Traveling thru Southern Utah + Grand Canyon

[Jon_Moore]

In another week I will be towing my 5th Wheel down I-15 in Utah to Arches Nat'l Park, Bryce, and Zion Parks. Then to Grand Canyon North
Rim and around to South Rim G.C. I will go down to Sedona, then get
on I-40 and head home. Three questions:
1) Best Routing: should I first go east on I-70 from I-15 to see Arches, then double back to I-15 and down to Bryce / Zion? Then to
G.C. North Rim?
2) Is the road around east end of G.C. okay for large 5th wheel? Prefer not to go around west end thru Las Vegas / Hoover Dam.
3) Any recommendations for good RV campsites along this route, or any
general comments about routing, places to see, etc.?
Thank you, Jon Moore

[russelln]

We did 2gypsies route in reverse, starting in Zion, onto Bryce,12 to Capitol, 24 to I70, down 191 to Moab, then down to the North Rim.
Beautiful drive, no major challenges, exceptional photos and memories!

[Dick_B]

Quick! get Mountain Directory West

[2gypsies1]

From another post it sounds like you're coming from Idaho so here is a route we'd suggest:

I-15 south to Hwy 28 at Nephi (south of Salt Lake City) to I-70 east.

I-70 east to UT 191 south to Moab and Arches. Many RV parks in the area. You can also easily check out Canyonlands from Moab.

From Moab, North to I-70 and west a short distance to Hwy 24. South to Torrey and stay here to check out Capitol Reef Nat'l Park.

From Torrey take Hwy 12 to Bryce (Ruby's RV is convenient). From Bryce take Hwy 12 west to 89. Now you have some choices:

If you don't want to take the Zion tunnel or can't because of the RV size, then take Hwy 89 north a short distance to Hwy 20 west to I-15. Don't take Hwy 14 across to I-15. It's steep, narrow and curvy.

Take I-15 south to Hwy 9 just north of St. George and east to Springdale and stay there for Zion. The free shuttle has its route in town and it's a pleasant place to stay. Or you can stay in the park at Watchman c.g. with electric, water fill and dump station. All easy driving.

The alternative after leaving Bryce and if you choose to take the tunnel is Hwy 12 to Hwy 89 south and Hwy 9 through the tunnel and into Zion. You should read this information on the tunnel before deciding. There are RV length restrictions.

Zion Tunnel Information

Or another choice is Hwy 12 to 89 south and stay at a RV park on 89 at Glendale or Mt. Carmel. Then you'd drive your tow vehicle through the tunnel for Zion. You'll have to take the shuttle for touring Zion. You can't drive your vehicle.

Exit Zion either by the tunnel and Hwy 9 east to 89 south.

Or...if you're in Springdale, take Hwy 9 west to Hurricane and pick up UT59 which becomes AZ389 taking you to Fredonia, AZ and Kanab, UT.

Stay in Kanab if you want to do the Grand Canyon North Rim, watch your timing because the park buildings and campground usually close mid-October. You'll have to check. The roads will be open though until snow closes Hwy 64 into the North Rim so you can still go into the park. The aspen will be changing color beginning around Oct 1-15 and it's gorgeous. Personally, if you're planning on the South Rim, also, I would skip the North Rim.

So, from Kanab, UT you can take 89 east to Page, AZ (the easiest) and out of Page pick up the Hwy 89 detour which has been in effect for about a year because of the 89 road collaspe. The detour might be shown on some maps as IR20. There will be signage directing you and it's now the truck route, too. It's newly paved and runs approximately parallel to 89. It's good for RVs and will bring you out to 89 south of Page.

From Kanab, UT another route is taking 89A through Jacob Lake and east to pick up 89. This is a very scenic route but you'll have a steep, curvy downhill a short distance from Jacob Lake. We've done it often but wanted to alert you - depends on your vehicle and your calmness 🙂

So..now whichever route you take you're on Hwy 89 heading south toward Flagstaff, AZ. To work in Grand Canyon South, pick up Hwy 64 west off 89 which will take you into the park. This is just north of Cameron on 89. Stay at Trailer Village in the park itself if you can get reservations. It's the best and easiest way to tour the park as the free shuttle stops right at the RV park - full hookups.

Exiting the South Rim, take Hwy 64 south to 180 into Flagstaff and then pick up I-17 south to tour Sedona. Don't take 89A into Sedona if you have a big rig - steep and curvy. There are some RV parks around I-17 or Sedona itself (expensive). We feel Sedona is a zoo to drive a RV in so we always stay at Cottonwood in Dead Horse Ranch State Park (good for big rigs). You can then easily drive your tow vehicle into Sedona.

Heading home, get back to I-17 north to Flagstaff and east on I-40.

Sounds confusing but get good maps and you'll figure it out. Have a great trip!

For RV parks/campgrounds in the different areas of Utah and Arizona you might want to consult this site:

RV Park Reviews

[Muddydogs]

I have towed 34 foot bumper pull travel trailers all over the west and as I am based in Utah I have pulled on most of the roads you are looking at. I usually don't comment to much on these threads because frankly I'm not scared to pull anything anywhere and I realize that most don't have my experience towing or driving mountain type roads. I will say that Utah sees 1000's of campers on these roads every year with no problems so any route you take you will be fine. One word of cation I will give you is if you don't like towing in heavy traffic going from 0 to 80+ miles an hour then back to a dead stop its best to avoid I 15 from Ogden to Provo between the hours of 0600 to 0900 and 1600 to 1900. Other than that its usually a clear sail down the Wasatch front.

Hwy 6 isn't a bad tow, you do climb coming out of Spanish Fork for a ways but nothing serious. Do be careful on Hwy 6 as its one of Utah's most dangerous roads know for a lot of head on collisions mainly due to inattentive drivers crossing the center line while winding down the canyon.

[naturist]

Do be aware that the EAST entrance to Zion is through a tunnel that is too low for many RVs. I don't remember what the limit is, but I do know that tall rigs cannot enter or exit Zion to the east, which is the most direct route between Zion and Bryce.

[KarenS144]

We did the Utah NPs and went from Arches to Bryce via UT 24 (Goblin State Park is not too far off the route and worth a stop) & you'll be right there at Capital Reef NP if you go UT 24.

We took UT 12 and it was beautiful. We were in our 29' G'town gasser towing a Jeep Wrangler when we made the trip and we saw way bigger rigs than ours on 12. We were a bit nervous after reading some of the reports online but we asked on several forums and were assured we'd be fine and we were!

You may want to get a copy of Mountain Directory West if you don't have one.

[CloudDriver]

Looking at Google Maps, it looks like the shortest route from I15 to Arches is to pick up route 6 at Spanish Fork all the way to I70. Haven't personally used that route so can't advise on grades. The route we have used is route 28 south from Nephi to route 89 to I70. Easy drive with no grades on either 28 or 89.

To get to Bryce from Arches I'd like to suggest I70 to route 24 to route 12. That said, route 12 has some short sections of 14% grades and the 1/4 mile "hogsback' section with deep drop offs on both sides of the road. We had no issues with our class C, but towing a large 5th wheel could be a white knuckle experience. An easy alternative would be to take I70 back west from Arches to I89 south to Bryce.

Vehicles over 13'-1" high and combined length over 50 feet are prohibited from the tunnel in Zion on route 9. If you exceed the limit, you can continue south on route 89 to Fredonia and take route 389/59 to get to the west side of Zion.

Route 89A between Fredonia and Jacob Lake has a 6-7% climb for a couple of miles onto the Kaibab Plateau. At Jacob lake there is a nice Forest Service campground with no hookups. About a mile down route 67 is the Kaibab Camper Village with FHU. Good food at the Jacob Lake Inn. In addition to the views from the North Rim Lodge, I highly recommend taking the drive to Point Imperial and Cape Royal.

Eastbound from Jacob Lake there is a couple of miles of descent at 6-7% then easy driving to route 89 south to route 64 to the South Rim.