Road trip to Utah

[Jeff336]

My wife and I are looking to do a road trip to Utah.

Short story long, we had a trip to Peru and Machu Picchu booked to leave in may of 2020. We had planned to hike around Peru for 3 weeks. I’m not sure if any one else’s travel plans got changed around the that time ? But that got canceled. So now we’re looking at something a little different.

We’d like to drive down to Utah In late summer/early fall of 2022. So a bunch a of questions.

Is that a good time to go? Liking at about the same kind of trip duration. About 14-20 days. The plan would be leave Calgary and make some stops along the way though Montana and Yellowstone, the end goal is Zion NP, Bryce Canyon and arches NP. We would be camping/ overlanding. Maybe getting a hotel or motel the odd night to relax.

Does OnX work similar to IHunter? Can I use it to find public land camping spots?

Does anyone know of any most stop places or odd things to see ? Like abandoned ghost towns or something cool to see.

Any insights or tips would be appreciated for sure!

[HyperMOA]

If you are heading through red lodge into Yellowstone, swing into Cody Wyoming and go to the wild bill Hickok firearm museum.

[wack99]

Yes for Yellowstone, but it's probably going to busy
If you want to see real people of walmart check out the one in Helena.
If you can fit it in take the hike up Mt Olympus on the east side of Salt Lake city (wow what a view).

Jason

[fordtruckin]

OnX will show public lands but not necessarily if you can camp. I would recommend getting the Avenza app on your phone then downloading the appropriate USFS maps. (Both program and USFS maps are free).

The Golden Spike is close to Salt Lake where you can see where the 2 ends of the Central and Union Pacific Railroads met. End of summer early fall if your thinking after Labor Day is much more enjoyable than mid late summer (July/August). A lot of families are back from vacation as kids are in school. You’ll be fighting retirees and newly weds.

[Jeff336]

OnX will show public lands but not necessarily if you can camp. I would recommend getting the Avenza app on your phone then downloading the appropriate USFS maps. (Both program and USFS maps are free).

The Golden Spike is close to Salt Lake where you can see where the 2 ends of the Central and Union Pacific Railroads met. End of summer early fall if your thinking after Labor Day is much more enjoyable than mid late summer (July/August). A lot of families are back from vacation as kids are in school. You’ll be fighting retirees and newly weds.

That sounds pretty interesting. Post labour day sounds about right. Similar to Banff and such, I’d rather avoid the crowds if possible. Thanks for the map info

[Jeff336]

Yes for Yellowstone, but it's probably going to busy
If you want to see real people of walmart check out the one in Helena.
If you can fit it in take the hike up Mt Olympus on the east side of Salt Lake city (wow what a view).

Jason

That’s all the kind of stuff I wanna see. That’s perfect. Just looked up mt Olympus looks great and should fit in the potential route.

[K.J]

I was fortunate enough to get to work in Utah. My favorite place I got to see was Moab. It's kinda like the Banff of Utah.

[Yukongold]

Do not be there on the school spring break. It is a zoo like no other. We found the camping on public land just fine. The govy campgrounds are great but the largest section is for reservations and then the overflow first come first served. If it is busy you get in the line-up and wait for people to leave in order to get a spot. The hiking and biking is first class with amazing rock.

[Head Lice]

Bonneville Speed Week . . . . August 27th - September 1st
If you're around Yellowstone travel the Beartooth Pass between Red Lodge and Cooke City . . . 11,000ft above sea level. Have crossed this pass on my motorcycle more than a few times. Have fun down there,

[waldedw]

I spent some time working in Green River Utah over near the Colorado border, just south of there is Moab and there is lot's to see and do, just make sure your not there on a long weekend as the place gets invaded my thousands of desert riders and it's kind of a zoo, most other times it quiet and a great place to explore.
If your in the St. Georges area take time to head into the Zion National Park and / or Bryce Canyon National park, the red stone cliffs are gorgeous, you can hike and mountain bike for days on end, not sure if your a golfer but if you are some of the most scenic courses in the world are in that area.

[Sundancefisher]

My wife and I are looking to do a road trip to Utah.

Short story long, we had a trip to Peru and Machu Picchu booked to leave in may of 2020. We had planned to hike around Peru for 3 weeks. I’m not sure if any one else’s travel plans got changed around the that time ? But that got canceled. So now we’re looking at something a little different.

We’d like to drive down to Utah In late summer/early fall of 2022. So a bunch a of questions.

Is that a good time to go? Liking at about the same kind of trip duration. About 14-20 days. The plan would be leave Calgary and make some stops along the way though Montana and Yellowstone, the end goal is Zion NP, Bryce Canyon and arches NP. We would be camping/ overlanding. Maybe getting a hotel or motel the odd night to relax.

Does OnX work similar to IHunter? Can I use it to find public land camping spots?

Does anyone know of any most stop places or odd things to see ? Like abandoned ghost towns or something cool to see.

Any insights or tips would be appreciated for sure!

Best time to be down there is starting last week in Aug. Families with kids all leave and go home to get ready for school.

When in Yellowstone follow this strategy for geyser watching. Visit the ones that regularly go off but swing by those that go off more randomly. Keep a journal of how full the geyser pool is. If empty… you have a long time to do other stuff depending upon the range of time it can go off. Visit it again later and see how the pool has changed. If half full to the overflow point and that was say 5 hours of time past… then go back in 4 hours. If near overflow…then wait for the show.

Told a park warden that and he scoffed. We had followed this plan and showed back up at one major geyser. Everyone was leaving. Thought we just missed it.

Warden was standing by the viewing platform so I went over. The water was at the top of the pool and over flowing. I asked him if it went off. He said no and that likely time is in about 3 hours. He left. We grabbed our sandwiches and ate alone on this massive viewing area. As all the cars disappeared down the road… boom… it went off spectacularly.

We used the same strategy for all geysers and it worked flawlessly.

Timing is everything. When the pool recharges to overflow… that’s when to watch.

And if unfamiliar with Yellowstone… never stop off the path or boardwalk. It will kill you.

Zion, Bryce and Arches is awesome.

Craters of the Moon is also an amazing area.

As for camping. We mostly camped at KOA’s. Good locations and extra amenities. https://koa.com/states-provinces/utah/

[Spidey]

It's still going to be VERY hot that time of year. We went in late August. Zion was great. It's very impressive how they move people through the park. Banff/Lake Louise could take a page out of Zion's playbook.

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is also in that area and quite spectacular.

St. George is an interesting town. We took a tour of the Brigham Young winter home. Slight Mormon indoctrination attempts aside, it was cool to learn about the history of the area. Lots of good restaurants in St. George as well.