Southern Utah trail guides?

D

dood

Registered User
Hello Everyone,
I meandered over here from my regular Colorado4x4.org stomping grounds. I regularly go to Moab for a week of wheeling during the 1st week of April (the school where I teach always has that week as spring break). Well wouldn't you know, EJS next year is the same week....aarrgghhh!

I love wheeling in your beautiful state for the solitude (since the late 80's), not the crowds, so the wife and I are looking for somewhere else in Sothern Utah to wheel. We were thinking about maybe going to the Bryce area, Zion area, escalante. I've been to those places in the past and loved the scenery and solitude, but have never done any wheeling there. I primarily hiked and backpacked. Are there trails around these areas?

Can anyone reccomend the name of a few trails, or maybe a good book? Is there even a website with Utah trails (all I've found seem to focus on the Moab area)? I would be towing my jeep.
I've been considering going into the Maze district of canyonlands too, but I'm unsure how feasible that would be with a small (2.5yr/old) child.

I'm comfortable doing 3.5-4 rated trails solo if that matters.
Any tips will be greatly appreciated.
 
Do a search in the Trip Reports forum for the following places: St George, Cedar City, and Logandale NV. There are some awesome places in S. Utah away from the madness of Moab.
 
I went into the Maze this June. It's a wonderful area. The only problem see with a young child is the long slow road. They might get a little whinny. Other than that it's a great place to take kids.

Kevin
 
dood said:
Hello Everyone,
I meandered over here from my regular Colorado4x4.org stomping grounds. I regularly go to Moab for a week of wheeling during the 1st week of April (the school where I teach always has that week as spring break). Well wouldn't you know, EJS next year is the same week....aarrgghhh!

I love wheeling in your beautiful state for the solitude (since the late 80's), not the crowds, so the wife and I are looking for somewhere else in Sothern Utah to wheel. We were thinking about maybe going to the Bryce area, Zion area, escalante. I've been to those places in the past and loved the scenery and solitude, but have never done any wheeling there. I primarily hiked and backpacked. Are there trails around these areas?

Can anyone reccomend the name of a few trails, or maybe a good book? Is there even a website with Utah trails (all I've found seem to focus on the Moab area)? I would be towing my jeep.
I've been considering going into the Maze district of canyonlands too, but I'm unsure how feasible that would be with a small (2.5yr/old) child.

I'm comfortable doing 3.5-4 rated trails solo if that matters.
Any tips will be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...



Chokecherry Point Trail - 3.5 rated (general consensus of the folks I was with) - halfway between Torrey and Bouldertown on Utah 12. The trail runs from 8,700 feet to 11,000 feet and we did run into a bit of snow on Labor Day. In July the trail at the highest evelvation can be a complete quagmire. Very rocky trail, one tie-rod failure, open grazing with the biggest darn heard of cattle that I have every seen. Narrow trail with multiple switch backs for the first half, the cattle will challenge your vehicles head on when provoked (real long hilarious story). You also have Lower Calf Creek Falls in the immediate area which is a fantastic place to take a real short hike.
N 38-07.41
W 111-26.85
 
There's always hole int he rock as well. The northern portion is nothing more than a dirt road until you get closer to Lake Powell, then it turns into a 2.0 at best. The southern portion is a 4.0 and takes two days.
 
There are a lot of trails and events going on all the time in Southern Utah.
Check out the website utah4x4club.com and watch the Southwest Utah planning forum for rides being planned.

Also check out our website www.canyoncountry4x4club.com

If you are in the Kanab, Grand Staircase Escalante Monument area, you can contact me personally and I can point you to some great trails and sites to see. If you're looking for areas that aren't crowded, we can show you plenty of those.

Don Black; email: blackent@xpressweb.com or phone (435) 819-0061
 
Don't forget about the San Rafael Swell... Easy access from Green River, UT (off of I70) and plenty of terrain to cover on both sides of the Freeway. Even on busier weekends you will still have some serenity.
 
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