Utah Zion & area, Moab & area recommendations

[Alaskansnowbirds]

I've driven Shafer Trail three times in my 2 wheel drive Ford Ranger.

A fantastic drive. I love driving into the canyon and looking at the far end at what appears to be a shear rock wall. From that view you would swear that there is no way a road could go up that.

On any of the off road trips, for safety, if you can going with a second vehicle is best. That way if one vehicle has a problem you're not stranded.

 

[Old_Crow]

Be in area April 1st. Went to Zion last year and going to Escalante petrified state park. Spending few days on Kanab will go to Coral pink  sand dunes. Thinking north rim will be shut... any of these other areas mentioned above good first week of April.  Yes Toyota Tundra truck but not fond of extremely rough roads, but like to hike to areas if feasible... thanks

Pretty much anything I mentioned except the Grand Canyon north rim should be open, weather permitting.  Most of those areas are a lot lower than the north rim.  The paved road to the north rim opens around May 15th, but if it's not too rough a winter, there's access to the N Kaibab Natl Forest via Forest Road 22 out of Fredonia. 
If it's still snow packed, be careful.  Some guy got stuck up there last year and his wife had to hike quite a long way for help.  After she left the car, the guy finally found someplace with cell signal and called for help.  They got to him and then it took a while to find his wife.

If you go to Coral Pink Sand Dunes, hike far enough out into the dunes that they block your view of anything but the dunes.  The colors "change" with so much red/pink around and your eyes play tricks on you .  I found it very strange that the greens of the vegetation almost turn fluorescent.

 

[ArdraF]

We've driven Shaffer Trail quite a few times and the attached photo will give you a good idea of what it was like in 2006.  Personally I prefer driving up instead of down.  I'll never forget the time we were ascending and a we passed a VW bus that was descending.  It was rocking back and forth and the young couple inside were having a blast.  I've always wondered if they would have thought it was fun had they seen it from our perspective!

ArdraF

 

[Grand Adventure]

FYI, we just got back from a trip down there that we've broken into 3 episodes. The one from Zion is the only one published thus far:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_CeDJtVs0s
For Zion, we boondocked off Sheep Bridge Road in Virgin.

The remaining two episodes will publish on Grand Adventure (https://YouTube.com/GrandAdventure) per the following schedule:
Dec. 20: Lake Powell/Antelope Canyon (dry camping on the Utah side at Lone Rock Beach)
Jan. 3: Kanab/Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (boondocking on BLM between Kanab and Coral Pink Sand Dunes)

BTW, while in Kanab I highly recommend a visit to Best Friends, the largest no-kill shelter in the nation. Not just dogs and cats, but also horses and mules, small mammals, etc. It's in Angel Canyon north of town. I also wholeheartedly recommend Coral Pink Sand Dunes.

 

[John97031]

We've driven Shaffer Trail quite a few times and the attached photo will give you a good idea of what it was like in 2006.  Personally I prefer driving up instead of down.  I'll never forget the time we were ascending and a we passed a VW bus that was descending.  It was rocking back and forth and the young couple inside were having a blast.  I've always wondered if they would have thought it was fun had they seen it from our perspective!

ArdraF

Did a bicycle tour down that trail to the Colorado river ( jetboat ride back to Moab). That trail is QUITE steep....