Dusty days in southern Utah

What follows is a record of the adventure my girlfriend an I just got back from. May it inspire others to get out and explore!

We decided some months ago to take on a tour of southern Utah. Mainly to cross more of the National Parks off our list and in general just to get away from the hustle that is the Phoenix Valley. We recently did a trip to Grand Teton/Yellowstone NP where we camped for 7 nights in a row. We both agreed that a trip with that much camping might be a bit much for the amount of ground we were hoping to cover this time around. Which led us to grabbing cheap/cheaper hotels for this trip. Disappointing to some I'm sure but I don't think we would've had time to do half the things we did if we were setting up/breaking down camp every day.

We got on the road early on Saturday morning and headed north on the 17 out of Phoenix with plans to get breakfast in Flagstaff and see if we could find some aspens changing colors for the fall. Breakfast accomplished we set out towards Snowbowl. The crowds and lack of real heavy color change were disappointing on the mountain so we turned around and hit Hart Prairie Rd in hopes of at the very least getting away from most of the people. We ended up doing the whole route from AZ 180 (fort Valley Rd) to AZ 89. The weather was lovely, we weren't in any hurry, and the only congestion was from an Ultra Marathon that happened to be taking place.



Leaf peeping complete (so we thought) we continued our journey north on 89 with plans to do some paddling on Lake Powell. Jackie, my girlfriend, just bought herself a inflatable stand up paddle board so thats the new craze in her life. We were planning on renting another for me so we could get out on the water together. Turns out that everywhere in Page that rents requires pickup early in the day and we didn't show up till well into the afternoon. Jackie was disappointed and in a funk but I suggested that she go out and enjoy herself and I'd entertain myself tooling around with the new R/C rockcrawler that I just got talked into. She ended up thoroughly enjoying herself venturing a little way up antelope canyon before turning around so we could get back on the road. Funk avoided we headed towards Kanab, UT.



While enroute to Kanab we started looking for lodging only to discover that 80% of the places in town were booked full. Seemed strange for a random weekend in October but we chalked it up to it being a tourist season we weren't familiar with (we're recent transplants from Ohio). We found something acceptable, had dinner, and got to work planning our next day.

 

Day Two, Sunday!

We woke up and after a solidly mediocre hotel breakfast we left Kanab and headed north for the first stop of our day.

Sand caves, which are a few miles out of town on 89 heading north. There's trailhead parking off the road and an easy hike in a wash to a bit of a scramble on slick rock to the caves. No idea if these have a historical significance or not. Cool formations or excavations regardless. A little bummed about the graffiti but thats to be expected with a spot easily accessible and right off the road.




Stop number one complete we rolled a little way up the road to an OHV staging area that has a cool surprise at the end.

* Disclaimer * I will be intentionally vague with some details to try and preserve some of the magic left in some of these spots. More and more on our adventures we witness stupidity and entitlement from people in the outdoors. Littering and vandalism are growing issues as is abuse of the land.



Two stops down we headed towards our real goal, Bryce Canyon NP.
As we did the day before on our way to the last stop of the day we looked into booking a place to stay. This again turned out to be more difficult than we expected. We once again figured that it was just the norm and booked a small stand alone cabin in Tropic, UT. With a spot to sleep secured we were able to breathe a bit easier as we got closer to the park. What we weren't totally prepared for was the massive amount of people there at the park on a Sunday afternoon. It seemed strange but we once again assumed that because of the proximity to Zion NP it was reasonable that maybe the tourists would try and see two parks in one trip. We were after all planning to hit 5 parks total on our adventure.

Once in the park and after stopping at the visitor center to grab stickers and other souvenirs we agreed to see the sights that afternoon and do a hike the following morning. We immediately drove as far south in the park as we could then turned around and hit view points and trailheads as we desired on our way out of the park.


Our initial tour of the park complete we left the park and headed towards Tropic and our home for the night. Our little cabin was great and had a fantastic view East towards a ridge that rose up out of the surrounding terrain. Jackie said she wanted pizza and we proceeded to grab dinner. I had my face buried in my phone studying terrain and linking forrest roads together obsessed with the idea of getting us on top of the ridge we saw from our temporary backyard.

 

Day Three, Monday:

After a night of pretty decent sleep and a hearty breakfast of cold BBQ chicken pizza and cinna-sticks we dragged ourselves out of bed intent on putting some miles on our feet instead of our seats. The Mossy Cave Trailhead is only a few miles outside of the town of Tropic, back toward the park. We knocked out a quick 1.5 miles taking in the sights and the foreign tongues being spoken. Trailhead manners must be a bit different outside the USA because we grew tired of being good hosts and opted to get away from the masses before someones feelings got hurt. Instead of venturing deeper into the park we decided to go climb a mountain.


The peak that had distracted me last night was calling our name. Conveniently the route up to the peak of the ridge passed by a lake that gave Jackie the opportunity to get back on her SUP and go for a paddle. This time we traded off for a bit so I could check out the clear water and the epic scenery that we found ourselves in. The only other humans we saw were an older couple fishing quietly in their own little corner and a utility tech in his company vehicle bouncing along the forest road.



As magical as the lake was we packed up the board and started the climb up to 10,000ft. We clearly weren't going to miss seeing the aspens in their full glory by being out of town for a week.





The climb was easy, recently groomed two lane gravel. The final 3.5 miles out to the trailhead was a bit rougher. Narrow two track with mud holes scattered throughout, a few can be bypassed but not buy anything much bigger than a tacoma.

The reward though, the REWARD!




Absolute solitude at 10,200ft

Reality set in as the temperature started dropping and the wind picked up. Back into civilization we went. But first some of the better BBQ we've had since Jackie lived in Memphis. Then we made our way to Escalante, UT in the dark wondering what the next day would bring.

 

Thanks for sharing. I just got back from that area, Southern Utah is one of my favorite places in the US.

 

Wow! Great trip, great pics, great description. Good job, thanks for sharing.

 

Day Four, Tuesday:

Escalante was a bummer. The motel we booked pretty much sucked. I can understand the struggle of basing business around tourism, but some of our complaints were pretty flagrant laziness. Door trim missing, calcium (possibly bodily fluid) build up on the carpet near the bathroom, previous occupant's hair in the shower/sink/etc, blood stain on the sheets, refrigerator smelled like rotting food, and a miserably worn out mattress.
All this led to the two of us being in wonderful spirits when we woke up. Grouchy and crabby we threw all our gear back in the truck and left in search of breakfast.

Once somewhat fueled I made the decision to get us out to some scenery ASAP before funks turned into arguments. We rolled east on Hole-in-the-Rock Trail (BLM200) to the Devils Garden parking lot and got out to explore. we wandered around for an hour or two in quiet awe of the strange rock formations. This side quest managed to break the dark spell over us from the morning and we pushed on towards our main goal in much better spirits.



Together we decided to explore an alternate way into Capitol Reef NP, FR30168 aka Tantalus Flat between Boulder, UT and Torrey, UT will eventually lead you to the park boarder and South Draw Rd. The first couple miles were nothing serious, sand/dust and sections of baseball and softball sized rocks. The real fun starts just after the park boundary. Climbs and decents over uneven ground with off camber sections and rutted out tracks proved a little too much at times for Jackie. She elected to get out in a few spots to 'take pictures' and save me from having a women's size 9 hole to patch in the passenger side firewall. In true tacoma form, especially with my new King suspension set up, the truck made its way through with an almost boring level of confidence. The technical section spit us out into a wash which you follow for a mile or more before coming to the final obstacle a steep but very small creek crossing. With a small audience of other park guests looking on we dropped into the creek with a bit of a scrape and climbed right back out without even a little wheel spin.



We had made it into another National Park. In a way that I'm sure very few people have the pleasure of experiencing. The primitive park road eventually spit us out next to the entrance to Capitol Gorge, the site of some viral flash flooding videos that happened in June of 2022. Jackie (and I) was pretty desperate for a chance to stretch our legs so we went on a stroll down the canyon and marvel at the incredible area we found ourselves in.



Growing sleepy and hungry we wound our way out of the park and found ourselves in Hanksville, UT where we rented a great mini cabin and finally found out why it was so hard to find lodging and why there was so many damn people running around southern Utah.

The Eclipse! We somehow missed the memo and were completely unaware.

Highly recommend Duke's RV Park and the restaurant on property, Duke's Slickrock Grill. Best overnight and dining experience of the trip.

 

Awesome report and gorgeous scenery. Hope to do something like this in the not-too-distant future.

 

This is such a great Trip write up! So stoked you guys are here and got to explore some close gems! Amazing pics and thanks for keeping things secret. I know the GF and I are gonna plan something like this soon!

 

Day Five, Wednesday:

After being on the road for five days and not getting the greatest sleep we allowed ourselves a pretty lazy morning at Duke's RV Park. No alarms, vegging in bed, walking over to the restaurant for a proper hearty breakfast and the first decent cup of coffee since Flagstaff. We also were able to throw a load of laundry in since there were facilities in the park. Once fully awake we decided to run back to Capitol Reef to do a proper hike and hit the visitor center for our usual souvenirs.
The wind had picked up noticeably as we loaded the truck up and got on our way. I did pull rank and invoke the "driver privilege" to make a quick stop at a location that some fans of the late Ken Block might recognize. His death was a real bummer for me, the OG Gymkhana video that launched him into pop culture was a major part of me becoming a gearhead.



Somber moment over we cruised through the almost unbelievable landscape back west to the park entrance. Once we grabbed some stickers and a pin for Jackie we filled our water up and headed to Grand Wash and the trailhead for Cassidy Arch. Named after Butch Cassidy who, according to the signs in the park, allegedly had a hideout in the area. A brisk hike to get the blood moving and to remind me that my lungs definitely spent 35 years in Ohio. When we reached the arch the wind and ominous looking clouds had us turning around and heading back in a hurry. Rushing out of the canyon turned out to be a little bit of an over reaction but I'd rather be safe than sorry.



Some of the valley floor closer to the visitor center has fruit orchards that are being maintained by the NPS. according to signs these were originally planted by Mormon settlers. We did our best impression of basic white girls and picked an apple each to keep the doc away and said our goodbyes to Capitol Reef.



Time to head to Moab! Heading east out of the park the wind became apparent again. It seemed to have picked up and once we left the valley it really started blowing. Not sure what it gusted to but it was enough to become borderline dust storm conditions and blow me around when we stopped for gas in Hanksville.



The sky all around us seemed quite angry the whole way to Moab. The clouds did eventually decide to drop some rain on us when we were just a few miles out of town. Not enough to properly rinse all the dust and mud off the tacoma though. We checked into another 'OK' hotel and went and got some Margaritas and Mexican a few blocks from the hotel. Another day in the books we hopped in bed a bit early because day six was going to be a busy one.

 

Just don't tell everyone..........

 

Great pictures! The views are amazing!

 

Some of my sorta local turf.......recent pic

Jan-March is great time & no peeps

Temps & snow pack keep many away

 

OP

Colder than a mother in law's kiss up here now............

 

Thanks for the location, I've added it to my master AZ/UT map (I'm a map dork and love these kinds of challenges). We've been *close* to that place, but need to visit next time. Thanks for taking us along on your trip!

 

Nice Pics