Southern Utah Trip - Need Advice!

[SteveTOaks]

If you're going to Escalante, you should hike some slot canyons. The ranger station just outside of town (to the west) can give you maps and directions. I've done the Spooky / Peek-a-boo Canyons loop a couple of times and it's a blast. The hike is only 2-3 miles and just a little further down Hole In The Rock Road than Devil's Garden. Here are a couple of photos:

Spooky Canyon


Peek-a-boo Canyon


You can see many more photos of the whole hike here, including of the Devil's Garden: Coyote and Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyons of Dry Fork Coyote Gulch, near Escalante Utah, in September 2011

Wherever you go, you'll have a blast. There's so much to see in Utah!

BTW, if you're going to hike any canyons, check the weather first to make sure there's no chance of rain anywhere uphill that could lead to flash floods.

[saline]

Not to mention many of the easy roads become impassable when saturated. It's like buttered duck sh*%!

[deserteagle56]

If you're starting off-highway at Big Water, getting to Alstrom Point shouldn't take long at all providing the roads are in decent shape. Last fall every little draw that crossed the main road going to Smoky Mountain road was washed out and needed to be crawled across. But the road branching off Smoky Mountain Road to Alstrom Point was in good shape.

[skyrat]

Originally Posted by saline

I just did White Rim about 3 weeks ago in my van. Awesome trip and we got the best campsite there is on the trail (White Crack).
I wouldn't recommend a 2wd van on the White Rim. It would do fine up until near Murphy's and Hardscrabble.

There's plenty to do outside of Moab. One of my favorite areas is west of there in the Robber's Roost country. I can point you towards routes and campsites if you're interested.

I agree, better to stay away from a loop on WRR with 2WD.
White Crack Campsite is awesome though. We planned our trip around it. One site, by itself, and no one else for miles.


Airport sunrise wasn't bad either...

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by bemerritt

Any advice on the area in general would be great. But we are mainly looking to get on as many backroads as possible, get away from people and drink beer. A couple hikes here and there and a touristy day or two would be good as well.

4

If you want to get away from the madhouse of traffic, campgrounds, motor homes, tenters, and bike riders, I can't recomend Temple mountain highly enough. It's not far from Goblin valley, which was like daycare at Disneyland. About an hours drive from there, you begin to head up the mountain, past all the campers until you finally leave them all behind. We found an amazing (free) campsite at the top of the mountain and had it all to ourselves with stunning views in every direction. From there you can put together an all day loop that includes abandoned mines, old buildings, spectacular scenery, easy driving on smooth dirt roads, wildlife, and few if any people. We hit three of the big four parks, and this loop was far better in our minds, but I hate trying to enjoy the scenery amid the crush of humanity.

[bemerritt]

Thanks for all of the tips. After a conference call last night we decided to forego the arches/canyonlands/moab leg and spend more time around lake powell and Escalante. Also sticking to more off the beaten path type stuff.

Definitely going to go t spooky canyon now. If anyone has some good powell spots, closer to the water than alstrom point, let me know!