Grand Canyon Road Trip

A couple of buds and I are heading out on a road trip May 3rd-11th. We plan on driving 6-7 hours and camping the first night somewhere before driving the last 2-3 hours to Mather Campground in Grand Canyon Village. Getting up the next morning for a nearby hike or mountain bike ride would be a bonus.

Red Canyon Campground supposedly opens around May 15th but the snowpack is so good in places this year I'm unsure of whether it will be opening then let alone earlier. AFAIK, Navajo Lake and Panguitch Lake are both at even higher elevations and so I have my doubts about them as well.

Any ideas? Should we keep driving? White Cliffs? Block Mesas? Grand Staircase? It has been a few years since I've been in that part of the state. Anybody with spare time care to help a few noobs out with a canyoneering tutorial? BTW, there is still room for one more on this trip.

This is a familiar trip for me. Any camping you choose to do should probably be done before Page (if you go that way) because everything between there and the GC is a reservation. House Rock Road has a few places at the less frequently used trailheads, and a few spots along the road to camp, and you can continue down House Rock Road to 89A and keep going from there the next morning after exploring a little bit of the slots in the area. If you can make it the national forest surrounding the GC on the south rim, you can camp off one of the many dirt roads outside of the GC. Or take 89A into the national forest on the north rim and find a spot off a dirt road there.

If you want to go biking, I'd say go through Vegas to the GC, spend the night in cheap rooms in Mesquite, and do some riding in Bootleg Canyon, on the way. The advantage to going this way is it's mostly freeway, but it does take a little longer.

I tend to camp primitive, so my suggestions might not work for you. There's a campground at Lee's Ferry you could try and get a spot at if you want something more established.

Found it! After going back and forth between topos on TerraServer with a little guidance from http://www.zionnational-park.com/steamboat-rock.htm (Thanks Bo and Tanya) It's close to some cool features to explore like Steamboad Rock and Buckskin Gulch too.

The old topo makes it appear as if this road goes through from 89 to 89A after 30 miles. Am I right? Would a basic Ford Explorer handle it if weather conditions were less than ideal? We were looking to approach the GC from Jacob Lake and the Navajo Bridge and leave for Moab and the White Rim Trail through Page. We'll stop at Glen Canyon Dam long enough to pray for a carefully targeted earthquake like Seldom Seen Smith used to do.

:lol8:

We actually made campsite reservations in the GC to avoid potential headaches after 400 miles on the road. Looking to check things out and take in the basic sights this time. Will get more adventurous if we make it down there again anytime soon.

Primitive camping is fine with me but the little online guide says Stateline Campground has only four campsites. I'm guessing nightime temperatures will likely be in the 30's though so there may well be more than one site available. If there isn't, is there plenty of other distributed camping to be found in the area?

House Rock Road is an easy 2wd dirt road (last I was on it) that does go all the way from 89 to 89A.

I've done the drive from Page through Monument Valley and up to Moab. It's pretty good....but if you want scenic, check this out...I've been wanting to try this first stretch for a while. I believe it takes you past the white hoodoos down there. Tanya has info regarding them on her website.

http://maps.live.com/#JnJ0cD1wb3MucT...J0b3A9MSU3ZTA=

So from Page, head into Utah to Big Water, then on the back roads to Escalante (refer to the maps.live.com link).
From Escalante head to Torrey
Then Hanksville
Then South on Hwy95 past Lake Powell
Go to Blanding (Views of Monument Valley to the South)
Then North on Hwy 191 to Moab

There are killer views all along that route. It'll take longer than going from Page through Kayenta and Monument Valley, but the scenery is way better, and there are some canyons you can explore, and better camping options if you stick to the route I mentioned.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cachehiker

A couple of buds and I are heading out on a road trip May 3rd-11th. We plan on driving 6-7 hours and camping the first night somewhere before driving the last 2-3 hours to Mather Campground in Grand Canyon Village. Getting up the next morning for a nearby hike or mountain bike ride would be a bonus.

Red Canyon Campground supposedly opens around May 15th but the snowpack is so good in places this year I'm unsure of whether it will be opening then let alone earlier. AFAIK, Navajo Lake and Panguitch Lake are both at even higher elevations and so I have my doubts about them as well.

Any ideas? Should we keep driving? White Cliffs? Block Mesas? Grand Staircase? It has been a few years since I've been in that part of the state. Anybody with spare time care to help a few noobs out with a canyoneering tutorial? BTW, there is still room for one more on this trip.

---

Is the final destination the North or South Rim of the GC?

Hey Shan!

We're driving down and camping in near the top of Buckskin Gulch on Saturday, spending the next morning and part of the afternoon scoping out the gulch and looking to hike The Wave. I don't believe any of us have any canyoneering experience and I only have the barest of essentials when it comes to such gear (a diaper sling, a half dozen carabiners, and 30m of half-rope). I'd consider buying a climbing harness and helmet if we had and experienced canyoneer joining us with a better rope and more gear.

Next day we'll drive by Jacob Lake and assess the conditions of Highway 67 to the North Rim as well as the likelihood of hiking the canyon rim to rim before moving on the a reserved tent site in Mather Campground on the South Rim. We'll be there four nights and mountain bike a day or two on the Tusayan or Arizona Trails, half paved half dirt bike a day along Hermit Road and the rim, and hike a day or two as well.

From there the itinerary is still more or less open and suggestions are still welcome. We're tentatively planning on the previously suggested drive from Big Water to Escalante and around to Natural Bridges NP before heading north to Moab and riding the Top of the World trail before heading back home. We may opt to bypass Natural Bridges and drive straight to Moab and then spend a night in the San Rafael Swell though too.

Plans will firm up a bit more this weekend as we organize what gear to bring and what to leave home.

Sound like fun?

Definitely sounds like fun! I don't know if you have ever been to the GC, but I was really surprised at how high up (and cold!) it was. I was there mid-May (I camped and forgot my gloves!). I guess I expected to see the red rock even at the rim.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cachehiker

Next day we'll drive by Jacob Lake and assess the conditions of Highway 67 to the North Rim as well as the likelihood of hiking the canyon rim to rim before moving on the a reserved tent site in Mather Campground on the South Rim. We'll be there four nights and mountain bike a day or two on the Tusayan or Arizona Trails, half paved half dirt bike a day along Hermit Road and the rim, and hike a day or two as well.

---

You mean like drop off a car at the North Rim, hiked down, cross the river, and come out the South Rim? How long would that take? That's an adventure!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shan

Definitely sounds like fun! I don't know if you have ever been to the GC, but I was really surprised at how high up (and cold!) it was. I was there mid-May (I camped and forgot my gloves!). I guess I expected to see the red rock even at the rim.

---

I haven't been to the GC since my family was in the process of moving from Arizona to Utah in 1977-78. If I recall correctly we drove up, walked around a bit, camped, and looked out the window as we drove away. Unfortunately, this is the rest of my family's idea of "adventure travel". :roll:

We're planning for nightime temperatures in the low to mid 30's on the South Rim. At least one person in the group (me) will come prepared for the possibility below normal temperatures. Between a 30-35

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cachehiker

Are we completely deluded? :haha:

---

I guess it depends on how in shape you are now! For me - today, that would be deluded. Plan your water accordingly! :cool2:

Do you have a brother in the valley named Joe?

[quote=cachehiker]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shan

Definitely sounds like fun! I don't know if you have ever been to the GC, but I was really surprised at how high up (and cold!) it was. I was there mid-May (I camped and forgot my gloves!). I guess I expected to see the red rock even at the rim.

---

I haven't been to the GC since my family was in the process of moving from Arizona to Utah in 1977-78. If I recall correctly we drove up, walked around a bit, camped, and looked out the window as we drove away. Unfortunately, this is the rest of my family's idea of "adventure travel". :roll:

We're planning for nightime temperatures in the low to mid 30's on the South Rim. At least one person in the group (me) will come prepared for the possibility below normal temperatures. Between a 30-35

We were hoping to go after the Rim to Rim hike in a single day but we were also realistic about the possibility of being able to do so before the latter half of May.

Now I'm pretty well settled on doing the South Kaibab to Bright Angel trail loop (17 miles) as a day hike. I've done tougher hikes at least once every year for the last several years with the exception of last summer.

It's funny how having a girlfriend who isn't much of a hiker does that. :rope: She broke things off after I rode back to back centuries one weekend instead of accompanying her to yet another one of those endless house parties she was so bloody fond of.

Anyway, maybe next year I can pull off the Rim to Rim hike as well as the Hermit Trail to Bright Angel as an ultralight overnighter.

And no, there's no Joe. I have no family living in the valley beyond a distant cousin named Christy attending USU. I forget what she's studying though.