Grand Circle Counter-Clockwise (Sep 24 - Oct 19)

Moab to Four Corners is Clockwise...heh. There is a cg in Montecello, it has FHU but is nothing much otherwise and there are several in Cortez, including a KOA. We spent a week in Monticello doing the southeast Canyonlands (and some of the below) and a week in the non-KOA in Cortez doing Canyon of the Ancients, Mesa Verde, Mexican Hat, Hovenweep, Natural Bridges, the Goosenecks and Valley of the Gods. You could spend a lot more time there easily. We missed a number of other sites.

I don't recall seeing another cg south of the Cortez area until you get to Monument Valley.

agesilaus wrote:
Moab to Four Corners is Clockwise...heh. There is a cg in Montecello, it has FHU but is nothing much otherwise and there are several in Cortez, including a KOA. We spent a week in Monticello doing the southeast Canyonlands (and some of the below) and a week in the non-KOA in Cortez doing Canyon of the Ancients, Mesa Verde, Mexican Hat, Hovenweep, Natural Bridges, the Goosenecks and Valley of the Gods. You could spend a lot more time there easily. We missed a number of other sites.

I don't recall seeing another cg south of the Cortez area until you get to Monument Valley.

There are no service cg in some of the parks like Goosenecks and you can camp anywhere in the Valley of the Gods.

Brent and Gina wrote:

Gina and I are doing the Grand Circle counter-clockwise starting basically in Moab and ending roughly in the four corners area.

We are wanting to "base" from a campground that has electric and water minimum and stay at each stop 3-5 days (guess).

If there's not a campground with sewer, we'd like the park to have a dump station.

I'm working out the "sights to see" separately and have inputs from folks here on that too, but am also open to must-not-miss places to dine AND those "known to you only" secret spots if you want to share.

So, I'd love to hear your suggestions of 3 or 4 "base" locations on the circle in beautiful campgrounds.

Would even love suggestions on how you did it if it worked well for you (itinerary).

We don't mind traveling 50 or 75 miles to reach the sites.

We thank you very much for your experience and time.

Brent

First thing is to Get a location on all the State Parks - They are great and often located between destinations as you move about - Think - Escalante - Kodachrome - Goosenecks/Mexican Hat/Monument Valley - Goblins - Slot Canyons - Rt 128 the drive in Moab is Great as are the Mountains - Moab Info - Don't forget Lake Powell and Page along with the North Rim -

Sorry other than the CG's in the parks I have no suggestions - as CG's are never a destination so seldom remembered:)

We usually travel in Utah in the Dead of Winter - Hoping to catch the beautiful areas with a White Coat on the Red Rocks - Awesome!

As for 3-4 areas - we can set up and break down in about 15 minutes so we just move from place to place - enjoy than move on - just easier for us - you should be able to easily Boondock for 2 - 5 days without andy problem so just go and enjoy.

Best of Luck,

A little clarification. I'm working on the "things to see" and they are NOT firm yet, but here is what I have so far starting in Moab. The "circle" seems pretty straight-forward on the maps I've seen as circle-ish. If not, please let me know for my planning purposes. We're going counter-clockwise on it tentatively like this:

Moab
Capitol Reef National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Zion National Park
North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park
Lake Powell
Monument Valley - Drive to Monument Valley

I've got a LOT of sub-sights in these main areas, but I'm looking for campgrounds that support electric and water as must-haves. We don't want to pack up the 5th wheel and move it constantly so we'd like to base in areas and, if necessary, drive a little further. We are retired and take extra time when we travel and have learned over the past 8 years that this is our preferred style--base and see the surrounding area. Campground comfort with water and electric essential.

So, what's discussed so far. agesilaus - I don't see us going south (clockwise) from Moab so Monticello won't be traveled likely. Cortez a definitely possibility towards the very end. Busskipper - I'm sorry, but campgrounds are definitely part of an overall trip for us. We've stayed at some dumps and it's a huge distraction and bummer when we look back. For example, when we stayed in a parking lot basically in Santa Rosa, CA to do some wine tours. Sites are great, tours are great, campgrounds are great, getting out of the house is great, local cuisine is great and they all add up to an experience. Our campgrounds in the Badlands and Custer State Park--awesome. It's so important to us not to constantly move that we pack in extra time and sacrifice sights if necessary knowing we can go back. I very much understand the move, move, move style and we see it often when we're on the road. Sometimes, we take an entire day or two and just relax at the campground and grill out steaks sleeping in late the next day, maybe do Walmart to restock or eat out. Hey, it's our style. Respect all around. Busskipper, we caught snow/ice in Yellowstone and we certainly try and stay away from it! Thanks all and please keep 'em coming! :)

Well at the North Rim, other than the NPS cg you are limited to the Jacob Lake CG which is FHU, but a long but scenic drive into the park. It gets soggy when it rains tho. Capitol Reef has several excellent FHU CG in Torrey right outside the gate, reservations may be needed as the one we stayed in booked up early. Bryce is Rosey's right outside the gate tho there are other cg further away. We have never stayed they but Rosey's has a shuttle stop for the park and has various stores and restaurants. We never stayed at Lake Powell not having a boat. Monument Valley is Gouldings across the road from MV. There are a number of cg in the town outside Zion.

Brent and Gina wrote:

Moab - Use RV Park Reviews web site for any of these. We don't know your price range.

Capitol Reef National Park - Stay in Torrey
Bryce Canyon National Park - Ruby's
Zion National Park - Stay in Springdale
North Rim of Grand Canyon National Parkin Jacob Lake, AZ or Kanab, Utah
Lake Powell - Stay in Page. Glen Canyon Nat'l Rec Area has a full service c.g.
Monument Valley - Drive to Monument Valley - Stay in Gouldings RV and take their tour from there. Don't drive your truck to tour.

These parks have too long of distance to have base camps. How often would you drive back and forth to visit just one?

2gypsies wrote:

Brent and Gina wrote:

Moab - Use RV Park Reviews web site for any of these. We don't know your price range.

Capitol Reef National Park - Stay in Torrey
Bryce Canyon National Park - Ruby's
Zion National Park - Stay in Springdale
North Rim of Grand Canyon National Parkin Jacob Lake, AZ or Kanab, Utah
Lake Powell - Stay in Page. Glen Canyon Nat'l Rec Area has a full service c.g.
Monument Valley - Drive to Monument Valley - Stay in Gouldings RV and take their tour from there. Don't drive your truck to tour.

These parks have too long of distance to have base camps. How often would you drive back and forth to visit just one?

Looks like you have locations now;)

If you listen to what 2gypsies is saying - things are just too far from each other to do it differently - but alas, just extend the timeline, as that is a Viable option. From each of the Base Camps you have much in the State Park System - Native American System and the local sites to see, so I think the 3-5 days will work at each stop.

Sounds like a Win Win -

Best of Luck,

Absolutely those parks are too far apart for a base camp to cover multiple parks.

2gypsies wrote:

Brent and Gina wrote:

Moab - Use RV Park Reviews web site for any of these. We don't know your price range.

Capitol Reef National Park - Stay in Torrey
Bryce Canyon National Park - Ruby's
Zion National Park - Stay in Springdale
North Rim of Grand Canyon National Parkin Jacob Lake, AZ or Kanab, Utah
Lake Powell - Stay in Page. Glen Canyon Nat'l Rec Area has a full service c.g.
Monument Valley - Drive to Monument Valley - Stay in Gouldings RV and take their tour from there. Don't drive your truck to tour.

These parks have too long of distance to have base camps. How often would you drive back and forth to visit just one?

I wish I knew enough of each park to dedicate time. I'm still doing research and will likely have several options. Right now, I'm thinking 3 to 4 days in Moab driving to 2 or 3 spots a day. Maybe 1. Then, on to another base camp, stay 3 or 4 days and see several others. Keep in mind, this is just starting to take shape. I've looked at some caravan itineraries and they generally don't spend more than 2 days in any one location. I figured some on RV.net may have travel thoughts similar to us and would simply say something like "We stayed at such and such and from there, we saw these 3 parks in 4 days there." I can research the various Google, RV Park Reviews, Good Sams, Recreation.gov, etc, but that's outside of this forum. There is no need to restrict campgrounds or anything else based on price. Thanks so much.

agesilaus wrote:
Absolutely those parks are too far apart for a base camp to cover multiple parks.

Definitely getting there guys!