Utah adventure planning

Hey everyone, my brother and I are planning a trip out to Utah from March 22nd - April 3rd. We plan on doing some offroading, hiking, and mountain biking. I'm posting this here to get some input. This is our plan so far:

March
22 Drive to UT, Camp at Lower Onion or Fisher Tower Campground
23 Drive Top of the World trail, drive Sand Flats Road to Castle Valley Overlook, camp at either Big Bend or Oak Grove Campground
24 Drive drive/hike around Arches National Park, Drive along Salt Valley Road to Tower Arch, Mountain Bike at Klondike Bluffs, Camp at Moab KOA
25 Begin driving White Rim Trail, camp at Potato Bottom campsite
26 Finish White Rim Trail, Drive to Hell Roaring Canyon, Drive Caneville Wash Rd and Cathedral Rd (stopping at temple of the moon, Temple of the sun, Gypsum sink hole and castle valley overlook), camp Elkhorn campground.
27 Hike Peekaboo gulch and Spooky gulch, camp at North Campground
28 Hike Fairyland Loop (Bryce Canyon NP), camp at South Campground (Zion NP)
29 Hike Angels Landing trail (Zion NP), camp at South Campground
30 Hike West Rim trail (Zion NP), camp at South Campground
31 Drive to Salt lake city, rest day (maybe some mountain biking), stay in hotel

April
1 Hike Lake Blanche=> Sundial Peak trail (Uinta-Wasatch National Forest), stay in hotel again
2 Drive to Sego Canyon and Nine Mile Canyon (To view the canyon wall art), camp at Saddlehorn Campground (Colorado National Monument)
3 Drive back home

I think the trip is pretty much good to go, but if anyone has any suggestions or problems with it I would love to hear it. I don't want to plan a trip that falls apart or maybe too packed and ends up being rushed. This trip will be driven in my TRD Pro which has no off-road related upgrades other than the ones from factory of course. Is there any equipment that I should bring? Is there any reason this truck couldn't complete any of the trails listed. Also if anyone is interested in joining us for part of the trip just let me know, the more the merrier.

 

Man, sounds like a fun trip. I am heading to Canyonlands in May. I dont have any input on the trails you mention due to having never been there. I am hoping for some experienced locals to tag along for my trip.

 

Sounds like a great trip. Geyser pass will probably still be covered in snow at the time you are going.

 

Sounds like a great trip for sure, some good spots you have on the list to hit!! Onion creek is a beautiful area, some good camping (though busy) and a fun road to drive. If it's Warner Lake campground up in the La Sal mountains you're planning to visit, also a beautiful area and not so crowded. It's been years since I've been to white rim/arches areas as I don't frequent the Moab area for camping since its popular but all good choices and you won't be disappointed.

Smoky mountain & cottonwood creek roads in the grand staircase are really great! You'll find some great solitude there and amazing geography and scenery. Cottonwood canyon road is one of my favorites - the cockscomb formation, grosvenor arch are some of many highlights and there is a ton of blm backcountry camping around.. And desolate! Best part. If you have time you should also consider skutumpuh road & Willis creek area, which is accessed from the northern part of cottonwood canyon road. Good stuff!

Zion is epic and can't be missed if you're out here. Highly recommend hitting the gooseberry Mesa area near the park, which has tons of great mountain biking and some blm camping options as well. It's a good option to have since the campgrounds in the park are frequently full and very busy starting that time of year.

You've got a good itinerary going for sure and you won't be disappointed! Hope you have a great trip and wish you safe travels. Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions, be happy to give some feedback as I frequent the So. Ut desert quite often since it's in my backyard.

Also, nice truck man! Those TRD Pro's are sweet lookin, love the rust color option as well. How you liking it so far?

 

When in May? Let me know when your out here, be very interested to join if its after the 18th. Im busy the first part of the month unfortunately, But worth a shot.

 

I am on vacation the 17th-27th, so the 18th would be perfect. I posted a thread in the Northwest region section and the off-roading section.

 

So I found out that Warner campground is closed and geyser pass may be closed as well. I need to figure out something to do instead for that time period. Any suggestions for the night of the 23rd and the day of the 24th? I would like to keep it in the Top of the world/Moab area so the rest of the trip is unaffected.

 

Thanks, I'm loving it. Huge upgrade from my 2000 jeep cherokee sport that it replaced.

 

Of course, should have realized those areas are closed still that early.. Hell Roaring canyon area up near island in the sky would be a good place to explore on the way to white rim access.. Or Klondike Bluffs road near Arches.

 

Thanks, I've added both of those to my trip plan now. Im going to do Hell Roaring Canyon at the end of White Rim trail since Im going clockwise around and staying at Potato bottom overnight. Probably do some mountain biking at Klondike Bluffs

 

Updated original post with new plan

 

Nice Trip you have planned !
I'm going out in May , 1st time , so I'm taking notes here .

 

This will be my second time to Utah. The first time I just went to Moab and did Gemini Bridges, Hidden Canyon and Arches National Park. This time around I will have more time to see things. So I figured I'd get a little taste of everything.

 

The San Rafeal Swell is an awesome thing to see. My sister, cousin and I drove through one year on our way to the Pacific to see the redwoods. The swell is so eerie, it's kinda hard to describe.

We plan to road trip there this year from Pittsburgh, PA, though we'll be in a Honda Fit most likely. I wanna see if we can rent a 4x4 for a day or two once we get there though, there's so much of the country you just can't see from the paved roads.

Sounds like a great trip you're planning, gonna be a blast I'm sure!

 

Hoping to head out to Moab too. How's the camping during that time of year? Does it get really cold in late March and late April? I've only been in May and it was fantastic.

 

Camping is great that time of year! It depends of course, but if you are at lower level elevations (4,000' - 5,000') late March in the Moab area is generally mid 60's to low 70's for the high and lows in the 30's to low 40s. So still chilly for sure at night. Late April highs average in the mid 70s and lows in the 40s.

Of course it can be snowing or be summer heat, it varies like crazy. And usually can count on some breezy/windy conditions in the spring. Fall is the most tranquil as far as winds usually.

It's been a crazy warm winter here in SLC and Utah overall. So we'll see how this spring shapes up.

Man, I'm ready to get out!