miles of Scenic drive at anytime.
We accessed the Narrows trail, which is the last parking spot along Scenic drive via private shuttle. It isn’t cheap at $30 pp but we needed to get there on a certain day and didn’t want to risk the lot being full.
So as you can see, the property can be accessed. It might no be ideal but it can be worked around.
There are trail heads at the visitor center that can be accessed any time. Some people were parking along hwy 9 near the scenic drive and walking in (this is a long walk and it wasn’t for us with an 8 year old). The lodge in the park , Zion Lodge, gives people staying there access all the time. It is about 2.5 miles from the Scenic drive turnoff to Zion Lodge.
There are about 400 parking spots along Scenic drive and park rangers were blocking Scenic drive where it starts and also blocking the road at a couple of other checkpoints along the way. Later in the day, as people leave the Scenic drive more cars are allowed in as space allows. Bikes can be rented from Springdale and you can access the entire road, all 6 miles of Scenic drive at anytime.
We accessed the Narrows trail, which is the last parking spot along Scenic drive via private shuttle. It isn’t cheap at $30 pp but we needed to get there on a certain day and didn’t want to risk the lot being full.
So as you can see, the property can be accessed. It might no be ideal but it can be worked around.
Posted on 6/8/20 at 11:08 am to wickowick
Beautiful pics! We are headed there soon. I get it that you need to Private shuttle up to the Narrows. But do you need to shuttle up to the lodge? We will be there 2 days and trying to figure out how to deal with the closures. We will have an RV in the watchman campground that we cannot drive up scenic drive even if we got in line because of its length. TIA
Posted on 6/8/20 at 11:17 am to wickowick
Is "The Call of the West" a real thing?
Because damn. I've traveled through almost every state in the country, every different climate region, and the western US is my favorite. I'm still amazed every time I see pictures from there.
Without a second thought, I'd pack up my family, pick up my life and move there this afternoon.
Because damn. I've traveled through almost every state in the country, every different climate region, and the western US is my favorite. I'm still amazed every time I see pictures from there.
Without a second thought, I'd pack up my family, pick up my life and move there this afternoon.
Posted on 6/8/20 at 11:31 am to wickowick
Thanks for posting this. We are headed there on June 26 and plan to visit The Mighty 5. Looking forward to it!
Posted on 6/8/20 at 11:33 am to wickowick
We are leaving Wednesday and staying at the lodge in the park. I've been crazy busy with grad school the last couple of weeks and haven't really had time to adequately plan so am scrambling a bit now. If we are staying in the park what kind of restrictions or inconveniences are we looking at? Any advice to minimize these issues?
Posted on 6/8/20 at 11:34 am to wickowick
Did you find the driving to be "too much"? I've thought about doing this trip as well, but I'm worried about going stir crazy in the car.
Posted on 6/8/20 at 11:35 am to Burlee
quote:
We will be there 2 days and trying to figure out how to deal with the closures. We will have an RV in the watchman campground that we cannot drive up scenic drive even if we got in line because of its length.
Yea, you are looking at either a shuttle or a bike to access any of the Scenic drive.
I don't know how the water levels will be in the Virgin River. Here is a link to the Water Levels We hiked at 78 cfs, and people were putting tubes in the water at the Watchman campground and floating quickly downstream. I don't know if there will be enough water to float when you visit, but consider bringing tubes for the kids.
Posted on 6/8/20 at 11:52 am to Newc
quote:
Did you find the driving to be "too much"? I've thought about doing this trip as well, but I'm worried about going stir crazy in the car.
I drive a lot for work, this doesn't bother me and the kids are adjusting to long road trips. They did pretty good and 4 people left for the trip and 4 returned, which means we didn't kill each other. We do our best to travel light and carry a couple of larger suitcases plus smaller cases with a couple of changes of clothing allowing us to not unpack everything at every stop. The key to long drives is limited stops between planned destinations. Bathroom breaks every hour is a killer of time. We normally push hard to get where we are going and push hard to get home and enjoy the time in the middle.
Posted on 6/8/20 at 12:06 pm to wickowick
Looks like a fun trip. The kids will appreciate these trips for the rest of their lives.
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