List Your Top Ten Favorite Paces You Have Been Or Seen in Utah

[midog]

Many times on short notice I would like to go on a family adventure, but I always end up in the same places, or don't go, because no good ideas come to mind! I want to create a reference guid for new places to explore. It always seems like the coolest places I've been have been shown to me by someone else, so I hope I can get your input on some of the areas you love to visit!

I have 3 kids ages 6-11 and would like to get them out more. The list I'm trying to make would be accessable by SUV (my buggy only fits (2)) so Toyota Sequoia it is.!

So with that I ask for suggestions? I would like to try some more ghost towns, Gobblin Valley, the Swell (but its huge and don’t know where to start). Basically make a good goal list of "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED" places to see!


THE "Favorite Place / Trail" LIST (places for trip planning)-

1. Goblin Valley (desert)- Specifically? http://www.utah.com/stateparks/goblin_valley.htm
a. Little Wild horse / Bell Canyon Slot Canyon
b. Eye of Sinbad/Wild Horse Window

2. Aches (desert) (places other than Delecate Arch)- http://www.utah.com/nationalparks/arches.htm
3. Moon Lake (mountain)- Developed or primitive camping areas? http://www.go-utah.com/Moon-Lake/
4. Calf Creek Falls Escalante (desert)- looks awesome http://www.utah.com/schmerker/2001/calf_creek_falls.htm
5. Sego (ghost town)- http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/prog/more/cultural/archaeology/places_to_visit/sego_canyon.html,
6. Moab (desert)- other than the typical crawling trails we know (poison spider, hells revenge, etc)-
a. Tusher Tunnel- http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=HGS385-003
b. White Wash Trail (desert)- http://webejeepinmoab.com/?p=320
c. Shafer Switchbacks to Potash Rd (desert)- http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=280.
d. Bull Canyon (desert)- http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=24

7. Skyline Drive (mountain)- Stops along the way anyone? http://www.go-utah.com/Skyline-Drive/
8. Cleveland Loyd Dinosaur Quarry (desert) http://www.utah.com/playgrounds/cleveland_lloyd.htm
9. Dinosar National Monument (desert) Vernal http://www.utah.com/nationalsites/dinosaur.htm
10. Sand Hollow (desert) St. George http://www.utah.com/stateparks/sand_hollow.htm
11. Canyonlands (desert)- http://www.nps.gov/cany/index.htm
a. Elephant Hill, the Joint Trail- http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/needleslonghikes.htm
b. Horseshoe Canyon- http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/horseshoecanyon.htm
c. The Maze- http://www.utah.com/nationalparks/canyonlands/the_maze.htm
(aa. Overlook, bb. the Overlook. cc. Doll House, dd. Land of Standing Rocks, ee. Panorama Point, ff. Cleopatras Chair)
d. The Needles- http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/needles.htm
e. Beef Basin- http://www.expeditionutah.com/featured-trails/beef-basin-s-e-utah/

12. Cedar Mesa / Grand Gulch (desert)- http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/monticello/recreation/places/cedar_mesa.html
13. Zions (mountain / desert)- http://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm
14. Capitol Reef (mountain / desert)- http://www.nps.gov/care/index.htm
15. Book Cliffs (mountain)- http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/vernal/recreation_/book_cliffs.html
16. The Swell (desert)- http://www.utah.com/playgrounds/san_rafael.htm
a. Eagle Canyon swell (desert)- http://www.4x4now.com/trutec.htm

17. The Henry Mountains (desert)- http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/richfield/recreation_/henry_mountains.html
18. Robbers Roost (desert)- http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/utah/roost/
19. Boulder Mountain (mountain)- http://www.go-utah.com/Boulder-Mountain/
20. Escalante (desert)- http://www.utah.com/stateparks/escalante.htm
21. Abajo Mountains (mountain) Blanding- http://www.go-utah.com/Abajo-Mountains/
22. American Fork Canyon (mountain)-
23. Native American Reservation off hwy6 (Indian)- more info please!
24. Pony Express (desert)- http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/salt_lake/recreation/back_country_byways/pony_express_trail.html
a. Dugway Geobeds, (great fun for kids)- http://www.utahoutdooractivities.com/geodebedscamp.html

25. Hole in the Rock (desert)- http://www.utah.com/offroad/hole_rock.htm
26. The Bears Ears (mountain)- http://4cornershikesbridges.blogspot.com/2008/10/bears-ears-and-arch-canyon.html
27. the Condies- (need more info)
28. Great Basin National Park (mountain)- http://www.nps.gov/grba/index.htm
29. The Citadel (Indian)- http://redrockadventure.blogspot.com/2007/04/citadel-anasazi-ruins.htm
30. Mesa Verde (Indian)- http://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm

 

[sixstringsteve]

The good news is, there's a TON to see in Utah. You can pick just about any area, and you'll find something amazing within 50 miles of that spot. Check out the trip reports on Expeditionutah.com, they cater quite a bit to the SUV-friendly trails.

 

[midog]

Steve, what have been a couple of your favorites?

 

[TRD270]

Goblin Valley is very cool, fun place for the kids to run around. Arches would be another good place to go. If you want to go more woods type, moon lake is very nice, great fishing. Calf creek falls down in escalante, can't remember the name of the lake down there, but also great fishing

 

[Spork]

Great thread, I need to plan something with my kids. Goblin valley is cool. If you haven't been to Sego it's a good trip more towards Moab. http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.ph...ns-Petroglyphs-and-Pictographs&highlight=sego

 

[Hickey]

We recently did the Tusher tunnel trail. It's very short, with a cool natural tunnel at the destination. West of the Moab airport.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I love tusher tunnel, good choice.

 

[UNSTUCK]

With the purchase of our new 4 door, we have pulled the trigger on a once a month outing with the kids. I also know none of these areas, and it drives me nuts. I think it would be great if we could put on a few family friendly runs that are geared more towards sight seeing vs rock crawling. Just like the OP, my list of wanted trips would be similar, but I have no clue where to start. Our first trip is to St George for sand hollow this month, 28-30 (please join us). Next month we want to go dinosaur bone hunting in vernal. Unless someone can recommend a better place.

 

[frieed]

Skyline drive is amazing and most of it can be done in a minivan.

 

[midog]

Skyline drive is amazing and most of it can be done in a minivan.

Do you start up Spanish Fork Cannyon?

Camp grounds along the way or primitive (good places to camp)? What about lakes and things to see along the way? Ive been up Farview cannyon to those lakes, but thats about it.

 

[Kevin B.]

Lots of places on that list I haven't been to yet either, but I'd add Horseshoe Canyon. The climb out can be a slog if you're not used to such things, but it's a great adventure for kids and adults.

 

[UFAB]

Not sure on Paces, but my most memorable place in Utah would be Beaver. I drank the water..

 

[frieed]

Started in Spanish Fork and there are lots of primitive campsites. Biggest problem I would have is that fact that the area is open range and you may have bovine company in your camp. When you get south of HW 31, the road is no longer "improved". There are no ledges or anything but count on some ruts. I'd think the Sequoia would be fine. The big problem with that section comes when it rains. That is the slipperiest section of road I've ever seen and there is about a 4000' drop to the valley floor, no guardrails, and no trees on the slope to stop you.

see my description here: http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.ph...scary-(skyline-drive-no-really-skyline-drive)

 

[Johnny Quest]

That is the slipperiest section of road I've ever seen and there is about a 4000' drop to the valley floor, no guardrails, and no trees on the slope to stop you.

 

[DAA]

Dang... I thought about this for a minute, and there is no way I could narrow it down to just ten. And really no way I could rank the top 20 or 30. So, just a few, off the top of my head, in no particular order and knowing I'm leaving out a whole bunch of equally worthy spots.

Horseshoe Canyon (go in on the Deadman trail and skip the sand slog...)
Cedar Mesa/Grand Gulch (could make a top 20 list of spots just in this area...)
High Uintas (could make another top 20...)
The Maze - take your pick, The Overlook, Doll House, Land of Standing Rocks, Panorama Point, Cleopatras Chair (there's a top 5 list right there...)
Arches
Zion
Capitol Reef
Cathedral Valley
Book Cliffs
The Swell (another top 20 list waiting to happen...)
Beef Basin
The Needles
Elk Ridge
The Henry's
The Tushars
The La Sal's
Robbers Roost
Boulder Mountain
Escalante

And so on and so forth. Could go on and on. The above certainly isn't my top ten, I don't have any such thing, but it's a place to start.

- DAA

 

[midog]

Cedar Mesa/Grand Gulch (could make a top 20 list of spots just in this area...)
High Uintas (could make another top 20...)
Arches
Zion
Capitol Reef
Book Cliffs
The Swell (another top 20 list waiting to happen...)
Elk Ridge
The Henry's
The Tushars
The La Sal's
Robbers Roost
Boulder Mountain
Escalante

And so on and so forth. Could go on and on. The above certainly isn't my top ten, I don't have any such thing, but it's a place to start.

- DAA

This is why I need to get out more!

Great List! I would love to know a couple places to see once at the places you list above. Maybe, sometime you could add subcategories to your list (like what you did for the Maze)? I would not even know where to start!

 

[Kevin B.]

Part of the fun is exploring though. Check with the rangers at hans flat for road conditions (and permits if you're camping) and pick a road!

 

[sixstringsteve]

Here are my favorite trails. They don't meet all of your criteria, but here they are is anyway. I hope to see 10% of the trails DAA does in my lifetime. Most of these are my favorites because of the people that were there more than the trail itself.

1) The Rubicon Trail
2) Abajo Mtns in Blanding
3) Elephant Hill --> the joint trail
4) AF Canyon
5) Eagle Canyon (San Rafael Swell)
6) The Native American Reservation East of hwy 6
7) White wash sand dunes --> Canyonlands via backroads
8) Tusher Tunnel area
9) Bull Canyon
10) Shaefer switchbacks to Potash Rd, passing near dead horse point. I'll have to re-check which time I did this, but I loved it.

Honorable Mentions:
- Pony Express Trail --> Little Sahara Sand Dunes
- Hole in the Rock trail
- Hanging Tree trail
- The Uintas
- Sego


My favorite non-vehicle trails:
- Bluejohn canyon
- Ding & Dang canyons
- Zion
- Arches - Delicate Arch
- Little Wildhorse Canyon
- Medieval Chamber

 

[mesha]

The bears ears
Condies
Abajo mountains
Moab
Everywhere in the swell
Vernal area
My backyard
Callao (spelling)
Great Basin national park( not Utah but almost)
Zion (canyoneering)

My wife jami
The desert .
Lake Powell
The citadel
Mesa verde ( not Utah but close)
The rest of south eastern Utah
Any Indian ruins( probably her favorite activity)


Little Davy (son age 6)
Lake Powell
Fiery furnace
Fins n things(he runs the whole thing)
Hells revenge
Grandpas house

Cedar (my little girl age 3)
The woods
The mountains without hiking them
Moab
Grandmas house
The zoo
Camping with my family

We really love the dest and prefer it to the mountains. We like the mountains too, but the desert calls to us for Some reason. Cedar asked if we would take her to Moab for her birthday. It is over jeep safari so that worked out well

 

[Tonkaman]

This is a great thread! I'm subscribing for future trip planning