Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 05-25-2015, 02:11 PM   #21
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,222
Re: Summer trip planning, CO/AZ/UT/WY

Stan, thanks for the suggestion. We've been there and love it. Her idea is to bypass it this time, but I could spend a day there. Unbelievable place!

Photographix, White Pocket. Noted. I'll check it out.

86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-27-2015, 04:42 PM   #22
Senior Member
 
Pschitt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 1,018
Garage
Re: Summer trip planning, CO/AZ/UT/WY

Hi Eric,

Just came to your thread now, sorry.

In the Page / West Lake Powell area, they are really many opportunities to see natural wonders!

About the Wave, it could be difficult. As you already know, you've to take part to a lottery which takes part every morning at 8:30 at the visitor center in Kanab. They are only 10 permits available each day and if you're hoping for four, you've to be really very lucky. I wouldn't advice you to try to get one even alone, had to try 17 times to get my first one..!

But they are so many other spots to see ! Both lower and upper Antelope Canyon are easy to visit. You need to pay a fee to the Navajo Nation for visiting their land but you can do it on two hours.

If you want to see another very spectacular spot, go to White Pocket, on Vermillion Plateau. In my opinion, it's really worth to see, almost as spectacular as the Wave. No permit needed to access to, just remember that it's a quite sandy trail and you'll have to air down your tires. You can camp at the end of the road, the place is great.

Another spectacular spot is Cobra Arch, natural arch that looks like kind of cobra head. From the end of the access trail, an about one and a half hour hike to get to in a gorgeous landscape. I can give you GPS coordinates if you plan to go to since it's to so easy to find.

They are also two sites of Hoodoos. One is right next to the road from Page to Kanab, the other at the end of a side trail of the Cotonwood Road, then an about two mile hike in a large wash.

Cotonwood road is worth to drive once. Various landscape and many thinks to see along: Yellow Rock, Grosvenor Arch, Kodachrome Basin and several canyons, some with water flowing year round. It leads you right down Bryce Canyon.

These are some ideas, let me know if you want more information or other ideas!

Claude-Alain
__________________
Travelling in VivaLaVida (custom 2010 6.0 Ford E-350 Extended with U-Joint 4WD conversion)
Pschitt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-27-2015, 06:29 PM   #23
Senior Member
 
BrianW's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 4,198
Re: Summer trip planning, CO/AZ/UT/WY

I'm following this thread with interest now, too. We're heading out for a month from mid-June to mid-July (likely 6/19-7/19) from Philadelphia. The "plan" right now is to head out to Colorado, explore some there, then up to Yellowstone for a few days. From there we will either head over to Seattle area to see some friends and then loop back through B.C. to Banff/Jasper, then down to Glacier NP, Little Bighorn, and then home.

A lot of miles, yes, but we did this two years ago (one month, 8,000 miles) and it worked out fine and we had plenty of time to stop and see things, too.

We'll be in our white 2WD EB SMB with the big, blue "hockey stick" stripe on the side and PA tags. Say hi if you see us! I hope to do a blog or at least post some regular updates here in a new thread.

Attached Thumbnails
photo 3.JPG  
BrianW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-30-2015, 08:10 AM   #24
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,222
Re: Summer trip planning, CO/AZ/UT/WY

I need to properly update this thread with our latest plans, but those are in my wife's possession.........somewhere. I can update that we will probably NOT be coming through Denver. Our goal is to get further southwest sooner and not spend time in the city. Google maps cuts off about an hour for us if we cut off of I-70 well east of Denver and go through Pueblo to 50, which will put us right where we want to be, starting with some exploring around Black Canyon of the Gunnison and then on down to the Ouray/Silverton/Durango area. If any of you Denver folks (or anyone) would like to get together down on 50 towards Gunnison let us know. We would still love to meet up with some of you! We have found some pretty spectacular places off of 50.
We will be in the area of Gunnison and working our way down to Durango on the weekend of June 20/21. We plan to spend a day offroad going over Imogene Pass to Telluride. From there we're motivated to get further west to Monument Valley and some of the canyons around Page, and most definitely headed to White Pocket. Then on to Zion within the next few days. If anyone wants to get together in this area let me know. We'd really love some company for our Imogene Pass run.

To be continued......

86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-30-2015, 08:15 AM   #25
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,222
Re: Summer trip planning, CO/AZ/UT/WY

BrianW, it sounds pretty likely that we might cross paths. Our 'destinations' are Zion for 2-3 days and then up to the Tetons for 2-3 days. Everything else is 'on the way'. If you are in the area I just posted about I strongly recommend you rent a Jeep for a day (+/- $150) and check out the trails around Ouray and Silverton. Heck, join us for a great loop over Imogene Pass! We first did this in a Jeep and doing it in the van will be a fun time.

86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2015, 10:05 PM   #26
Senior Member
 
GrumpyBadger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Los Alamos, NM
Posts: 247
Re: Summer trip planning, CO/AZ/UT/WY

Quote:
Originally Posted by 86Scotty
We will be in the area of Gunnison and working our way down to Durango on the weekend of June 20/21. We plan to spend a day offroad going over Imogene Pass to Telluride. From there we're motivated to get further west to Monument Valley and some of the canyons around Page, and most definitely headed to White Pocket.
To be continued......


I'll be in Vegas till the afternoon of the 21st... might consider popping down to the Silverton / Durango area if you will still be around there on the 22nd (assuming Vegas or my intended birthday brewery crawl on that Sunday don't kill me).

I was out to the approaches to White Pocket a couple months ago... the ranger I talked to warned me about the sandy road, so be prepared / able to handle that. I didn't go out there, but I know others with more SMB experience have. I don't have the equipment or knowledge of self-recovery from sand like that, so I played it safe and stayed out of it since I was alone.

Out of Zion, I recommend heading over to Bryce (Cedar Breaks is cool too if you have the time), and then on from there on Hwy 12 from Henrieville to Torrey, and then 24 through Capitol Reef and on up to Green River (gets a little tedious north of Hanksville, but Hwy 12 is gorgeous!). If you find yourself needing to overnight between Hanksville and Green River, I recommend shooting off of 24 on Temple Mountain Rd (the turn off to Goblin Valley; stay on Temple Mtn and drive off into the deserts beyond the branch to Goblin Valley). The Cathedral Valley loop in Capitol Reef is a nice diversion from pavement, but be careful of the bentonite clay (if it's wet, it's grease).

A note about camping in and around the Tetons and Yellowstone... finding free overnight spots can be a little irritating, especially in tourist season. The parks require you to be in campgrounds which fill up every day (strongly suggest reservations!!) and many of the roads that are technically in the immediately surrounding national forests are posted against camping / overnighting. There are some nice free campsites with pit toities along the Grassy Lake Rd out of Flagg Ranch in the Rockefeller Parkway, but they are first-come / first serve and there aren't many. Off season they are nice and quiet! There are also a number of campgrounds just outside the parks, but the private ones are stupid expensive, probably require reservations, and are irritating. There are some NFS campgrounds as well, but they may fill up. I try to hide away from campgrounds in general, but in Yellowstone I cough up the cash and get reservations at the park campgrounds because it is a bit of a drive into the park from the borders.

Hope some or all of that is of some use to you guys from back east. Give me a shout if you have any questions... I've been around those areas recently and might be able to be of use to you.
__________________
Rock on,
Steve
- - - - - - - - - -
2014 Ford RB
SMB 4x4
GrumpyBadger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2015, 10:14 PM   #27
Senior Member
 
GrumpyBadger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Los Alamos, NM
Posts: 247
Re: Summer trip planning, CO/AZ/UT/WY

Quote:
Originally Posted by 86Scotty
We have found some pretty spectacular places off of 50.


I really like the Cimarron Valley drive from the Blue Mesa area - turn off 50 at Pleasant Valley onto the Cimarron Rd to Silverjack Reservoir and over Owl Creek Pass to Ridgeway (and then on down to Ouray). Stop in the True Grit gunfight meadow and feel the ghost of The Duke!
__________________
Rock on,
Steve
- - - - - - - - - -
2014 Ford RB
SMB 4x4
GrumpyBadger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2015, 04:52 PM   #28
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,222
Re: Summer trip planning, CO/AZ/UT/WY

Thanks Steve, that looks like a great detour! We were thinking we'd probably resupply and fuel in Montrose, but I suppose since it's just the two of us this year we can get what we need in Gunnison and be good until Durango or so. Fuel is easier to find than food in this area in my experience, anyway.
Do you mean 850 to 8 from the Silverjack Reservoir, and probably then 10 to Ridgeway?

Thanks
Eric
86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2015, 05:05 PM   #29
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,222
Re: Summer trip planning, CO/AZ/UT/WY

Teton questions: We're probably going to come in to the Jackson/Teton area on 89 and stay at one of the many river side campgrounds south of Jackson. We aren't planning on needing any lodging IN Jackson, and will probably stay up on Shadow Mountain instead. I remember some talk of some good quiet places north or east of Moran Junction, off pavement. Can anyone elaborate on some boondock spots (PM if you'd rather)? We can always rely on Lizard Creek if we need to since it's usually easy to get in there late in the day. We don't want to spend a lot of time researching campgrounds or changing our plans each day to secure a site. Since it's just the two of us we'd rather just pull in somewhere when we get tired of sightseeing.

Am I thinking of Pacific Creek CG?

86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2015, 09:28 PM   #30
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Durango, Colduhrado
Posts: 685
Re: Summer trip planning, CO/AZ/UT/WY

Quote:
Originally Posted by 86Scotty
Thanks Steve, that looks like a great detour! We were thinking we'd probably resupply and fuel in Montrose, but I suppose since it's just the two of us this year we can get what we need in Gunnison and be good until Durango or so. Fuel is easier to find than food in this area in my experience, anyway.
Do you mean 850 to 8 from the Silverjack Reservoir, and probably then 10 to Ridgeway?

Thanks
Eric
You should see lots of signs for Silverjack rez and just follow those. You will also see lots of signs for Owl Creek Pass which will be Ouray county road 10 which will take you to Ridgeway. Durango... I live there so come on down.
__________________
All things being equal - fat people use more soap.
eddyturn is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:00 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.