Help me plan a Maze expedition

[JL Rockies]

I've never been to the Maze District and I am in charge of planning an 3 night trip with some peeps from outta town. I am looking at the NPS map of the area and trying to determine what make the most sense.

The goal is to stay at a different site each nite and there have been requests to end up at Lake Powell for a night. What have some of you guys done? I did a search and really didn't come up with anything.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Cody]

The Maze overlook is beautiful, but was very very windy when we were there over Easter (like 70mph sustained winds at night). I'm not sure if that was a fluke or not.

Is it 3 nights in the maze and one at powell?

If so, I would come in through Hans Flat and down the Flint trail, stay one night at the Maze overlook, then head all the way around and down towards the doll house. I would honestly spend 2 nights in the Doll house (the two sites next to each other are the best (2 and 3?). You can day trip from the Doll House up towards The Wall and hike down into the Maze proper to see the Harvest scene (actually the hike from the Maze Overlook down is really really cool, but if you have to do that hike then drive around to the doll house you're going to be inf or a LONG day). You can also hike to the view of the confluence or down to Spanish Bottom from the Doll House. Spanish Bottom is cool, but it's a gnarly hike back up. Then head out towards Hite and camp at Blue Notch on the lake.

The only problem is, that completely bypasses Poison Spring Canyon which is one of my all time favorite roads to travel. But, you can't do everything in one three day trip so you can leave that for the next time you head down.

 

[JL Rockies]

Thats excellent advice. The big issue is some peeps are driving 1 or 2 days just to get here and I have to give them a day to get here and recoup before driving back. So I probably only have 3 nights 4 days total. Looking at the map it seems there's a lot of back tracking to get from point to point. Just trying to fill the trip with flow and awesome adventure.

 

[Cody]

It can be slow going down there--especially that road into the Doll House. The road in from Hite is high-speed, and the road into Hans Flat and down the Flint Trail is pretty good.

I personally think the Doll House is about the coolest place I've ever been, but for a shorter trip it can be a long haul--especially with rigs that aren't setup to move and/or people that don't push the pace a little bit. That's part of the reason why I would spend 2 days down there--it's a long haul to get there and worth spending some extra time enjoying. I think there are also a handful of arches and/or natural bridges in the area as well.

The overlook is easier to get to and you could easily spend 2 days out at the overlook, but if its windy like it was for us that becomes a less than ideal camping spot.

Also, no fires are allowed in the maze other than small cooking fires that are contained in a BBQ or firepan. We built a firepan that was about 24" by 12" and brought some Duraflames in with us for a self contained fire to keep us warm at night and have something to sit around. I don't think the rangers would care much about that setup, but we didn't have to worry about them because they considered the road to be completely impassible at the time so we knew they wouldn't be around to check on us

The nice thing is, as long as you have good people with you I don't know how you could have a bad time anywhere out there. Don't over think the process....or find better people

 

[MOODY]

The Wall is a stellar campsite. Stay there one night.

 

[JL Rockies]

What about campsite occupancy? On the NPS site it looks like each site is limited to 3 vehicles, we already have 5 going and that could reach as high as 12. It looks like the Dollhouse is the only area that has 3 sites clustered together.

 

[MOODY]

True, and they are sticklers about it, and for good reason. They don't even want those from other sites to visit and have the impact of lots of people at one particular site. You are going to see some of the most pristine, unmolested backcountry desert out there. Enjoy it!

(I saw your rig on 11400 S and 700 E the other day, looks nice)

 

[Cody]

Doll house has three, but only 2 of them are by each other. The 3rd is a mile or so away.

Get permits, and first come first served for people that want to come.

 

[JL Rockies]

I printed out the application and got all confused when it came to selecting sites once it seemed we'd have to split up each night. I've camped out on White Rim but the clusters are all very close so it was never an issue socially. I've no problem playing by the rules.

Thanks Moody, I hope she lasts forever.

 

[MOODY]

I would split up the group, maybe the first night at The Wall and Chimney Rock (groups would be about 20 min. apart) and then spend the last night or two at the Dollhouse.

 

[JL Rockies]

About Hite Marina... Is all dirt road to the place? Is it busy? I ask because there doesn't seem to be reservations. Has anyone driven all the way down there just to find there was no room?

 

[MOODY]

All dirt until the very last 5 or so miles. I've never camped there, but even if you couldn't camp there at Hite, there are numerous dirt roads you can hit up and camp on the edge of the lake. There is some super nice scenery on the way out of the Maze and into Hite.