Summer trip to Antelope Can and Escalante?

[steveandjil]

Hi Folks,

Planning a summer vacation - likely first 2 weeks of august. We live in souther Arizona, and I was thinking of Antelope and Escalante. What does everyone think? We've been to all the Utah parks (Zion many times) the Grand Canyon, etc. Will these work for August? We can boondocks for short periods - say 3-4 days at a time.

Any ideas of extras? Antelope seems a one day excursion. Also where do people stay for these locations?

Thanks in advance,

Steve

[agesilaus]

jolooote wrote:
How did this become about RMNP ???

The OP said that he might do RMNP instead of Escalante since he was mistakenly under the impression that all the 4WD trails near there were difficult rating, which they certainly aren't.

[jolooote]

How did this become about RMNP ???

[2gypsies1]

steveandjil wrote:


One other option is the only major Natnl park I've not been to in the west - Rocky Mountain. Any comments here?

Since you've never been to Rocky I highly recommend that you go.... just not in summer as you have planned. The crowds are horrendous and everyone is in a hurry because they're using their vacation days. It's a gorgeous park with excellent hiking trails so don't hesitate to visit. Try to work it in June or late Sept. It will still be crowded but not as bad. That park is just too close to civilization so it's an easy trip for those living nearby. Also, for those coming from the east it's the first park they'll come to and naturally, they will want to stop. We've volunteered there in the summer so we kind of know about the crowds. 🙂 By the way... they utilize approximately 1,000 volunteers in that park. Naturally, very few have the opportunity to stay in the park as we did because most come in for only the day from nearby towns.

Don't be hesitant about the 4-wheeling trails along Hwy 12 or up in the Capitol Reef Nat'l Park area. They're not all difficult and you won't be the only one on them. Stop at the Visitor Centers for trail info or Google.

Do the Antelope Canyon tour spending two nights at Page. Glen Canyon Rec Area has a very nice RV park with hookups overlooking the lake for the summer heat. Work in a tour of the Dam, also.... very interesting. Then head up Hwy 12!

There's nice 'cool' dry campground in the Dixie Nat'l Forest around Hatch, also. Or head north to Heber City, UT area for 4-wheeling.

[ppine]

I lived in Colorado for 6 years and then later Wyoming. I went to RMNP once never to return. Every other trip I made was better than the experience with all of those people.

[Lauren]

Rocky Mtn NP is a zoo in most of the summer / fall. No 4wd trails in the area as it if all National Forest around it.

[Thom02099]

steveandjil wrote:
One other option is the only major Natnl park I've not been to in the west - Rocky Mountain. Any comments here?

Steve

As previously noted, if you want to see RMNP, stay on the west/quiet side of the park. You can always take your Jeep and explore Trail Ridge Road and go down toward the Fall River entrance and take the Old Fall River Road back up to Trail Ridge at the Alpine Visitors Center. In a Jeep, this would be a really fun trip. Gravel road with lots of hairpin turns, but folks do it all the time...in sedans. Just more fun in an open air vehicle.

There's Timber Creek CG inside the park, it's first come/first serve for all sites, and I've never seen it full. There's 2 commercial resorts in the Grand Lake area, plus about a half dozen USFS CGs in the general area of Grand Lake/Lake Granby/Shadow Mountain Res. There's also the YMCA facility at Snow Mountain between Granby and Fraser, it's got a wonderful campground there.

Not much in the way of 4x4 trails in the immediate area of Rocky, but there are some good albeit longer hiking trails than what is found on the eastern side. Of note is the trail along the Colorado River to the Lulu City site (which is not much more than a brook at this location), and the hike along the Grand Ditch.

[jolooote]

We've done Utah Rt12 4 times. Don't remember any serious Off-Road 4x4 trails. Just some very easy and moderate dirt roads. The entire Rt.12 is not to be missed! Red canyon State park, Bryce, Kodachrome, Escalante, Lake Posey is one of the most beautiful CGs anywhere, Calf Creek Cg(My favorite). Going up the east flank of Boulder Mtn. at the Town of Boulder is an ancient Indian ruins museum. The best side ride in the state is just out of town to the east thru the amazing Long canyon on the old Burr trail Paved road. On up Rt12 at higher elevation is a few Nat'l forest CGs. One called Singletree. Farther north Rt.12 connects with Rt.24. Turn rite to go 15 miles to the amazing Capital Reef Nat'l Pk.

[agesilaus]

steveandjil wrote:
Thanks a lot for the advice folks. We do tow a jeep and we do off-road, but the off roads in Escalante sound a bit much for me - I spend the entire drive in worry about whether I'm going to get back out.

One other option is the only major Natnl park I've not been to in the west - Rocky Mountain. Any comments here?

Steve

There are plenty of moderate to easy 4WD roads in the Escalante area. If there are many 4WD trails near RMNP I haven't heard of them. If you go, camp on the west side and avoid Estes Park. We may stop there on the way home this summer.

[steveandjil]

Thanks a lot for the advice folks. We do tow a jeep and we do off-road, but the off roads in Escalante sound a bit much for me - I spend the entire drive in worry about whether I'm going to get back out.

One other option is the only major Natnl park I've not been to in the west - Rocky Mountain. Any comments here?

Steve

[tuna_fisher]

If to hot in Escalante for you head up Bolder mountain to Posey Lake or just boondock up there if campgrounds aren't your thing. One of our favorite areas in Ut.

[2gypsies1]

Escalante is almost 6,000' elevation so it's not going to be extremely hot. If you haven't been to Bryce Nat'l Park or Capitol Reef Nat'l Park you could do all 3 along Hwy 12 - a gorgeous drive. Escalante has some easy slot canyons to get to with short walks such as Peek-A-Boo and Spooky - ones we did. The Visitor Center would have information. There's a RV park in Escalante along with lots and lots of boondocking. The 2 national parks have campgrounds and there are also a couple state parks along the highway and Calf Springs has a campground and a cool swim spot.

http://www.americansouthwest.net/slot_canyons/index.html

Save Antelope Canyon for an October trip when visitation is a little less. It just takes an hour or so to do the tour. Page, AZ has campgrounds - dry camping at Lone Rock on the lake and hookups closer to town - both within Glen Canyon Nat'l Rec Area. There's also boondocking in the area.

[Busskipper]

steveandjil wrote:
Hi Folks,

Planning a summer vacation - likely first 2 weeks of august. We live in souther Arizona, and I was thinking of Antelope and Escalante. What does everyone think? We've been to all the Utah parks (Zion many times) the Grand Canyon, etc. Will these work for August? We can boondocks for short periods - say 3-4 days at a time.

Any ideas of extras? Antelope seems a one day excursion. Also where do people stay for these locations?

Thanks in advance,

Steve

Sure this is not the answer to your Question but you are in Arizona have you Considered the San Juan's - getting out of the Heat might not be Bad idea in August - Just a Thought.

Being that you are almost a local for Utah - I'd be there in the Cooler months.

JMHO,

[agesilaus]

We spent 8 days at Escalante a couple of years ago. If you are able to do mild or even difficult 4WD trails there is a lot to do there. There are any number of slot canyons but be prepared for quite a hike into the canyons, with quite a bit of elevation change. It was tough on us Florida flatlanders...heh. Hole in the Rock road, 70 miles +/- of most pretty good graded gravel rd. The last 15 miles or so are on the red rock. The Dance Hall is well worth a visit, it's about at the halfway point. There is a stiff hike down to the river at the end. There are all sorts of 4WD roads that take off from the Hole in the Rock rd, some reportedly quite difficult.

If you follow Spencer Flat Rd to the end, it's past the turn off to Hole in the Rock, there are thousands of Moqui Marbles to be had. It's BLM land and collecting is legal. We got a 5 gallon bucket full. The marbles are on top of the bald white domes where the road dead ends. It's easy to find golf ball and larger ones.

There is a trail shop in Escalante which has maps and the guy running it will give local advice. He runs tours to the slot canyons. The campgrounds in town are nothing to brag about, bare dirt with FHU. There are at least two CG and there is a state park but I don't know if they have a CG.

There are other drives on the other side north of the highway into treed landscape, including the Devil's Backbone Rd (if I got the name right). The usual warnings about remote FWD trails apply, watch for rain, be ready for trouble. There is some traffic on the major trails but if you get off on one of the lesser used ones you could be walking a long way back...heh.

So if this is the type of thing that you do then yeah Escalante is a good spot. There is a small super market but I'd stock up before getting there. There are a couple of gas stations. Not a place to hang around the CG tho.

Todo: there is a lot of info on the web on this area and the Hole in the Rock especially.
Check Amazon for the National Geographic Map of the area, we bought it at the shop there in town, but it would be good to have it for planning.

[ppine]

Antelope canyon is full of people. You need a reservation. There are lots of other slot canyons where you will see no one.