Spring Break in UTAH!!!

[cloudrunner]

You guys living out West are so lucky to have such awesome wheeling country. For years I have been reading your posts about your treks to Moab, drooling over your photos. Here, in sunny Florida, the only hills you see are derived from landfills. We do have some off-road trails, but they are mostly flat with no obstacles other than some sugar sand and the occassional mud puddle... not very exciting.

Last week I finally got to have a little taste of what is sure to be any Overlanders dream come true.

Allow me to digress... I originally planned a family vacation for me, my wife and our 7 year old daughter to Park City, UT to teach my little girl how to snow ski. Once we arrived in Salt Lake City, I approached the rental car counter and politely asked if they had any SUV's with 4 wheel drive as we were going to be driving up to the mountains. My only option was a 4 cylinder Hyundai Santa Fe, however, it did have 4 wheel drive so I took it.

We arrived on a Saturday and the following Monday the forecast called for a 90% chance of rain. Rather than hang around at the resort all day, I asked my wife if she would be up for a road trip south to see Arches National Park and she agreed to make the 250ish mile trek... SCORE!!!

Once we arrived we were instantly taken back by the beauty of the Park. The rock formations are simply breathtaking and I really wish we had more than just a few hours to explore. I did notice a few offroad trails, but I really didn't want to test the limits of the Hyundai as I am sure we wouldn't have made it very far. I was not trying to ruin what turned out to be one of the best days of our vacation by getting stuck. At that points I was really missing my 4runner.

On our way home, we stopped at a place called Daniel's Lodge and had a terrific steak dinner. It was here that I noticed a brochure for a company that rents FJ Cruisers and Jeeps with 33" tires and 3 inch lift kits that you can wheel throughout Moab. I am going to plan a return trip with a few friends next year so that we can camp and spend a few days exploring the area... this time the right way, off-road.

Here are a few photos that I took with my DSLR in the Park. I am so... envious of those of you that live just a few hours away from such beautiful countyside. Enjoy it for those of us that are stuck on the crummy east coast.

 

[cloudrunner]

Here's one more...kinda reminds me of those big stone heads on Easter Island

 

[ecally]

Nice pics. I saw a good bit of Utah last summer on vacation with my family. What a beautiful place. Totally a change of pace from life in the east. I really love it out there. Neat scenery, long views, fresh air, room to roam.

 

[wadle5]

Awesome!

I can't put into words how excited I am to take my wife down here in about 2 months. we have 2 weeks with no schedule!!:tea:

 

[HOJeepster]

I highly recommend you check out the White Rim Trail road.

 

[cloudrunner]

Awesome!

I can't put into words how excited I am to take my wife down here in about 2 months. we have 2 weeks with no schedule!!:tea:

You are so fortunate. There is so much to see and do in that part of the country. I could spend a week in Arches alone!

 

[wadle5]

I highly recommend you check out the White Rim Trail road.

We were looking into that since it was so close.

You are so fortunate. There is so much to see and do in that part of the country. I could spend a week in Arches alone!

Yes. We are excited have bought a bunch of trail books, and now I just need to mount my RTT. But yes we are ready to go and do nothing and get away from everything. I guess my question now that you have run this. Do you think a few rotopax are necessary? Or if we ventured in to town every 2 days or so we should be fine?

 

[cloudrunner]

We were looking into that since it was so close.



Yes. We are excited have bought a bunch of trail books, and now I just need to mount my RTT. But yes we are ready to go and do nothing and get away from everything. I guess my question now that you have run this. Do you think a few rotopax are necessary? Or if we ventured in to town every 2 days or so we should be fine?

Arches is about 20 miles or so from gas and food. You can fill water container's at the Welcome Center, but that's it. If you fill your tank prior to venturing off you should be okay for a few days.

 

[Mikey01]

Go play on the east end of capital reef np, I think it's a better place then Moab

 

[Mikey01]

 

[barunling]

I saw a good bit of Utah last summer on vacation with my family.

 

[wadle5]

How difficult were the trails out there for your rig?

 

[cloudrunner]

I saw several lifted FJs, Tacomas and Jeeps on 35's out there, so I am pretty sure the trails range from mild to extreme. There are also paved roads winding throughout the park, so you don't necessarily have to go off-road if you don't want to.

 

[Bigrupp]

I'm going the week of the 12th. Only a week and a half away and I already can't sleep I'm so excited.

 

[txclimber]

Arches is about 20 miles or so from gas and food. You can fill water container's at the Welcome Center, but that's it. If you fill your tank prior to venturing off you should be okay for a few days.

Arches NP is actually on right outside of Moab, no more than 1-2 miles from gas or food. You must be thinking of Canyonlands NP (Island in the Sky), which is a little ways away.

Canyonlands NP (Needles District) is even more remote, about 50 miles from Moab. However there is a privately ran "Needles Outpost" near the entrance that sells fuel. Expect to pay a premium.

 

[Mikey01]

How difficult were the trails out there for your rig?

It will do more then I will with no problems, there are a few shelves to step down, deep sand, and rivers.

 

[ecally]

I just got back from the Maze District of Canyonlands. Holy cow did I have a good time. I rented a lifted Jeep because I flew out. If you take your Runner down Flint Trail it better have a lift. The rock ledges were pretty high. Numerous tight switchbacks also. What a beautiful place.

 

[CXS]

How difficult were the trails out there for your rig?

There's something for everyone - easy to extreme. I'm heading there on Monday with a friend. The only sure thing we'll run is Fins & Things and Hell's Revenge. After that we're going to do some trails we've never done before.

I'll try to remember to post some pics on my return.

 

[cloudrunner]

It is cool to see this thread revived from last April. Just so happens my wife and I were deep into a discussion yesterday about how much we loved Utah and can't wait to go back. I would love to own a little cabin out there

Looking forward to seeing more pictures from those of you that visit in the future.

 

[toyo]

Four of us are heading out to Yellowstone, Utah and CO this week from Atlanta. I am going to show the others around YP as they have never been. Then we will be heading into Utah. Not 100% sure if we are doing Moab again as we have done it twice in the last year. Then we will go over to CO and hit Black Bear Pass and some other places.