Moab Camping?

[Coolerman]

My wife and I are headed to Moab next week (leaving Friday from KY) for a week of tent camping. We are taking my Nissan Xterra and planning some light 4wheeling.
Looking for some information on camping and wheeling.

First off using Google earth we have found several campgrounds that offer water and toilets (remember wife...). Anyone have a recommendation for a good campground in the area of Moab/Arches or Caynon lands National Park or the Manti-LA Sai National Forest? We camped on BLM land several years ago but had our StarCraft camper with water/toilet and batteries! Is October a busy time in Moab? IE are the campgrounds going to be full? Most do not take reservations...

On that trip we did not go wheeling at all as we were only there for 2 days on our way somewhere else so this time we are looking for trails in that area that our 31" tire equipped Xterra can handle and still get us back home without body damage. Scenic stuff as my wife thinks we are going to roll over if the truck tilts 3 degrees... I attached a pic of the truck as it is equipped. I do have a set of full skid plates for it and it has rock rails to protect the lower body. Oh the winch is no longer there but I do carry a 2 ton hand winch with 30' cable and a 25' extension...

All thoughts welcome...

 

[Jetboy]

The campground in arches is great. You probably need to reserve a spot ahead. It may be a bit slower now, but next week is "fall break" for the University of Utah so there will be some increase in demand. Arches is awesome. There is a bit of offroad/gravel road out to the Klondike bluffs, the road gets significantly more technical if you want to go toward tower arch. It's a pretty quick hike, but if you want some offroading that's a short section. My mostly stock 4runner handled it without getting stuck, but a GMC jimmy behind me was not able to make it past the first 200 yards. Probably poor driving, but it's about the limit of what most stock rigs want to go down without risk of damage.

99% of the other camping I have done was primitive camping.

You won't be able to see all of Canyon lands in 1 trip. You can see everything in the "island in the sky" portion from the car. Skip the little hike. (This isn't including the white rim trail. If you can do one primative camping night out there, and there are spots open, I'd go for it. It's a long one day drive to make the loop, but a nice two day trip) The Maze is a week on it's own. Don't try to see it unless you've seen all the other "fun" stuff around there. Save it for a dedicated trip. The Needles is great. One of my favorites, but it does require some serious hiking - all day to see the best stuff. (and if you do go, the map distances are not accurate. Add about 15% to get a better distance according to my gps watch.)

If you go to the Needles, there is a dirt road to the right (north) just past the visitor's center that is labeled on the map as going out to the "Colorado River Overlook". It's not advertised, but that road goes out to where it will cross a two corners of BLM land. On BLM land there you can primitive camp without a permit. It's one of my favorite places. You'll be all alone out there and it's so dark that the starts are amazing. Reminds me of home. And you're only 30 minutes from the visitor's center where you can use the bathroom if you need to. The road out to the overlook is as rough as you probably want. It's very infrequently traveled. There are a couple other offroad type trails in the Needles that are probably borderline if you're alone and don't want the stress of worrying about broken parts. There is so much to see, I would skip the hard offroading unless you're there specifically for that. It will take a lot of your time and not really gain you a whole lot when you could be doing other cool stuff.

You can shower at a number of campgrounds in Moab for a couple bucks and stay up the green river in primitive camp sites too. They have toilets, but no water. They are really nice camp sites and cost a couple bucks and are just a few minutes out of Moab. They are a great option if the Arches campground is full.

I have never stayed in the private city campgrounds. Don't know much about them.

I don't know how athletic you are. The best way to see moab is by foot. All of the really great stuff is going to require hiking. Arches had lots of easy 5 mile or less hikes. Plan to do a couple a day.

If you want more mild offroading type sight seeing, I think Capital Reef has better options. There's a great self guided "off road" tour to "monument valley" that should be no problem for your xterra. It's 2wd unless it rains, but mostly sandy trails. There is also a nice scenic drive called the burr trail. A bit out of your way though. Capitol reef has the best campground of the organized ones in Fruita. It's great and might not be too busy. Has bathrooms and water, but no showers.

The Grand Staircase is a bit big to see even in a week on its own, but it's a lot of the same type of stuff you'd see in the parks but with a lot less people. It's all primitive though. No toilets, now showers, no water. You're on your own out there.

I've been down there a lot. Let me know if you have specific questions and I can try to answer them.


Oh, and one of my favorite things to do is the drive into arches. It's spectacular. If you have a sunroof, let your wife sit on top of the roof through the sunroof. It's a unique experience on that drive. I've done it a number of times and even passed a park service going the other way, never had an issue. Not saying it's even remotely legal, but it's such a unique experience that she should at least put her head out the sunroof to see it.

 

[Coolerman]

Wow, great information, exactly what I was looking for! When we were there in 2004 we tent camped in Arches and hiked just about all the trails in there except the, I think it was called Devils Furnace trail? We can normally do up to 8 miles hiking a day but the wife has developed some foot issues that will restrict her hiking this year. I figure she might be good for two miles or so.

I know what you mean about the dark skies. The first time I saw the night sky there I was speechless. KY has not had dark skies for 50 years... Astronomy is another of my hobbies and I stayed up till almost dawn the first day there.

Capital Reef sounds like a good place. I'll look up the Monument Valley tour in a few minutes.

 

[SmoothLC]

Jetboy may have meant Cathedral Valley.

X2 on the trail - all very scenic and lots of hikes off spurs from the main road.

 

[Jetboy]

You're right Smooth. Thanks. Monument valley would be a long way out of the way.

 

[alia176]

Just remember that Canyonlands Nati'l park does NOT allow dogs, in case you weren't aware! Have a great time.

 

[Coolerman]

Well we're back in one piece and had a blast!

We ended up staying in a USFS camp site out on Route 128 as both Arches and Canyon Land campsites were full. I have been to Moab twice before and have NEVER seen so many people there at this time of year! Mostly bicyclists it seemed. I don't get the fall break thing either? I mean why do you need a break when school had just started?

Anyway ended up doing a lot of hiking in Arches and Canyon Land then "discovered" Sand Flat road... So THAT's where some the famous trails and obstacles are.. There was a small group of highly modified Jeeps headed into Hells Revenge when we went past.

We drove the entire length of that road till in intersected the La-Salle Loop Road, then drove that until we hit road construction and had to go back to Moab via Sand Flat Rd. We got off on several trails on the way back that were unmarked and each time had to turn back when things got too intense for the stock Xterra (and the wife). I FINALLY got the wife to realize that wheeling can be fun and not insane when I took her up the Little Lions Back. She liked that. We also ran the 4x4 trail in Arches near the Towers Arch. The one that they say can only be ran in one direction (south or downhill due to deep sand) We had a bit of trouble getting past the first obstacle but once over that is was clear sailing. Lots of deep sand washes to slide around in. A pack of Rubicon Jeeps caught up to us right after I managed to get the X up the first obstacle. We stopped and chatted with them for a while. Good bunch of fellow wheelers.

Next year the wife wants to drive the entire White Rim Road in Canyon Lands. It's not a 4x4 trail but two days of seeing the things others don't and NOT seeing too many other folks, sounds good.

We saw only one FJ40 the entire trip. It was orange, no front fenders and parked in a campsite right off Sand Flat Rd.

Anyway lots of good times, just way too short to see it all...

 

[Rubiconcruiser]

If you can get a space, Canyonlands Campground is one of the best close to all in town (walking distance,) for the hi end camper there are two both quite a distance from downtown, On the North side of 191 there are a couple new ones just opened recently dont know the status of them but you will pass them in or out of town, And by the way all of the wheeling in Moab is gentle LOL start with the area known as Fins and things, a lot of fun. For a bit more challenge Kane Creek Canyon is a good ride but the end is a bit tricky, Chicken corners is fun, and of course only for observation is the ever loving Potato Salad Hill. Have fun and let us know the details

 

[Coolerman]

Yeah when we were in Canyon Lands we went through the camp ground to see what they had. Nice shelters and very clean. The place we found out on 128 was right next to the river and our site was far away from all the others giving us some much needed privacy. The catch was we had to park 200 feet away making un-packing and packing back up a bit of a pain.

We rigged up a shower enclosure/sun shield using a blue tarp. Red neck camping at it's best!

 

[freepowder]

Yeah when we were in Canyon Lands we went through the camp ground to see what they had. Nice shelters and very clean. The place we found out on 128 was right next to the river and our site was far away from all the others giving us some much needed privacy. The catch was we had to park 200 feet away making un-packing and packing back up a bit of a pain.

We rigged up a shower enclosure/sun shield using a blue tarp. Red neck camping at it's best!

Nice campsite but I'm confused about the shower enclosure. . . Was it trying to run away or something?

I used to carry a enamelware wash basin and leave it , a towel, washcloth and a water jug on the table. When the ol' woman was feeling grubby she'd use that to freshen up. If it was crowded she'd duck into the tent. Where reasonable we'd skinny dip in the creek or lake and if in the desert we'd stay at a motel on the way out for serious group-scrubbing-showers.