The Grand Circle of the Utah and western Colorado National Parks

[RVwife]

Yup, I'm in the information overload stage of planning a trip to the many National Parks and monuments in Utah and western Colorado for basically the month of April and early May. I'd love feedback and advice from any of you who have done this trip or live in the area.

As of now I'm thinking of starting at the Colorado NM and traveling counter clockwise to
Arches/Moab area,
Cayonlands,
Capital Reef,
Grand Staircase,
Bryce,
Zion,
Bears Ears,
Monument Valley,
Hovenweep,
Canyon of the Ancients,
Mesa Verde,
Black Canyon of the Gunnison & Curecanti NRA
and a number of smaller highligts/museums, etc

Of course, I've already missed the registration window for NPS campgrounds at the bigger parks. They are all full. I'm in the process of seeking out other nearby CGs such at state park or national forest sites. Also considering dispersed BLM camping.
What have you folks found? Dispersed camping is a foreign experience to us. Not really a thing where we have traveled in the past. Is it safe and reliable enought to find a spot for a night or two? Are the (likely rare) horror stories true? We are no strangers to dry camping in organized CGs, so that is not an issue.

Do I really need to lock in as many reservations beforehand/now or will we find enough decent spots (that aren't another Cracker Barrel) if we fly a bit by the seat of our pants?

One plus I see in not having all the CGs pre-arranged is that snow can still put a monkey wrench in some park openings/activities at this time of year. We'd have more freedom to just move on down the road to something else interesting if need be.

Any favorite CGs to reommend that won't be totally full already?

How hard is it to get into some of the FCFS/no reservation park CGs? Are they a viable option?

Part of me is inclined to shell out the big $$$ for a few resort CGs near the more popular parks - Zion & Arches in particular - to make sure we can fully enjoy our times there.

We are also strongly considering taking tours at Monument Valley, Canyonlands, and Arches in order access the deeper parts of those sites, since we don't have a 4WD vechicle along and the MH can't do some of their roads. Anyone done a tour you would particularly recommend (or not recommend, PM me)?

How about the Durango to Silverton Narrow Guage train ride? Worth it or not so much?

Well that is a lot of questions. Will greatly look forward to and appreciate your comments & suggestions. TIA.

 

[ducksface]

If you're a train person then take the Silverton train.
If a train isn't anything but a train to you;
We drove from Durango to Silverton (actually farmington to Moab) a month or so ago.
It's the same view types as on the train.

We never make reservations and never have a problem finding somewhere.
But
We do not travel when others do so ymmv.

 

[Beau388]

You missed Kodachrome Basin SP in Cannonville, UT. Try for ranger #3 campsite. Durango to Silverton, is a good fairly short ride; lunch in Silverton is good but not great.

If you want a taste of the old 3 ft narrow gauge, Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RR is a much better and longer. I recommend you stay at Sky Mountain Resort Park near Chama, NM, The C & T main yard is in Chama. The train climbs 4 thousand feet to Cumbres Pass (10,015 ft) at speed of about 9 mph. Lunch is served at the restaurant owned by the RR at the Pass. If more than 4 coaches, the train is double headed (two engines). After lunch, it is 4 hour trip to Antonito, CO where the RR bus takes all back to Chama. The last time I road the C & T, Sky Mountains carried us to the RR depot and picked up at the station on our return. This route is part of the original Denver and Rio Grande right of way.

 

[blw2]

A few years back we did part of that loop on a Grand Canyon RV trip...We did Page AZ, monument valley then Mesa Verda.

After your Zion stop, a nice place we ended up staying a couple nights after the Grand Canyon was at Page AZ, called Wahweap on Lake Powel

One place I had mapped out to stay a night was Goosenecks Camground in Mexican Hat, UT. We ended up driving past because our timing was off and it was too early to stop for the night. I still regret it based on the photos. In fact just last week we were on a car trip visiting Zion and I mentioned that place to my wife.

After Mesa Verde, we went to Durango. Nice town but not friendly for overnighting in an RV... so we moved on. Our next stop is a bit out of your loop, but if you do happen down that way, we stumbled across Aztec Ruins National Monument. Not a big place but it was a real surprise and worth doing in my opinion if you're not too far from it.

Another place that's a bit off your loop that we found last week on our trip from Vegas to Zion was Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. Pretty great area and camgrounds to boot... we were in a car on that trip so we didn't get into it but did take a casual looks see at one of the campgrounds. the sites I looked at though probably wouldn't work for really big rigs bit were fine for small and medium rigs.


One more comment about missing out on reserving sites in the bigger parks. At the Grand Canyon when we went I had reservations, but a fairly last-minute schedule change bumped our trip so we lost our reservation. That was a blessing in disguise, big time! We ended up staying at some of the best spots we've ever stayed at in the RV off-grid out in the national forest. Back in those days I used a website reference called Allstays to find spots

 

[Mark54]

Yup, I'm in the information overload stage of planning a trip to the many National Parks and monuments in Utah and western Colorado for basically the month of April and early May. I'd love feedback and advice from any of you who have done this trip or live in the area.

As of now I'm thinking of starting at the Colorado NM and traveling counter clockwise to
Arches/Moab area,
Cayonlands,
Capital Reef,
Grand Staircase,
Bryce,
Zion,
Bears Ears,
Monument Valley,
Hovenweep,
Canyon of the Ancients,
Mesa Verde,
Black Canyon of the Gunnison & Curecanti NRA
and a number of smaller highligts/museums, etc

Of course, I've already missed the registration window for NPS campgrounds at the bigger parks. They are all full. I'm in the process of seeking out other nearby CGs such at state park or national forest sites. Also considering dispersed BLM camping.
What have you folks found? Dispersed camping is a foreign experience to us. Not really a thing where we have traveled in the past. Is it safe and reliable enought to find a spot for a night or two? Are the (likely rare) horror stories true? We are no strangers to dry camping in organized CGs, so that is not an issue.

Do I really need to lock in as many reservations beforehand/now or will we find enough decent spots (that aren't another Cracker Barrel) if we fly a bit by the seat of our pants?

One plus I see in not having all the CGs pre-arranged is that snow can still put a monkey wrench in some park openings/activities at this time of year. We'd have more freedom to just move on down the road to something else interesting if need be.

Any favorite CGs to reommend that won't be totally full already?

How hard is it to get into some of the FCFS/no reservation park CGs? Are they a viable option?

Part of me is inclined to shell out the big $$$ for a few resort CGs near the more popular parks - Zion & Arches in particular - to make sure we can fully enjoy our times there.

We are also strongly considering taking tours at Monument Valley, Canyonlands, and Arches in order access the deeper parts of those sites, since we don't have a 4WD vechicle along and the MH can't do some of their roads. Anyone done a tour you would particularly recommend (or not recommend, PM me)?

How about the Durango to Silverton Narrow Guage train ride? Worth it or not so much?

Well that is a lot of questions. Will greatly look forward to and appreciate your comments & suggestions. TIA.

We did the 'Mighty Five" (minus Zion) last spring- no reservations, just took off in our RV.
Goblin Valley SP is a must and they have an overflow area out by the entrance- no charge. Just Boondock. Very nice area. (1st pic) But we have 600A battery and solar, so we can do 4-5 days w/o plugging in.
We found that we could just drive thru Arches, Grand Staircase, and Capital Reef and see what we needed- get out and look, take pics, etc.
We got a spot at Mesa verde that was not overly occupied as well.
Use Campendium to find boondock spots. Some state parks, you can find on internet to see if any sites are unoccupied as we found in Colo. that time of year.
We drove thru canyonlands as well- all booked anyway. So if you didn't book a year in advance, just do what we did and just drive. I was there in 1978 and all looks the same!
Don't do the Shafer Trail unless you have just a class B or small C RV- and then better be ready for a thrill- we did in a VW Beetle in 1978, and I wouldn't take my Promaster down it! (tho there was a large pickup truck on it)
The main roads in CY and Arches are ok for small A's and smaller RVs. I would not take a TT thru them- detach and leave it, and just drive thru. (you could just drive thru- just can't stop and park easily...so I wouldn't take a TT thru those)
Lots of pull offs in Grand Staircase and Cap. Reef that you can park, get out and see interesting stuff as well. We just enjoyed driving thru the general area- lots to see like 2nd pic.
Grand Canyon, you can park in a lot and take the train to the village. Even better than that was to drive thru the Painted Desert! Petrified Forest as well- has a visitor's center.
Watch the weather daily and plan accordingly.
Good luck and be safe!
PS- Downtown Moab is a zoo compared to 1978, but does have some nice restaurants! beware lots of traffic.

 

[RVwife]

Mark 54, thanks for all that. Goblin Valley SP keeps popping up as a must see, so I've added it to our list. I was not aware of the overflow lot, so that may come in handy. We can dry camp for several days as well, so that could work.
We do plan to use some dispersed camping in Bears Ears/arond Natural Bridges. Goosenecks SP has a small CG, but if the sites are full, I was told we could boondock in a large adjacent parking area or dispersed sites along the scenic road, so that will be a backup as well.
We will likely spring for some pricier KOA type CG around Moab since we will have come 1500+ miles by then. Restock, dump, etc at that point.
We also plan to take back country tours at Arches (aviods the timed entry chaos) and Island in the Sky @ CL. They sound like a lot of fun and get us place we othewise couldn't go. I want to get some really nice photos (although I hear that is possible all over UT.)
Our MH is only 26 ft, small class A. Pretty manueverable and perfect for our needs & comfort. We do avoid rough gravel roads and the like, as its one drawback is it is rather low to the ground.
Grand Canyon and anything south or further west of Zion is a whole 'nother trip in the future. We did NE New Mexico a few years ago, but have westrn NM and northern AZ to do yet. Oh so much to enjoy, so little time (even if we are retired).
Nice phots too. I'm looking forward to taking many for my scrapbook.

 

[Mark54]

Most welcome!
I have more pics if you want to PM me for me to send to your email- we also picked up the 4 corners on the way to the Mighty 5... Goblin Valley is VERY interesting!!

 

[RVwife]

Tried to PM you, Mark, but not sure it went through. I'm finding this new update a bit confusing.

 

[Mark54]

Tried to PM you, Mark, but not sure it went through. I'm finding this new update a bit confusing.

I just emailed you- check your files...

 

[RVwife]

Hasn't come throught yet, but sometimes, Especially with photos it takes a little while. I'll keep my eyes open. Thanks.

 

[Roadman-THOR]

RVwife
We have Been through most of what your planning to do. Some but not all National parks are timed entry in Utah. If you go through the gates before 6:00 AM you won't have to worry about it.
Just go and make it up as you go with no time limits no place to be is half of the adventure. There will most likely be some place to stay (Truck stops, Walmart, Cabela's BLM, Rest stops and of course RV parks ). Just make reservations at the places around the bigger Nat parks and attractions. Relax and just let the rest happen Freestyle.

 

[RVwife]

Thanks, am aware of the timed entry and have already "booked" our tickets for Arches.

I thought Zion had timed entry too, but found out that was not the case. It's just that RV parking is limited and you have to use thier shuttle in season. Biking is also a possiblity for getting around. I've booked a couple of nights at one of he high end CGs within a mile of Zion, so we will either bike or walk in, weather permitting.

Manged to find some avaialbe camping at state parks that were near whare we hope to visit and will try BLM dispersed camping too as a new "adventure." Hope that works out.