* UPDATE* Canyonlands, Arches, and Capitol Reef late December

So my wife and I are taking a trip to Canyonlands, Arches, and Capitol Reef in late December. Other then it being cold as balls does anyone have any other insight into what we'll be getting into? We'll be tent camping and doing some light off roading, but nothing crazy. I'd like to do the Cathedral Valley loop, but most of the trip is going to weather depended. Does anyone have any other tips or advise for that time of year.
Thanks


*UPDATE*

Just got back from our trip a few days ago. WOW. I've never been to Utah and can't believe how beautiful it is. Most of the Moab are got hit with a bunch of snow the week before our trip which made camping a bit difficult, and in an effort to not freeze my 90lb wife I opted to get a hotel 2 of the 3 nights we were in the area. We still camped in Capitol Reef, but opted for another hotel in Bryce. All in all the trip was still fantastic though. For a few California grow people I think we were as prepared as we could have been for the snow and cold, but we still learned a lot for next time. Even with the cold I was glad we went in winter. No crowds and the snow made the landscape look amazing. I could honesty go on forever about how great it was, but I put together this short video instead. It's the 1st of 2 parts. The 2nd part will be coming soon.

Part 1*



Part 2**

 

Cold as balls is a pretty good description.

Another issue you may run into is wet clay roads, snow can stick around and melt for a couple of days and keep the clay roads impassable for a while. This applies to all vehicles, even 4wd, locked or not, a lot of the back roads out there have a sign that says "IMPASSABLE WHEN WET". If you've never driven on wet clay it can get scary, the clay sticks to the rubber and turns tires into donuts and you lose traction+steering and can start to fish tail. Wet clay shelf roads turn suicidal under the right conditions. A year or 2 ago I was on the AZ/Utah border and one of the locals in Page, AZ game some Dutch tourists bad advice. It had been raining on and off for a week or so and they were told to take Cottonwood Canyon Road through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. That road has A LOT of clay sections, they got their Hyundai stuck on a downhill 250ft stretch of wet clay, the sheriff ended up yanking them out with a snatch strap.

Cathedral Valley loop has a short section of switch backs on the northside of a cliff (near the back country campground) and while the rest if the loop may be snow free, there maybe 12+ inches on the switch backs. Can make it sketchy/suicidal depending on the conditions. When I saw it first hand I was going up the switch backs and the spun my tires going up the whole way. Going downhill would be sketchy, lose traction and you might slide off the cliff. If you go I would recommend chains just in case so you can drive through areas like that without putting yourself+truck at risk.

Don't let that discourage you though, winter can be a great time to visit, no bugs and way less people around, especially in Capitol Reef, you might not see anyone else in cathedral valley for the entire loop. Just be prepared for the cold and keep an eye on the weather prior to the trip so you know what to expect on the back roads and you'll have a great time.

 

We did that trip years ago in a 91 xj. Lifted it just for the trip then loaded it down with so much it still drug and rubbed. LoL.

The Canyonlands require you to remove all human waste FYI. We took a mini potty. They also "require x gallons of water per person per day. We had to wait about 3 hours for our back country permit as we entered at a more remote area. We over packed so badly it was pitiful, and that was in early spring. I'll never forget that trip. It was amazing. Hope you have a blast.

Definitely hike up to delicate arch at sun down and drive through arches park after dark. Very cool!

 

It will be really cold at night and lots of snow. Be prepared to change your route...a few times if you are thinking about getting in the back country. NPS closes a lot of roads to keep naive drivers from getting in over their heads. It is beautiful and no very many people around just be prepared if you aren't used to snowy off road driving and since it looks like you are from SoCal and probably not used to this type of driving just use caution.

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Sounds like an awesome trip. keep us updated.

 

Sounds like an awesome trip! I was planning to do Arches, Bryce, and Zion last December. Ended up only doing Bryce and Zion. -7 at night in Bryce and 13 in Zion. Was looking at doing similar trip to what you are doing this December.

 

I definitely will. I'm planning on taking a whole lot of video and photos too.

Damn that is really cold... On the way home we're doing a night in Bryce maybe I'll leave that info out when talking to wife...

 

Sounds like an awesome trip. Will be waiting for the trip report. Wish I was going myself. Be careful and have fun.
I love TW because when you ask for help or advice you always get it.

 

bump

 

You sure know how to make the rest of us jealous !!!

Great video. Congratulations on your trip. Looking forward to part 2.

 

Thanks a lot. I should have 2nd half up tomorrow.

 

2nd half of the video is up.