Utah "Grand Canyon" location

[Jayflight]

A while back I was watching a video and the couple was driving an area between a bunch of typical Utah rock structures. They called it an alternative Grand Canyon.  The road was reported to be an 80 mile drive and had some primitive  campsites along the road. Can someone tell me more about this location and drive? TIA

 

[SeilerBird]

The entire southern portion of the state is beyond awesome. I don't know exactly where you are talking about.

 

[richclover]

This could be what you?re looking for:

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/utah/ut-little-grand-canyon-san-rafael/

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The "Little Grand Canyon" was probably it, but Bryce Canyon kind of fits that description too. Southern Utah is indeed spectacular!

 

[Doc Roads]

We went through there this year ... beautiful area with a lot to explore!  We stayed at Kaibab Piaute RV park with a Passport America discount. We used this location as a hub and went to Grand Canyon, Zion, Kanab, etc.

 

[TonyL]

X2 for Kaibab Paiute campground. We had the pleasure of staying there last year for 9 weeks during the start of the pandemic. Cannot recommend this campground high enough. We also used Passport America.
Regards
TonyL

 

[Jayflight]

X2 for Kaibab Paiute campground. We had the pleasure of staying there last year for 9 weeks during the start of the pandemic. Cannot recommend this campground high enough. We also used Passport America.
Regards
TonyL

It looks like that campground is not located in the San Rafael range. On the video it showed remote camping on the 80 mile road. Thanks for the information. We hope to target the entire region this late spring before heading north.

 

[jackiemac]

If it's in that area, we stayed at Green River at the State Park, although there was a nice RV park close by.

There is a lot to see in that area.

Little Grand Canyon, or the Wedge

Not sure about which road or the campsites though...

Or it could be the white rim trail in Canyonlands but that's a tent or truck camper at best... You need a permit to camp there.

 

[Isaac-1]

Sure there are plenty of attractive canyons in UT, CO, NM, etc. but comparing them to the grand canyon is like comparing downtown Dallas to downtown Manhattan when talking about sky scrapers.

 

[SeilerBird]

Sure there are plenty of attractive canyons in UT, CO, NM, etc. but comparing them to the grand canyon is like comparing downtown Dallas to downtown Manhattan when talking about sky scrapers.

I have visited four different canyons that dared to be compared to the Grand Canyon and found them all  to be complete fantasy on their part. One was on the island of Kauai, one near Chico, California and I forget where the other two were. It would be like comparing a fourth grader with Dolly Parton.

 

[Jayflight]

I only used the term "Grand Canyon" or I probably should have said "Little Grand Canyon" in a way to differentiate from the one and only "Grand Canyon" My apologizes for cursing, I stayed at the Green River State Park before and it was pretty nice. By the way the town has a wonderful hardware store that has a pretty good selection of rv parts. And its just off of the interstate.

This time around we are interested in spending more time in the region and more time away from modern facilities and in the remote areas. We have spent some time on the Utah site and have not seen the specific road mentioned yet. I guess I will try to find the original video on you tube and watch it much closer in hopes to get more details.

 

[Jayflight]

Well I found it.  It looks less traveled and the road appears to be favorable to regular vehicles.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=roaming+with+rosie+utah+little+grand+canyon+the+swell+the+wedge+ancient++you+tube&view=detail&mid=39BDA92A5EDF1B5F49A639BDA92A5EDF1B5F49A6&FORM=VIRE

 

[Utclmjmpr]

There is also a nice Little state park at a reservoir  just west of the town of Ferron that's very quiet and pleasant..>>>Dan

 

[jackiemac]

I did wonder if it was that road. It's a nice route.  We liked the area a lot. I'll watch that to see what we  missed!  Thanks

 

[CharlesinGA]

We went through there this year ... beautiful area with a lot to explore!  We stayed at Kaibab Piaute RV park with a Passport America discount. We used this location as a hub and went to Grand Canyon, Zion, Kanab, etc.

X2 for Kaibab Paiute campground. We had the pleasure of staying there last year for 9 weeks during the start of the pandemic. Cannot recommend this campground high enough. We also used Passport America.
Regards
TonyL

Thank you both. While I have not been out west, I plan on heading out next year. I have seen this on Google Maps, and the Pipe Springs NM across the road from it, and thought it might be a good place to stay. Now I know.

Charles

 

[CharlesinGA]

This video may also give you good information on the San Rafael Swell and the Wedge and the long drive thru the area. The couple travels in a Pleasure Way Sprinter van conversion and do an excellent job of presenting their travels. They have traveled a lot in Utah and the Southwest as they live in southern California. Any of their videos are worth watching.

https://youtu.be/BfbO4HP1mfI

Grand Adventure also does an excellent job with videos (they lived in Salt Lake City until the end of 2020 when they went full time) Marc has two videos on the San Rafael Swell and the Wedge and since they are avid boondockers and love to get away from everything, that is the kind of videos you will see.

https://youtu.be/hhicjYJXri0

https://youtu.be/Q0IfDaYIz5Q

Charles

 

[AStravelers]

Grand Canyon and the Canyons of Southeastern Utah. 

Two very different places, both spectacular!

Grand Canyon:  Wonderful huge canyon with lots and lots and lots of people.  You get to walk to the overlooks, or trails along the rim, and view the canyon for as long as you wish.  Get kind of old just sitting and looking w/o anything else to do.  Then you get to go back to your RV or motel with little or no view.  You can easily hike the rim trails, but going into the canyon you need to be pretty fit.  Easy to hike down 500-1000 feet in elevation and not realize just how hard it is to get back up.

The Canyons of Southeastern Utah:  If you dry camp or boondock you can park with great views w/o leaving the area of your RV.  Wonderful sunrises, sunsets and night time sky viewing right from your RV.  Some times of the year and some areas you can be separate by a 100 yards or more from your neighbor, not as easy as it used to be back in 1990's though.  You can also drive for miles on paved and dirt roads with a new scenic view around each corner.  Miles and miles of hiking trails that you don't have to go DOWN 500-1000 feet in elevation just to turn around and go back up.

Grand Canyon is well worth visiting for a week or two, but SE Utah has spectacular views and formations that will take many trips or months to see them all.

 

[SeilerBird]

I should mention that Bryce Canyon was named improperly. It is not a canyon, it is an amphitheater. It is half of a canyon.But Bryce Amphitheater doesn't have the same ring to it as Bryce Canyon. When my family moved from Illinois to California (on Route 66) in 1959 we bought a house on Bryce Canyon Avenue.

 

[Jayflight]

Great links, Marc does a great job with his boondocking videos.  This will be our third season out west after doing the typical tourist traps on a limited time. This year we hope to target more off the grid regions for multiple days at a time. And we plan to do this earlier than the typical tourist travel season. Of course this has changed a bit with people not having kids in regular schools and a lot more people working remotely in their campers. 

 

[Utclmjmpr]

Last night that area got 15 inches of snow,, COME DOWN..>>>Dan