March 15 to 31 - North AZ and South UT - input appreciated

Hi all
This spring, I'll be taking my family again for a camping adventure road trip to Northern AZ and Southern UT :D

I've done this area a handful of times myself, usually camping at National parks, established campsites. As a family, we did this area a couple years ago, virtually all national park camping. I think the boys racked up 6 or 7 junior ranger badges last time :).

Well...
-The boys are a little more capable now (and less interested in Jr. Ranger :()
-We'll all have hammocks and appropriate cold weather gear
-We'd like to do some different things this time, maybe camp outside the parks more

For those of you who have lived/traveled in this area, I humbly ask you to take a few moments to recommend your "must camp" locations in this area.

Our criteria will be
- drive in (light 4x4)...or
- light hike from drive (an hour or less)
- ability to use our new powers of hammock camping :cool:
- Beauty and Peace...:boggle:

Our loose plan:
We'll be spending a few nights at Mather in GC for sure
Seen lots of Moab, maybe consider Canyonlands area this time
Fruita and Zion were nice
Hope to spend some time in Millard County for fossils and gemstone collecting again.

If anyone has any suggestions, many thanks in advance...

I'd offer to hang with anyone in the area for that time frame, but I'd hate to bring our family cacophony your way ;)

...must be some Utah hangers out there....

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Originally Posted by DiscoveryDiver

...For those of you who have lived/traveled in this area, I humbly ask you to take a few moments to recommend your "must camp" locations in this area.

Our criteria will be
- drive in (light 4x4)...or
- light hike from drive (an hour or less)
- ability to use our new powers of hammock camping :cool:
- Beauty and Peace...:boggle: ...

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I'm sorry I don't have much for you that meets your criteria. Most of the places I visit will be above 8000' and covered in snow until May and sometimes June. Your dates are a little early.
I do like the Escalante to Boulder stretch of hwy 12. Hell's Backbone Rd was a good place to spot Mule Deer and Elk before the hunt. Calf Creek is a short hike with some cool things to checkout along the way.
Hopefully someone else that is more familiar with southern Utah can help you out.

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Originally Posted by MuseJr

I'm sorry I don't have much for you that meets your criteria. Most of the places I visit will be above 8000' and covered in snow until May and sometimes June. Your dates are a little early.
I do like the Escalante to Boulder stretch of hwy 12. Hell's Backbone Rd was a good place to spot Mule Deer and Elk before the hunt. Calf Creek is a short hike with some cool things to checkout along the way.
Hopefully someone else that is more familiar with southern Utah can help you out.

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Many thanks, appreciate the input. It is early...it can be a plus though, since even the "crowded" places can be quiet.

Southern Utah is beautiful, and one of my favorite places. My favorite hike by far is Coyote Gulch in the Escalante River drainage. It is an awesome hike, that choosing where you want to start or end, can be anywhere between around 20 miles to 5 miles. It is a pretty easy hike, and can be a day hike even. Although I would recommend taking a 3 day trip. There aren't a whole lot of places to hang, but there are tons of sandy beaches that are nice for sleepin on. If you are going in mid to late march, you should be earlier than flash floods too, which aren't a huge thing in the area, but they can be scary (we've got caught in a few). Snow canyon by St. George is a pretty fun place too. I haven't spent a lot of time camping in millard but sanpete county is close and has some really awesome landscape. Maple canyon (by moroni ut) is an extremely beautiful place, and a haven for rock climbing and rappelling if you're into that. Plenty of places to hang there. They have a campground or just camp outside of the campground. Fairview canyon is really pretty too.

Northern Arizona - Southern Utah.
Lucky you. That area is a favorite of ours. My wife and I "discovered" that area a few years ago and have been back several times. Love the high desert / Colorado plateau.

Our favorite areas are the Grand Canyon (North Rim) up to Moab. Unfortunately, I do not think that the North Rim is open until mid May. The Kiabab National Forest is just outside the National Park and as you may know, you can camp just about anywhere in a National Forest. We spent an amazing few days camped on the rim of the canyon there. I mean actually sitting on the rim, dangling our feet over the edge. That was something! Not to mention that there are plenty of trees to hang hammocks from in forests. And we didn't see another person the whole time.

Moab is an outdoor people's mecca. Hiking, bicycleing, 4-wheeling the slick rock, floating down the Colorado, just soaking up the Sun type of place. Arches National Park is 5 miles north of town and Canyonlands National Park is just 45 minutes away. Both are so different than what you see in the east. If the temperature gets a bit much for you, grab your hammocks, hop in the car and within an hour you can be in the woods in the LaSal Mountains above 10,000 feet.

I hope you enjoy your time in the area. My wife and I always do. Oh and if you don't have a particular agenda for getting from one place to another, pick up a book on Petroglyphs in the southwestern US and use that as a guide for getting from point A to point B. Southern Utah and Northern Arizona are covered in petroglyphs and you learn a lot of history by pulling off the side of the road for 15 minutes to see art carved in rocks that are hundreds of years old.

Enjoy.

Dave

Running - Thanks fo the response. I've not been to Escalante, I'd really like to go. There are also some slot canyons in the general area I'd like to take the boys to (Peek a Boo and Spooky Gulch). I had to skip those last time around due to high winds.

Dave - Many thanks as well. I've head Kaibab has some nice camping outside the park. I wonder, where do you park your car if you were going to stay in the forest? Being able to camp so close to the canyon sounds like quite a thrill. If you have more info on where you were, entry/exit, that would be a great help...

Jim

I would recommend areas around Kolob Canyon. You can also visit Grafton, a ghost town, outside of Rockville a few miles before the entrance to Zions. If the intent is to hang there, I would head outside of the area where the trees are not limited to Cedars.

North of the Colorado River in Moab, is a frontage road that heads south that has nice trees to hang from, and caves to also stay in. It has been several years since I have toured that area, but it was nice, and the canyon walls provided shelter from the wind, or shade from the heat.

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Originally Posted by samjaynes

I would recommend areas around Kolob Canyon. You can also visit Grafton, a ghost town, outside of Rockville a few miles before the entrance to Zions. If the intent is to hang there, I would head outside of the area where the trees are not limited to Cedars.

North of the Colorado River in Moab, is a frontage road that heads south that has nice trees to hang from, and caves to also stay in. It has been several years since I have toured that area, but it was nice, and the canyon walls provided shelter from the wind, or shade from the heat.

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I've been to Moab lots of times, not sure I've seen this area...sounds really cool. If you have any more info about how to pin down this area, please post..

Jim

Well last night I started to post with directions to Lockett Meadow and Hart Prairie near Flagstaff, AZ. For spectacular hanging from Aspen trees, depending on the snow pack end of March. Though I think right now the snow pack is pretty darn low, so if things don't change a lot it would probably be fine by March.

But then I remembered the recent fires around Flagstaff, so I don't know what kind of damage was done where. :( And while searching around for some good directions for you to Lockett Meadow, I found a NF notice from Oct 2010 that said Lockett Meadow area and some other areas on the San Francisco Peaks were still closed related to the fire damage, with a $5000 fine for entering the area.

Maybe Dejoha and other north AZ residents can fill us in. If fire took this area, then nature took one of her most beautiful delights from us. One that was also custom made for hanging.

The Kaibab Forest is a working forest. There are lots of forest service roads through out the area. We were able to drive over to an area called Temp Point and pitch a tent on the rim but there are many such areas along the rim. When we were there, these "developed camp sites" were really nothing but a slightly cleared off area where one could pitch a tent under the ponderosas. However, like I said before, you can camp anywhere inside a national forest.

Highway 89 at Jacob Lake, AZ takes you to the entrance to the North Rim. Along that 40+ mile drive, you will see several forest service roads leading to right and left along the road. The best way to find your way is to stop in Jacob Lake at the welcome center an ask a ranger or buy a map of the Kiabab Plateau. The rangers can also be called ahead of time to check on road closures. If you are still planning on mid-March, I bet the roads may be closed due to snow. The Kaibab Plateau is at 8000 feet (2400 meters) and snow tends to hang around at that elevation. My wife has taken a picture of me standing in 8 inches of snow in the forest in mid-May!

Hope this helps,
Dave

Search the net for Kaibab National Forest and you will find phone numbers and map ordering info along with other info.

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Originally Posted by BillyBob58

Well last night I started to post with directions to Lockett Meadow and Hart Prairie near Flagstaff, AZ. For spectacular hanging from Aspen trees, depending on the snow pack end of March. Though I think right now the snow pack is pretty darn low, so if things don't change a lot it would probably be fine by March.

But then I remembered the recent fires around Flagstaff, so I don't know what kind of damage was done where. :( And while searching around for some good directions for you to Lockett Meadow, I found a NF notice from Oct 2010 that said Lockett Meadow area and some other areas on the San Francisco Peaks were still closed related to the fire damage, with a $5000 fine for entering the area.

Maybe Dejoha and other north AZ residents can fill us in. If fire took this area, then nature took one of her most beautiful delights from us. One that was also custom made for hanging.

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Bummer! Thanks for the idea, though...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave

The Kaibab Forest is a working forest. There are lots of forest service roads through out the area. We were able to drive over to an area called Temp Point and pitch a tent on the rim but there are many such areas along the rim. When we were there, these "developed camp sites" were really nothing but a slightly cleared off area where one could pitch a tent under the ponderosas. However, like I said before, you can camp anywhere inside a national forest.

Highway 89 at Jacob Lake, AZ takes you to the entrance to the North Rim. Along that 40+ mile drive, you will see several forest service roads leading to right and left along the road. The best way to find your way is to stop in Jacob Lake at the welcome center an ask a ranger or buy a map of the Kiabab Plateau. The rangers can also be called ahead of time to check on road closures. If you are still planning on mid-March, I bet the roads may be closed due to snow. The Kaibab Plateau is at 8000 feet (2400 meters) and snow tends to hang around at that elevation. My wife has taken a picture of me standing in 8 inches of snow in the forest in mid-May!

Hope this helps,
Dave

Search the net for Kaibab National Forest and you will find phone numbers and map ordering info along with other info.

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Ah, the North Rim...Yeah, I think that's going to be a tough go in March. I was hoping for North Rim this time around, but all the GC facilities and ranger programs up there will be closed in March, so not such a good option for the kids...

I thought you were talking about camping on the South Rim in the national forest on the way into to the South Gate (is that also Kaibab?).

I wonder what the forest is like down there...maybe you could get near the rim on the south side?

I believe you are correct in that the Kaibab Forest (southern section?) is located around the South Rim. No problem as far as camping. Hang on a minute, let me find my map.....

The Kaibab National Forest has 4 districts: North Kaibab, Tusayan, Chalender and Williams. The map I have is for the North Kaibab district only. It does show that the Tusayan district is near the South Rim but with no detail. I can't see if there are areas that touch the rim. I also checked my Grand Canyon topo. It shows that the national forest does not touch the rim but comes very close in several areas. The rangers at the South Rim will be able to give you more detail than I can. There may be places inside the Park where you and your family can hang. Let us know what you find out.

Dave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave

I believe you are correct in that the Kaibab Forest (southern section?) is located around the South Rim. No problem as far as camping. Hang on a minute, let me find my map.....

The Kaibab National Forest has 4 districts: North Kaibab, Tusayan, Chalender and Williams. The map I have is for the North Kaibab district only. It does show that the Tusayan district is near the South Rim but with no detail. I can't see if there are areas that touch the rim. I also checked my Grand Canyon topo. It shows that the national forest does not touch the rim but comes very close in several areas. The rangers at the South Rim will be able to give you more detail than I can. There may be places inside the Park where you and your family can hang. Let us know what you find out.

Dave

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Many thanks, Dave
I might give the rangers a call (Skype) before we go and do some recon...