Southern Utah National Parks Trip 2018

May 20, 2018
4 min read

This was an epic week long journey through Southern Utah visiting;

-Horseshoe Bend, Zion NP, Toquerville Falls, Bryce Canyon NP, Grand Staircase Escalante, Capital Reef NP, Canyonlands NP, Arches NP, Moab, Muley Point, Monument Valley, Flagstaff and Sedona.

The trip started with me picking up a long time Marine Corps friend of mine from the Phoenix airport and heading north towards Utah. Our first stop was Horseshoe bend which is a short little hike just off the highway and leads to an epic horseshoe turn in the Colorado River. From here we kept pushing North. After crossing over into the Utah border the sun was going to be setting and so we pushed to the south end of Zion National Park. There is an off-road trail here called the Barracks with several water crossings and lots of camping at the entrance. We set camp up here for the night and met some really cool people from Canada, France and elsewhere. The couple we met from Canada are traveling back to Canada via bicycles after riding all the way to Chile.

The next morning we woke up early and pushed into Zion, we decided to do a hike to Angels Landing in the morning which I have done a couple times and is still worth it every time. Views are stunning of the valley that runs down Zion. After hiking Angels Landing we drove out of the park in search of a climbing spot we couldn't find so we ended up just going to Toquerville Falls for camp or so we thought. After the rugged off road trail to Toquerville Falls I finally had my truck driving across one of the iconic overland spots I have seen all over the internet. The water was refreshing and not too many people there at all. We set camp up and began to relax. After the sunset we heard some little kids out of nowhere. No cars or anything. There was a family who have hiked the hour drive on foot and it was completely dark out. Long story short this family needed some help to get out and we didn't feel safe at the spot anymore so we packed up gear and fit about 5 of the little kids and mom into my truck and drove them out to the trailhead which is where we found a kid locked in the car. A very strange night to an adventurous day. We ended pushing to Cedar City off highway 14 for a spot for a few hours of sleep.

The following day we got up and pushed to Bryce Canyon National Park. We drove through the snow covered mountains and through the high desert to get there. We did a couple of the lookout points and stood in awe from the crazy spires and formations. After spending sometime in Bryce we got onto highway 12 and pushed through Grand Staircase Escalante, through Capital Reef National Park and ended our drive outside of Canyonlands National Park at Horsethief Basin Campground. We ended up at a group site that was basically an outdoors hostel. Some folks pulled up we all shared stories around the campfire. This group of people also gifted us all Kabobs with Lamb, Peppers and a seasoning to die for. Also this group made Chai tea for everyone camping near us.

Waking up super early and pushing to Canyonlands to get a famous sunrise picture of Mesa Arch. We drove around Canyonlands for a little while longer checking out some of the different view points, unfortunately most of Canyonlands you need a permit to do any of the fun stuff. We headed to Arches for the afternoon and hiked Delicate Arch. These rock formations are so interesting and thought provoking because of how they were formed. After that we found a campsite called Grand Staff Campground just off the Colorado River on highway 128 in Moab. My brother ended up meeting us here for the night while he was on his way home to Illinois.

The following morning again an early day to get out on the trails. We mountain biked the Brands area and then moved into Slick Rock State Park. I do not have any pictures of the mountain biking here just because we were so in the zone. After riding we took the Tacoma out and rode the first half of Fins n Things. We would have finished it but we were by ourselves and did not know the trail all that much. We drove back out to the trailhead and picked our bikes up. Here in the parking lot we met some awesome folks from the Sacramento area. These guys have been traveling around spreading their friends ashes all over his favorite riding spots. Team X-Ape was their riding team and we shared some beer and stories with them before heading back to camp.

The last day in Moab we spent rock climbing the Ice Cream Parlor area. This was my first time climbing a slab face. The climbing was fun and we even ran into an older, badass climber from Mesa, Arizona that ran a rope on a couple of the Trad routes for us because we only had sport climbing gear with us. After the morning of climbing we started the push back to Arizona. Stopping at Muley Point for an hour to eat and overlook Monument Valley. Also note that I had to get one of the middle of the road pictures in Monument Valley as well. We got back to Flagstaff in the dark and set up camp for a few hours. The next morning woke up and drove down through Sedona and back to Phoenix. We got back and enjoyed some killer burgers and beer at AZ Wilderness before getting home and unpacking.

This trip was so much fun and I got to see some awesome places. I can't wait to visit some of these places again!