djp98374

IIRC it’s in the path of the annular eclipse on Saturday October 14th that crosses capital reef/ escalante/ north part of Bryce, monument valley.

canolakid

Off Season in Utah National Parks with a Nevada pit stop

We like off season travel and have learned to roll with the unexpected- mostly weather related.

Our routing:
Las Vegas-St George- Moab-Springdale (Zion)-Las Vegas
St George stop broke the trip north after a long day of flying.

Moab was home base for 10 days. From here, we covered

• All the sections of Arches NP
• Canyonlands Island in the Sky (Needles was generally inaccessible due to icy roads)
• Hwy 128 N of Moab- amazing sites along the Colorado River including the Grandstaff Canyon;
• Potash (with excellent view from the roadways of the US DOE uranium mine tailings remediation project;
• the rather scary ascent of La Sal Mountain Loop Road after a snow fall.

Weather was cool, windy with unexpected snow squalls. So we took our time and thoroughly enjoyed the combo of drive- walk- drive.

After Moab area, we drove down to Springdale for 2 nights to tour Zion NP and area. Off season in Zion means you can drive your own car to the various trails. Unexpected: capacity limits on car entry due to the dearth of parking spots. And ice on the trails- something we did not experience as much further north. Parking restrictions generally lifted by mid afternoon which allowed us to see almost everything we want to see. It also allowed us time to experience the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel and the spectacular scenic views along this roadway.

Final stop to enjoy geology was Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada on our way back to LV. Yet another scenic drive with different features; and accessible hiking paths.

All in all, a great couple of weeks of relaxed touring of spectacular natural phenomena.

Other than Valley of Fire, all parks were accessible with the annual NP pass- a great investment of US$80.

amanuensis

I have to confess that despite living in Utah most of my life, I have never been to Arches or Canyonlands. I aim to change that this spring. My wife and I have tentative plans for a five day trip, which I thought I would run by you all for sanity checking. And for any gems that I am overlooking.

Day 1: Drive from SLC to Moab. See the scenic overlooks of the Islands in the Sky portion of Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point state park. (We will be doing very little hiking because of my wife's health issues.) Stay overnight in Moab.
Day 2: Do Arches National Park (again, mainly just the scenic overlooks from the paved roads). Drive to Lowry Pueblo in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and then to the monument's museum in Dolores, CO. Stay overnight in Cortez, CO
Day 3: Do Mesa Verde National Park. Then do the Million Dollar Highway/San Juan Skyway loop ending back in Cortez after passing through Durango and Silverton. https://www.roadtravelamerica.com/mi...hway-us550.htm. Stay overnight again in Cortez.
Day 4: Go from Cortez to Hovenweep National Monument. Then Edge of the Cedars State Park. Then Bears Ears National Monument and finally The Needles part of Canyonlands National Park (again, just what we can see from paved roads). Overnight in Moab.
Day 5: Drive from Moab to the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. Then drive to Fairview, Utah via a portion of the Energy Loop Scenic Byway. And then head back home to SLC.

If more time was available, I would have deviated to Montrose, CO while doing the San Juan Skyway loop and seen the sites near it, including Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and the Curecanti National Recreation Area. But that would have taken at least an extra day and I can only do five. Maybe next time.

Lost_Luggage_in_SEA

Much of this kind of thing is a matter of opinion, but these are mine, fwiw.

There's two "Needles" areas of Canyonlands. There's the Needles district with the Needles Visitor Center and there's the Needles Overlook. You shouldn't miss the Needles Overlook (a drive on a paved road from Hwy 191 between the turn-off to the Needles District (Hwy 221) and the turn-off to Island in the Sky north of Moab (Hwy 313). There's no hiking to do there but the view is great in the morning (the viewpoint faces west). I don't recall a lot of great views from the roads in the Needles District, however, but that may simply be my taste.

Although you can see the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde from the road, it's much more interesting IMO to visit the sites on a tour. Tours have to be booked on recreation.gov and you will need to read the description carefully to make sure your wife can handle any stairs or ladders. Tours start in May, I believe so there may not be any available when you visit. Not all the tours involve ladders but some do.

It's been several years since I've been to Hovenweep but I'm not sure how impressive it would be if you aren't going to take the 2 mile hike around it and saw Mesa Verde the previous day.

I would consider Natural Bridges National Monument, if you've never been and your wife could handle the short hikes to the bridges. The best bridge, IMO, is Owachomo and the hike is about 0.4 miles round trip. There isn't a reason to visit Natural Bridges if 0.4 miles is too long a hike.

It might be worth thinking about whether there are any short hikes your wife could do. I recommend the Mesa Arch loop in Canyonlands (0.6 miles total) for sunset or sunrise.

djp98374

when Arches requires timed admission…I think starting in April.

with canyonlands island district. You drive to parking areas and walk short distances to view points. There isn’t much there so have food and water with you. It’s about an hour drive from the turn off on 191 to park gates. Right before park gates you have dead horse point stste park entrance pull off. It’s also worth the visit and has a better view of the junction of the green river with Colorado.

in late afternoon the east looking views are better for pictures because of sun position behind you as is deadhorse.

meda arch while short is an uphill hike. Unsure if it can be done but worth doing.


Arches is easy drive and see. There are two big longer hikes for delicate arch and devils garden. Windows is rather easy short walk to get a closer look and see turrets arch.

on the way to cortez…turn into needles district and drive in about 10 or so miles to newspapervrovk. It’s at a narrow canyon point with a creek across the road snd a bunch of trees.

Mesa verde doesn’t really open up till mid April. It’s higher up in elevation thst the “ flat” level of cortez/ Durango. Iypts an archeological park so you should try to see the ruins on guided tours. Given issues in walking, cliff house and balcony house are harder because it involves stairs and ladders down a cliff. In summer roughly Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend weatherill Mesa is open and it’s main ruin for tours is a flat walk.

to do these three..you need to get reserved tickets thst cost a small fee like $5 per person or less. You can now get them online. Previously you had to go to the visitor center or cortez colirado tourism office to get tickets. The day before. Cortez was useful before they built a road side visitor center off 16 at park entrance. It used to be deep innthe park.

it’s about 45 minutes from park entry point to up the hill thrn to a fork innthe road 45 minutes at turn off to weathrill Mesa or 5-10 min to cliff or balcony parking. Just past this turn off you have the in park lodge, main visitor center, museums, gift shop.

you can only access cliff, balcony, and the one at westherill by ticket for a ranger led guide. There are non guide ones near visitor center.

durango to silverton road mainly goes down a valley innthe mountains. Silverton to ouray is a switchback mountain driving with high mountain pass and can still get snow.

Needles district with a 2 wheel drive is limited. You can do a Jeep tour out of Moab that takes all day.



Instead of back tracking….

I suggest something different….

day 1 drive to Torrey then go 24/95 to bluff, blanding area
day 2 explore thr area around as you mentioned ( hovenweep, Mon valley, bear ears, natural bridges)
day 3 to Moab via newspaper rock stop, late afternoon island in the sky east facing views and dead horse point SP
day 4 Arches ( May need admission pass)
day 5 am canyonlands island see west facing views, retutn home

with Moab… I suggest doing 3 days there. Order doesn’t matter but both parks have limited in park things unlike other parks in the west.
one day,— am island in sky west views, lunch moab, pm arches.
one day— reverse am arches, afternoon iskand in sky east views and dead horse point state park
one day— do a tour of some sort like on a 4x4 or a boat trip, pm see other things like needles overlook and newspaper rock
One day —could be doing a full day tour of needles if you don’t have a high clearance vehicle to do it yourself.

in spring, Moab has many weekend events because the temps are decent but not too hot with 90+ temps which limits your hiking to sunrise-11am and 3pm-sunset.




on a different trip in summer ( you could fly delta to grand junction)

day 1 drive to grand junction
day 2 see Colorado nm then black canyon Gunn np, night ouray
day 3 ouray area ( could do black canyon on this day)
day 4 million dollar to Durango or cortez
day 5 Durango and Mesa verde
day 6 drive to telluride to montrose to grand junction
day 7 return home

azepine00

overall waaaay too much driving even if you dont plan to do anything else

million dollar highway is better left out - spring time is not the best season but doing it in summer or early fall is amazing.. ouray is one my favorites with a large hot springs/pool complex and fall colors and summer wildflowers are very scenic.. telluride is very nice with free gondola - but again spring is not the best season

as noted spend more time near moab even if you dont hike - drive through castle valley, have sunset dinner at red cliffs lodge (or stay there) maybe take a tour on those oversize jeeps/trucks..
natural bridges require hiking - iirc there is not much to see there with mobility restrictions - arches, dead horse, canyonlands, capitol reef are much better..

overall even if you are not into activities just slow down, bring picnic with you and enjoy the ever changing views as sun goes up or down

amanuensis

Thanks everyone who helped me evolve my thinking. Here is Version 2 of the Great Spring Road Trip to Moab et al. Remember that we can do very little hiking.

Day 1, Drive from SLC to Moab, UT and on the way see Islands in the Sky part of Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point SP
Day 2, Arches NP and then drive to Blanding, Utah, seeing The Needles part of Canyonlands (just doing the paved road and stopping at overlooks)
Day 3, Edge of the Cedars SP, Bears Ears NM, Natural Bridges NM, Goosenecks SP, and Valley of the Gods, returning to Blanding (or maybe Monticello)
Day 4, Go to Grand Junction via scenic route (Colorado 141) and do Colorado National Monument. Stay in Grand Junction.
Day 5, Return to SLC scenically via Utah highways 10 and 31 and US 89.

Note that this cuts out Cortez, CO and Mesa Verde. We plan to do this trip in late March (before Moab gets crazy with tourists), so it just seemed the wrong time of the year for that leg. It also cuts out the Million Dollar highway loop, replacing it with CO 141 and Colorado NM.

Again, feedback is very much welcomed.

djp98374

on day 4 go UT 95to natural bridges nm, thrn to Torrey and Capitol reef.

save Colorado and grand junction as part of a loop for black canyon, gunnison, Durango, Mesa verde.

Lost_Luggage_in_SEA

Although Capitol Reef is very nice for hiking or driving on dirt roads, there's a limit to what you can see there purely from the paved road, iirc. Also, there may be little that is open in late March in Torrey. My recollection is being in Torrey one February and being the only person staying in the hotel plus there was a grand total of one restaurant open in Torrey on the day I was there.

I think Colorado National Monument is a good choice for someone travelling with a companion who can do very limited hiking. There are 16 stops along the road through Colorado NM that are viewpoints or point out something of natural/geological interest. Some of those involve a short walk (eg. 100 yards) but others are only a few feet from your car. There's also an excellent view from the back side of the Visitor Center and a walk you can take from there along the edge of the canyon with very scenic views the whole way.

kale73

Is your compass broken? From your proposed itinerary it sounds to me like you’re planning to visit Southeast Utah and Southwest Colorado.

The sites you’ve listed are all fine but I think you’re being overly ambitious for five days. Kudos for resisting any temptation to visit Four Corners from Cortez; it’s highly overrated and definitely not worth the $8 per person that Navajo Nation Parks is charging for admission.

amanuensis

Yes, my compass is totally broken.

I couldn't see the point of going to the Four Corners. It is not even in the right spot. Although amazingly accurate considering how primitive surveying was at the time.

https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/INFO/fourcorners.shtml

I am a professional genealogist, so I attend continuing education seminars from time to time. One of those seminars was a week-long deep dive into historical surveying methods since understanding how surveying was done can aid in understanding the plats created. And it is sometimes necessary to stitch plats together to reconstruct an entire neighborhood in order to understand where an ancestor resided relative to those neighbors who might be relatives.

Anyhow, I got to follow in the footsteps of George Washington and actually carry surveying chains and stretch them out. And use compasses that were NOT broken. As a result of that seminar, I have nothing but respect for those men who did the initial surveys of the West. I just don't see the need to actually have my body be located in four states at once.

By the way, kale73, you might have noticed that I did not include Monument Valley in my travel plans. From the posts on FT about it, I came to the conclusion that Valley of the Gods would be a better use of the limited time AND be much less crowded. What are your thoughts on that point? I remember going to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and being ready to leave a few minutes after arriving because all of the crowds and hucksters hovering vulture-like just outside of the park boundaries spoiled it for me. Which is part of why I chose Valley of the Gods instead of Monument Valley.

I am not opposed to buying items crafted by indigenous peoples. I just don't like bazaar atmospheres.

azepine00

perhaps decide on plans after day 3 based on the weather - 141 will not be pleasant if it rains and to my recollection mud and rocks can wash on the road in some places.. stay in bluff on nt 3 (bluff dwellings) then you can either go to torrey via hite crossing if the weather is iffy (open roads both panoramic and canyon scenery and likely dry even when it rains in CO) and can stay at capitol reef lodge on nt 4, or if it is late spring warm you can go through co 141 and perhaps stay at gateway canyons hotel rather than grand junction

on day 1 and 2 i would suggests one sunset at dead horse overlook and one over dinner at red cliffs lodge.. you can stay both nts in moab or mix moab, red cliffs lodge or castle valley b&b options.. day 3 morning explore moab area more before driving south to bluff..

in general for someone who has never been i would consider all 5 days in moab area - there are many day and side trips to keep you occupied and distances are significant...

djp98374

Last time I checked…Easter is on March 31. Many school districts tie school spring breaks to when easter is. If you are traveling around then you can get more travelers.

you can valley of gods, goose ends state park and monument valley

trying to do Colorado nm is out of the way for your short trip

kale73

I think you've chosen wisely. I've nothing against MV, but there are similar rock formations throughout the region.

Did you enter through Tusayan or Desert View? There are some roadside stands along the highway on the Reservation from Cameron to Desert View, but they aren't located on the last several miles before the park gate, which runs through the Kaibab National Forest. Actually now is a good time to visit the South Rim. Smaller crowds. More snow.

From Utah, especially, I recommend a visit to the North Rim. It's far less crowded and substantially less commercialized. The only problem is it's only open (usually) from mid-May thru Mid-October (or until snow closes the access road from Jacob Lake).

godawgs

Coming in to DEN for a wedding in April. We will have a free day for some hiking. What is reasonable to do on our free day? We would like something 4-12 miles or so. Estes?
The wedding and reception are in Parker/Lone Tree - looking to stay on Hyatt points so I am looking at just staying at a HP or HR Tech Center. Seems like too out of the way to stay at the Grand Downtown, right?