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TOMMY47's avatar
TOMMY47
Explorer
Jul 03, 2013

ROAD WARNING

In Flaming Gorge NRA. Decided to try the Antelope Flat campground.
Turned onto ba paved road, went around a curve a hundred yards later and "road" became gravel--rocky--washboard--dusty---for 5 miles each way with no possible way to turn back. 10mph was too fast. Felt like the MH was falling apart--Now fridge barely works.
There was absolutely no warning about the condition of this "road"
It was before the visitor center AND the official map I picked up later says it is paved.
You are now warned.
Seeking Advice
  • Islandman's avatar
    Islandman
    Explorer
    Jul 03, 2013
    You may wish to notify the USFS folks at Dutch John or Manila about the problem in what the map indicates and the actual road surface condition. Agree that there should be signing to indicate the gravel surface.
  • mockturtle's avatar
    mockturtle
    Explorer II
    Jul 03, 2013
    My Utah Benchmark atlas indicates that 145 to Antelope Flat cg is paved. However, there is an unpaved road, 319, just north of 145, also off 191, that is unpaved. Is there any chance you could have taken 319 instead of 145?

    On edit: RV Park Reviews entries report the same road conditions you did. Wow, now I have little or no faith in my 'field checked for accuracy' Benchmark maps! :( Thanks for the heads-up!
  • camperpaul's avatar
    camperpaul
    Explorer
    Jul 04, 2013
    Gravel is a paving material and the road you were on was paved with gravel.

    An unpaved road is two ruts in the dirt or sand.
  • imgoin4it's avatar
    imgoin4it
    Explorer
    Jul 04, 2013
    If it ain't flexible paving, (asphalt) or rigid paving, (concrete) it ain't paved.
  • stetwood's avatar
    stetwood
    Explorer
    Jul 04, 2013
    You can find the directions here. And this describes a Forest Road. The National Forest Road System consists of more than 380,000 miles of roads. The types of roads range from permanent, double-lane, paved highways to single-lane, low-standard roads intended only for use by high-clearance vehicles, such as pickup trucks. So apparently Antelope Flat falls in the lowest category of Forest Road.
  • Searching_Ut's avatar
    Searching_Ut
    Explorer
    Jul 04, 2013
    At least the boat ramp is paved as I recall. Sorry you ended up there, as it's an okay spot for launching a boat and camping if the other spots are full, but it's rare I've ever had to resort to camping on the flat sagebrush plains. The campgrounds on the upper end of the reservoir aren't very scenic in general.

    That said, there are a lot of great campgrounds here in Utah that involve a fair bit of travel down dirt roads. The one we've got reservations to next involves about 17 miles of dirt road each way. I find it makes my absorption refrigerator seem to work better. Is your refrigerator a residential type? I also found the rough roads do wonders for cleaning out my black tank. I do find however I have to go through everything and check screws etc for tightness every now and then. Locktight is your friend, as is a tailgate seal kit for the pickup if you have a cover on it

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