US Rocky Mountain Capital Reef - Grand Staircase trip

[ForceXXI]

The wife and I are going to be taken a trip out to Utah in May. Our trip dates are leaving out on May 20th and getting back home on or around the 28th or 29th. We plan to stop for the night in Grand Junction, Co at the RV Ranch campground to pick up any last minute items and to make sure we are good to go for 5-6 days in the backcountry. The next day we are heading to the Capital Reef Visitors Center then heading into the park and over the next day or 2 or 3, we will work our way down to Grand Staircase then to Big Water. We are still working on the plan for after we get to Big Water. I'm working on getting the 4Runer outfitted with a roof rack(still trying to decide on which one), might have a small lift and new tires by the time the trip rolls around. I will be picking up some type of messaging/SOS device or maybe 2 just to have redundancy.

Anyway, if there are any suggestions, please post them up. Do be aware that we are traveling with a dog so stopping or camping in most National Parks is a no-go, also we will be pulling a Bushwhacker teardrop, so no extreme roads. This will be our first "serious" overlanding trip. We have done some small, 3-day weekend type trips. Definitely looking forward to it.

 

[zgfiredude]

Oh, you are going to have a blast! My wife and I went down through that area last year and had SO much fun!

Try and stop in Fruita, Ut....and if you can, one night in the campground there in the park. It's super cool, lush (amazingly) and lots of big shade trees.....and get a pie in the little historic pie shop!

I'll go back to my planning and recall exactly where we went, but we really just meandered with our Jeep and teardrop trailer and had good times!

 

[ForceXXI]

I've read in some other places that recommended Fruita. I'm not sure if the timing will work out since we'll be leaving from Grand Junction around 8am so we'll get to the Capital Reef Visitor Center around 11 or noon. But we could possibly hit it up on the way back. We'll have to get the rest of our plan together and see how it works out. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[ForceXXI]

Definitely will take pictures. Thinking about a new gopro for trip. Get some good videos for my nonexistent YouTube channel lol

 

[Howzit]

How deep of a water crossing can the teardrop handle?

 

[ForceXXI]

@Howzit From some rough measurements, I would say 12" to 14" is about the max.

 

[RedClay]

We will be exploring the GSE about the same time! We'll start heading NE from Kanab on the 22nd. If we cross paths, we'd be happy to share a fire or coffee.

 

[ForceXXI]

We will be exploring the GSE about the same time! We'll start heading NE from Kanab on the 22nd. If we cross paths, we'd be happy to share a fire or coffee.

We're definitely down with that if we happen to run across each other.

 

[Mountaintrails71]

I will be all over that area during that time. We are taking three weeks and heading down from Washington state through Wyoming into Moab and around Utah. We will be doing what we can for dispersed but have a RTT on a trailer. We all should pm and see if it works out to get together.

 

[ForceXXI]

Hers a few pictures I've taken. Wife has a bunch more on the big camera.


Hole in the Rock Road, Escalante, UT.

The two below are from Bryce Canyon.