Next Years Trip to Utah's Parks
Help me plan my trip. Mary Anne and I want to visit Utah's parks and end up at Taos, NM for the Wool festival during the first week of October. We have a month for this trip and it would take at least...
Forum Discussion
First let me say that October is a very busy time of year, so early reservations are recommended. Also, there is no one place to camp and see all these parks.
If you can do without FHU for a few days, Watchman CG in Zion does have electricity and a dump station at the entrance/exit. This is a very convenient place to stay, as you can walk to the shuttle bus from the CG and go into the canyon or back into Springdale via bus. You can't drive your own vehicle into the canyon anyway, so this is very convenient for your visit. Watchman has a great, quiet setting. If you're hikers, you can easily spend 4 or 5 days at Zion. If you don't or can't hike, 2 or three full days will do you.
Bryce is higher up with a better chance of a little snow in October. Unless you hike much, a couple of days will do you here.
Moab is a place where you can easily spend a week or more. Arches can be driven through in a day, but there are a variety of even short walks that take you right to the arches. One of our favorite NP's. We were just there a week ago. From Moab, you can also tour Canyonlands, both the Island in the Sky section and the Needles District. For the Needles, plan on an early start and a full day from Moab. From the top at Island in the Sky, look down to the first bench and see the White Rim Trail. You can drive out part of it in your CRV, or rent a jeep. In your CRV, you can go down Shafer Trail and take Potash Road back to Moab. There are arches and petroglyphs along this road. The trip up UT 128 to Dewey Bridge has lots of views. Fisher Towers is worth the side trip. From UT 128, you can also do the LaSal Mountain Loop, as long as you've had a couple of dry days. There was snow up there last week. Of course there's also Dead Horse Point. Over the years, I've spent months in the Moab area, and still find more to do every time we go.
As noted, Cedar Breaks can be snowy by early October, depending on the year. Also, probably not the CG for your length rig.
If you can do without FHU for a few days, Watchman CG in Zion does have electricity and a dump station at the entrance/exit. This is a very convenient place to stay, as you can walk to the shuttle bus from the CG and go into the canyon or back into Springdale via bus. You can't drive your own vehicle into the canyon anyway, so this is very convenient for your visit. Watchman has a great, quiet setting. If you're hikers, you can easily spend 4 or 5 days at Zion. If you don't or can't hike, 2 or three full days will do you.
Bryce is higher up with a better chance of a little snow in October. Unless you hike much, a couple of days will do you here.
Moab is a place where you can easily spend a week or more. Arches can be driven through in a day, but there are a variety of even short walks that take you right to the arches. One of our favorite NP's. We were just there a week ago. From Moab, you can also tour Canyonlands, both the Island in the Sky section and the Needles District. For the Needles, plan on an early start and a full day from Moab. From the top at Island in the Sky, look down to the first bench and see the White Rim Trail. You can drive out part of it in your CRV, or rent a jeep. In your CRV, you can go down Shafer Trail and take Potash Road back to Moab. There are arches and petroglyphs along this road. The trip up UT 128 to Dewey Bridge has lots of views. Fisher Towers is worth the side trip. From UT 128, you can also do the LaSal Mountain Loop, as long as you've had a couple of dry days. There was snow up there last week. Of course there's also Dead Horse Point. Over the years, I've spent months in the Moab area, and still find more to do every time we go.
As noted, Cedar Breaks can be snowy by early October, depending on the year. Also, probably not the CG for your length rig.
