We drove from Dukes campground through the Capitol Reef canyon (not enough time to stop other than a panoramic view stop) to Fishlake. What a magical place of Aspen and alpine lake. It was so charming, we got our paddle boards out and went in the lake for the evening. We stayed over night at Dr. Creek Campground right at the lake and in between aspens for $15. We even got to do a camp fire. The pictures don’t do this place justice – it was absolutely magical!
Today’s lesson: Robert Frost had it right: “I doubted if I should ever come back. I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” We went to Fishlake on a whim and it almost turned around because it was so far off the beaten track – we are so glad we pushed on!
Today we followed a suggestion of the Utah visitor center and stopped at the Little Wild Horse Trailhead to head into the amazing slot canyon. One of our favorites this far. Parts of the canyon were so tight, we had to walk sideways to make it through. It’s technically a 8 mile loop but many (including us) just complete the 3 mile there-and-back Little Wild Horse Trail. Make sure to stay right so you hit the most amazing parts of the loop. We drove on to stop at our second paid camping ground in Hanksville, UT at Dukes Slickrock Campground ($35/night, full hockups)
Today’s lesson: don’t be shy to talk to the locals. We stopped at the Utah Welcome Center off I-70 and the sweet lady at the counter have us some of the most amazing tips and ideas on how to spend our days in Utah! We would have never found the Little Wild Horse Canyon without her.
We love our Bote SUP boards. We’ve gotten already so much good use out of them! Today, we tried them on the Colorado River, by Moab, UT. After calling a couple of local tour operator companies, we found one that agreed to shuttle us back to the put-in spot after parking the RV. Wild West Voyages agreed to shuttle one of us and also told us where to put in and pull out so we’d avoid any white water rafting. We spent about 2 hours on the river and had a beautiful view of the canyons around us. Highly recommended.
If you don’t have your own SUP boards, there are several outfitters in Moab that offer tours for all levels – ranging from flat water to white water rafting.
Today’s lesson: many small outfitters are flexible and want you to enjoy the area – even if it’s off-the-menu…never hurts to ask!
We left our awesome Discovery Center spot and left for a visit to the Arches National Park.
After entering the park, there is one main, parked road for cars. It stretches for 18 miles and dead ends at the Devils Garden. The scenic drive takes about 30 min by car, without any stops. Along the road are many, many opportunities to stop and take one of the recommended hikes. Make sure you pick up a park map at the entrance – it comes with an organized list of recommended hikes and tours. We decided to hit the Double Arches (very short hike of 0.6 miles) and the Windows Arches Trail (about 1.5 miles). Both trails share the same parking lot, about half way into the park. At the Windows, we took the primitive trail which is a bit longer, a lot more fun – and much, much less crowded. We left the arches to find a BLM spot at the Willow springs Trail. Just 15 min from the park. We returned the following afternoon to drive all the way up to the Devils Garden, a beautiful drive. Unfortunately, we ran out of daylight and only got to hike into the “Garden” for a before turning around and heading up North.
Tips:
– purchase an annual pass for $80 if you plan on visiting multiple National Parks (or plan to return to a park the next day).
– the Arches is not a great park for bicycling. You may ride your bike on the paved, main street but it’s a busy and shared road with no marked bike lane.
– come in the early am or late afternoon. It’s a busy park! Consider taking the “primitive” trails or tackle trails counter-clock wise to beat the crowds.
The drive from our camping spot to Canyonlands alone was incredible. We took 191 to 211 and made it to the Needles Visitor Center within an hour. We stopped for lunch (sandwiches in the RV) at the “Newspaper Rock Site” and saw some 2000 year old drawing.
Pit stop at the Newspaper Rock Site
Once we arrived at the Canyonlands National Park, we entered the Canyonlands at the Needles side (south East side). There are two parts to Canyonlands – the Needles and the Island in the sky, accessible from Moab. We decided to see the Needles area. The entrance booth was empty but we dropped $20 in the box. There is a needles visitors center but we drove on to the first hiking location – Cave Spring Trail (See All Trail). The trail is a short (0.6 mile) loop trail but extremely fun. It leads past an old Cowboy Camp, through some caves that were used for shelter by humans for thousands of years who left their marks and up two wobbly ladders. We took our time exploring and completed the loop in an hours time.
Cave Spring Trail
From there we drove on to complete a longer hike on the Slick Rock Trail (See All Trails) – a 2.4 mile loop that took us about 1.5 hours. The loop offered 360 degree views of the canyon and the needles from afar. A great hike over “moon and Mars” rock.
Slick Rock Trail
Both hikes had very few other visitors despite it being a Sunday. It was breezy but warm at 80 degrees. We left Canyonlands towards Monticello (45 min drive), where we dumped and refilled at Maverick gas station and stayed at the Canyon Country Discovery Center parking lot (found it via Harvest Host).
Canyon County Discovery Center (Harvest Host Overnight Spot)
We made it to Utah! We refilled our fridge and fresh water tank in the little town of Moab, UT right by the Arches National Park. It’s Friday – and the night before a “no fees for National Park” Day and finding a spot to stay turned out to be a real struggle. After a few very stressful hours of pulling in and out of filled camping spots, in the pitch dark, we finally found a spot almost an hour south of Moab. We don’t realize until the next morning that we got the winning ticket: our free, BLM spot in the middle of nowhere is perfection. The kids call it “staying on the moon” – we parked in the middle of a huge rock formation. We are all alone and it’s blissfully deserted. We stay far away from any park on Saturday and decide it’s time for some housekeeping…cleaning and laundry. We stay for two nights before leaving to our next adventure spot: Canyonlands.
Today’s lesson: chores need to be done – even if you are on vacation. Or staying on the moon 😜
