Places to stay in Utah/Colorado/AZ & NM

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nuttyzoomzoom

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We're planning a 2 week RV trip mid-Sept to early October.  Since it's our first RV/camping trip *out west,* what are some recommendations for places to stay?

We're heading from St. Louis to Moab Utah.  Then down to Bryce or Zion, North Rim of the Grand Canyon and who knows where.  We've been to Utah twice, but stayed in hotels or vrbo homes in the past.  I know some BLM campsites have length restrictions.  We'll have one or two 32 footers and a 35 footer on the trip, at least one of the 3 pulling a vehicle.
 
First off the north rim of the Grand Canyon will probably be closed at that time of year.

So let's do the math. It is 1200 miles from St Louis to Moab. Most RVers limit themselves to 200 to 300 miles of driving a day, even with two drivers. That's 4 days coming and 4 days going. That leaves you with 6 days. If it were me I would spend 3 days at Bryce Canyon and 3 days at Zion.

For Bryce if you want hookups then I recommend Ruby's Inn. If you don't want hookups then North Campground.

For Zion if you want hookups then Watchman, no hookups then South Campground.

Any more destinations will be like stuffing 10 pounds of poop into a 5 pound bag.
 
That should be a great time to make that trip, although the North Rim gets dicey weather-wise and generally closes for overnights by Oct. 15.  We are making basically the same 2 wk trip, leaving from Northern IL, in mid June.  Check back, as I'll try to make a full trip report.  We will be staying at state or natl parks.  I would be willing to try some of the BLM spots, but that time of year I want to at least have electric for AC (kind of locked into June because of kids school). 

We plan to first stop at Rifle Gap SP in CO for a few days, to do a few things in the Glenwood Springs area.  Then to Moab, where we will stay at Dead Horse Point SP for a few days and visit Arches NP.  Then on to Bryce, but staying at Kodachrome Basin SP, because it has full hookups and seems better suited to a 36' RV than the Bryce Canyon NP campgrounds.  Finally, four nights at Zion NP in the Watchman CG. We thought about the North Rim, but decided that would be adding too much to the trip.  If you want to stay in any of the NP CGs and want to have reservations, start thinking about it soon.  The NP reservation window starts 6 mos. in advance.  The Utah SP reservation window is four months in advance.  I suppose Sept.  will be a little more off-season, so you might not have the same reservation issues that I had, but when I tried to make a reservation at DHP SP 15 minutes after the reservation window opened, the weekend nights were already all full.

A couple of tools that I used extensively in planning/dreaming were the AllStays "Camp and RV" app for tablet or smartphone, rvparkreviews.com, and campsitephotos.com, which shows photos of the actual campsites at various parks.  The geographic  coverage at campsitephotos.com is pretty spotty, but they seem to have most of the Utah SPs and NPs.

I imagine others with much more experience (notably, SeilerBird) will chime in soon with better advice. [Doh, he already beat me to it, I see when I hit "post"]
 
We did Little Rock to Moab via hill country Texas and New Mexico, then Little Rock to Moab via Amarillo and New Mexico, and this year will do Moab from Baton Rouge through Texas and New Mexico. All three of those took us two weeks just to get there!

Now, granted, we were not in a who-ray hurry, but as Tom points out, that's a road trip for a short amount of time. And yes, we are full time, so that changes the routing and stopping some, but regardless, back to back to back 300 miles days are killers on people and equipment.

All of that said, if you are forgetting about everything in between, go with Tom's recommendations. He has lots of experience in those areas. We don't - all our experience is before we get there!  8)

Moderation will come with experience - but there are no shortages of great places to stop and see, both along the way and when you get to Utah, arguably the best destination state in the lower 48.  ;D
 
@NuttyZZ - Like Tom said, that's a lot to do in 2 weeks. You might want to decide if you'd rather do Zion & Bryce or the Moab area and stay there the whole time. You'll find so much to do in either area that you won't want to be moving quickly from one spot to another.

@jagnweiner - Rifle Gap is kind of out of the way for exploring the Glenwood Springs area. Have you thought about staying in Glenwood at one of the commercial parks? Or perhaps one of the Forest Service camps in the area (no hookups but delighful mountain weather in June so no need for A/C).

You're both going to some spectacular country. Be sure to allow time to enjoy it.
Wendy


 
Wendy-

Thanks for the advice.  I had considered staying in a commercial park, but the ones I saw were pricey and got mixed reviews, so I decided I would be willing to make the drive back to Glenwood once or twice.  I was perhaps a bit misleading in saying "stay at Rifle Gap to see Glenwood."  We really only have two things we wanted to do in Glenwood, a rafting trip and a visit to the pool.  I've been to Glenwood several times, but always in winter and long before I had wife and kids.  We will be spending as much or more time in Rifle area, fishing and hiking.  Probably not up for the forest service camp yet on this trip, because we may boondock for a night or two on the trip out from IL and will probably be ready to dump and take on water.  I'll remember that for future trips to CO. 

Edit:  BTW, moderators, this thread might be more aptly placed in the Destinations, et al section than in Campground reviews.
 
Ah, now that makes more sense. Rifle Gap is more of a destination park for fishing, hiking, 4WD. In Glenwood Springs, we've stayed at Ami's Acres. It was $24 in 2004, don't know what it is now.

Enjoy the trip.
Wendy
Cortez, Colorado, when we're home
 
Last fall we did Moab, (Arches and Canyonlands), then Capital Reef, then Bryce. Left home in northern IL on 8-30 and returned on 9-17. We planned on going to the Grand Canyon, but on the advice of Wendy, we decided to save it for another time. I wasn't retired then, and had a finite amount of time. Wendy's advice was spot on. The Grand Canyon would have been a drive by. We are planning Mesa Verde, the Grand Canyon, and Zion for another time.

While in Moab, we stayed at Canyonlands Campground which is right in town and within walking distance of restaurants etc. At Bryce we stayed at Ruby's (kind of pricey, but you are a captive consumer there - Ruby owns everything for miles - diesel fuel was $4.90) which is very nice.
 
Parttymer-
How many days did you break the drive out from IL into?  I assume you took 80 then cut down to Denver to pick up 70.  Anything noteworthy about the drive across the prairie?
 
Scott,

First night stayed at Wally World in Urbandale, IA; stayed at a PA in Elm Creek, NE called Sunny Meadows second night. (just a giant parking lot, but huge pull through sites, and great hostess). Perfect for an overnight stay. From there to Wally World in Avon, CO just west of Vail for the third night. Went through Rifle Gap the next morning. Rolled in to Moab on Sunday afternoon. I-76 to I-70 was under construction almost the entire way after splitting off of I-80. Went through Denver around 5 p.m. on Saturday, and decided to get past the mountains before stopping about 120 miles west of Denver. We had a GREAT time! Saw lots of things we had never seen before. On the way home, we took I-25 out of Denver to Cheyenne and ended up staying there 2 nights. Caught I-80 home in Cheyenne. (3460 miles, 7.1 mpg, crossing the Rockies twice and running all over southern Utah mountains) We are going to the FMCA rally in Gillette in June and then from there to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. The rally ends June 22, so we will have a whole month to get back to Cheyenne for Frontier Days. Can't wait! Good luck on your trip and enjoy!

Stan

P.S. We stopped in the aforementioned Glenwood Springs, CO...beautiful!
 
SeilerBird said:
First off the north rim of the Grand Canyon will probably be closed at that time of year.

So let's do the math. It is 1200 miles from St Louis to Moab. Most RVers limit themselves to 200 to 300 miles of driving a day, even with two drivers. That's 4 days coming and 4 days going. That leaves you with 6 days. If it were me I would spend 3 days at Bryce Canyon and 3 days at Zion.

For Bryce if you want hookups then I recommend Ruby's Inn. If you don't want hookups then North Campground.

For Zion if you want hookups then Watchman, no hookups then South Campground.

Any more destinations will be like stuffing 10 pounds of poop into a 5 pound bag.

Isn't that the casual pace of fulltimers Seiler?

I mean those of us that have time constraints of vacation time.....we're spending much more time on the road to get from point A to point B.  We spend 12-15 hours a day in the seat.....especially on the first day and sometimes on the last day, before we report back to the salt mines. 

Nutty.....the Million Dollar Hwy. between Ouray and Durango in Sept. is incredable!  I believe Silverton has a small RV park.  These photos were taken last May but it was much more beautiful when we went through in Sept. three years earlier.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37830424@N02/7166565813/"
 
jagnweiner said:
Thanks, all.  Stan, we'll have to organize a N IL forum mini rally some time.  :)

You're in Geneseo (quad cities area). We pretty much have to go through that way if we're going west. Unless we go the northern route through Minnesota. We're in Rockford, so its always I-88 to I-39 coming home. Good friends in Bettendorf, so we always stop either coming or going. There are some Iowa State Park campgrounds on the Mississippi that we'd like to try before June. Maybe we can hook up in one of those.
 
JCZ said:
Isn't that the casual pace of fulltimers Seiler?

I mean those of us that have time constraints of vacation time.....we're spending much more time on the road to get from point A to point B.  We spend 12-15 hours a day in the seat.....especially on the first day and sometimes on the last day, before we report back to the salt mines. 
I don't consider 300 miles in a day very casual. I based my remark on what I have read on this forum. The subject has been discussed many times and the consensus is around 300. If you want to drive more than that then go ahead. For many of us getting there is half the fun.
 
Just for a little balance, here's input from a couple who routinely put in 400-500 mile days.

Our situation is that we live in North Carolina and consider anything west of Denver as God's Country.  The result is that we prefer to drive the approximately 2000 miles from here to Denver in 4 days rather than 7, or more, days.  That way we get to spend 3, or more, days in the places we really want to be.  If we make the same effort coming back home, we can leave 3 or 4 days later,  netting at least an additional week in the places where we want to be.

If that kind of long day driving seems daunting, I'll be happy to loan you the Pelicanlady and her whip.  She will be sure you get there on time!

However your decide to get there and back, enjoy your vacation!



 
I will put my vote in for Deadhorse Point and Kodachrome Basin - two of the best State Parks in Utah - I also love Goblin Valley, but it is boondocking!

I also usually stay at the Portal in Moab to refresh and recharge and cleanup after boondocking, it is a great campground with great facilities! Near Zion I usually refresh at Zion River Resort - west of Zion along the river, a totally first class RV Park with impeccable facilities.

I usually alternate between boondocking then a couple days to spoil myself.

If you have the time, you may want to plan a trip to Antelope Canyon outside of Page AZ. Another one of my favorite spots. I would skip the North Rim and concentrate on Utah - the view from Deadhorse Pint is every bit as good as the Grand Canyon!

Have a great trip. BTW - check the link to my blog for some photo albums!


Jim
 
SeilerBird said:
I don't consider 300 miles in a day very casual. I based my remark on what I have read on this forum. The subject has been discussed many times and the consensus is around 300. If you want to drive more than that then go ahead. For many of us getting there is half the fun.

I would have to agree if there weren't time constraints.  And if that were the case, I'd probably also be doing it all on two lane roads so I could really see America.  But when you only have a week or ten days vacation, you may have fun getting "there".....but then "there" isn't going to be to far away from home.

While it's not for everybody, while riding our Harleys across the country (due to time constraints) there were a couple of times we covered 1,000 miles in a day and 800 miles a day, often.  Much easier to do on a touring motorcycle than in a car or truck.  Not sure why it was easier on the bikes but everybody that we ride with says the same thing.

If I had my druthers.....I'd druther just mosey along on the back roads....stop where I want.....go when I want.  That's why we can't wait to start full timing.
 
My intention was to help the OP plan their vacation, not set rules in cement for RV traveling. I have no idea how many miles they will cover in a day. I used 300 because that is what most people around here seem to prefer. Obviously if they want to cover more miles per day then they can adjust their vacation time accordingly. I did not think I needed to waste time explaining that. I did not use 700 or 800 miles per day because I felt that as beginning RVers that would really be straining them and I did not want them to think that was the norm for RVers. I realize people who work and only have two weeks will be under a time constraint and will probably want to cover more miles in a day.
 
Sometimes we only travel 20 miles in a day. Sometimes we travel 400 miles in a day. We used to go 600 miles in a day. All depends. And that's the joy of RVing, go as far or as little as you want, stop at the places you want, and enjoy the trip and/or the destination, whatever works for your time and personality.

Wendy
 

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