CA to Ruby's Inn Utah

[fly-boy]

Gonna haul the trailer and toys... up to Ruby's later this month. What is your preferred route and what is the road like?

My trailer weighs around 21-22k loaded. Looking for the best (easiest haul) route even if it means more miles.

Never been to Ruby's so I would appreciate any list or idea of must see things, rides or general thoughts on Ruby's and the area.

[Camorhino]

Use the southern by-pass around Zion from Hurricane to Fredonia if you are still pulling the 45', and then north to Kanab and up to Panguitch and over to Ruby's. There are some neat arches you drive thru going east from Panguitch, but in Zion, the tunnels are going to be tight for a rig your size, and you'll "love" the switchbacks. The Park charges for your big rig, but let's the cars follow you, so if you get hung up, they are in the way. I would recommend you drive thru in the pickup though, it's worth it. We towed doubles (FW and Boat) thru there in 2002, it freaked the gate dude out!

[fly-boy]

Bought a new KTM yesterday- really looking forward to hitting the trails with my son.

[BobWanderer]

Thanks for the info on SXS's

[cbigham]

Any maps you will need will be available at Ruby's. That goes for the surrounding trails as well.

My sister in 2008 rented a rhino when we stayed at Ruby's. Rode it around with the RZR but the RZR fit in more trails. We rented the rhino at Panguitch and drove it back to camp at Ruby's.

Have fun, PM me if you need any other info.


Chuck

[Searching_Ut]

Regarding the question of "Rhino Friendly" trails, in the southern part of the state (not national park land) the majority of trails are ok. The Casto canyon trail I mentioned is 50 inches or less, and some of the nicer trails on the Paiute are gated for ATV only which is 50 inch or less in Utah. They're mostly mountain trails though. Most of the stuff on the High plains or desert areas is open to larger rigs to include jeeps.

One thing to watch for is national park boundaries. Even if your ATV is licensed for streets, it's illegal to ride them in the national parks. In places like canyonlands, or capitol reef, you can easily ride a dirt road that will cross national park boundaries if you're not careful. Sometimes there are signs, sometimes they're missing. Either way it's a ticket if there is a ranger around.

[BobWanderer]

Y-Guy wrote:

BobWanderer wrote:
Dats Zactly why you go to the snake avoidance class :W

We left our dogs at home when we took our long Utah trip, figured it would be to hot and they'd be cooped up. We never did see snakes when we were out during the day, just that one at night. The funny part was the ranger came over to pick him up and put him in a big 5 gallon water jug, he was going to leave him in there for the morning rangers - guess that was ranger humor!

The rattler Ryder sniffed out was out and about around 7:00 PM, must have cooled down enough for it to go looking for food or a warmer place to snooze.

The funny part about the encounter, Ryder was on a 25' leash and stretching it out to 26' when he found the snake. The snake avoidance trainer said I should keep him on a much shorter leash when in places where there are snakes, I said that I would have probably stepped on the snake if he was on his 6' leash.

DW is scared to death of Rattlers, we ran across one while driving our truck in the DEZ,
I grab the camera and roll down the window, she yells at me to close the window :h

Most rangers have little fear of rattlers, but I know of one who got nailed by a Mojave Green that was under his truck. The guy was reading a map on the hood when he got bit.
I am not afraid of them, but give them all the room they want/need.

Back on topic
How many of these places in Utah are "Rhino Friendly" ??
We have been to Zion, Moab, Arches and Canyon lands with our 4X4 truck, but no OHV's.

[Y-Guy]

grizzly660fan wrote:
Be aware that youth riders must have a youth off road license

That changed, used to a a simple text they would mail you. Now it's a $30 test per person. Looks just like the online Boaters test too. Also noted that no riders under the age of 8 - that will impact some families. I much prefer how Oregon did it, and that there isn't a fee.

BobWanderer wrote:
Dats Zactly why you go to the snake avoidance class :W

We left our dogs at home when we took our long Utah trip, figured it would be to hot and they'd be cooped up. We never did see snakes when we were out during the day, just that one at night. The funny part was the ranger came over to pick him up and put him in a big 5 gallon water jug, he was going to leave him in there for the morning rangers - guess that was ranger humor!

[BobWanderer]

Y-Guy wrote:
A few other things...
Coral Pink, while we were there temps were well over 110, morning and evening rides were great - movie time during the day! There are Rattle Snakes so be aware, we had one laying outside our Motorhome in the evening soaking up the heat from the road.....

Dats Zactly why you go to the snake avoidance class :W

I have a chocolate lab who can find more snakes for you :B He is a true hunter, nose to the ground even when running.

I would like to go up there once we get the new rig and do a few "shake down" cruises, I can't tell D W there are Rattlers up there or She and the dogs will stay home. Poor dogs can't go to the DEZ except from around T G weekend till March or so since She worries way too much.
I was with Our club (And Nather) back in March and there had to be 20 dogs there, none of them has been bitten and they go more often than we do. I can't get that thru to her that it was a fluke.
Oh well, I will keep searching for a new rig and deal with Her Phobia later.

[grizzly660fan]

Be aware that youth riders must have a youth off road license if you are going to have them drive very far. If you just let them putt around your camp probably won't have and issue. They must be eight years old to get the youth license.

[Y-Guy]

Good call on Sand Hollow, I road that for a day while the family took a break while at Zion. Hooked up with a guide service that got us back in the trails.

[Searching_Ut]

If you're going to be trailering to places like Pink Coral, you might also want to look into the Hogs canyon trail system just north of Kanab, right by the turn off toward Pink Coral as I recall. You also have the Peek A Boo trailhead just north of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. From Peek A Boo you can explore a neat slot canyon, and one of the trails/roads swings by a cave with a little lake/pond in it. The Hogs Canyon system has a good mix trails ranging from easy to quite challenging. Pink Coral is pretty much just sand dunes type riding, which I find fun for a day but prefer to have an area where I can mix it up. I prefer Sand Hollow just outside of Hurricane Utah for the dunes in that area as you can ride the sand for awhile, then get into some very challenging technical riding on the slickrock.

As has been mentioned, carry a good map, and watch out for anything that might have been placed to try and discourage ATV use. We spent a week in that are riding in March and saw a lot of illegally placed trail closure and wilderness boundary signs, along with assorted barricades. (We verified they weren't legit signs with at the BLM office) While I've sometimes seen certain groups photographing riders during group rides and jamborees, for the first time this year we saw people photographing boondockers on forest service land where it wasn't marked on the motorized use maps as open to camping. We stopped and talked to them for a bit and they informed us they were documenting this "Abuse" to try and get the roads closed in the area which in their opinion should be designated wilderness. As there are a lot of groups trying to shut down all off pavement travel in this state, please help us out while you're enjoying all it has to offer, and stay on designated trails so as not to give any credence to the abuse complaints.

Hope you have a lot of time to explore. We've been spending several weeks a year exploring Southern Utah and still feel we've hardly dented the possibilities.

[Y-Guy]

The tunnel is off of Hwy 9 going through Zion.

From Wikipedia:
There is a fee to travel through Zion National Park, but the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway is open to private vehicles year-round. A separate fee is required for vehicles 7'10" wide and/or 11'4" tall or larger. This fee pays for a park employee to stop traffic from the other side of the Zion - Mt. Carmel Tunnel to allow the larger vehicles to pass through.[3] There is a smaller tunnel in Zion National Park that does not require an escort. Commercial vehicles are prohibited from using SR-9[4] and are directed to use SR-20 instead.

[fly-boy]

dedmiston wrote:

fly-boy wrote:
Ruby's tells you to come in on the 20 from the South but it looks to be a little longer-

Does that take you through the tunnel at Zion? You should double-check the restrictions. We towed our 30' bumper pull through there and it was a squeaker.

Not sure- I am gonna call them for directions.

[dedmiston]

fly-boy wrote:
Ruby's tells you to come in on the 20 from the South but it looks to be a little longer-

Does that take you through the tunnel at Zion? You should double-check the restrictions. We towed our 30' bumper pull through there and it was a squeaker.