Road Trip Itinerary Advice......?

So I'm packing up the wife and a couple of friends to do a little labor day road trip. I would just like some advice from those that are more familiar with this area than me.

Friday: spend the day in Bryce Canyon, drive to Escalante and spend the night

Saturday: hike Peekaboo and Spooky (how long does this take?) and then drive to and hike Lower Calf Creek Falls, back to Escalante for the night

Sunday: Drive to Goblin Valley, hike Little Wild Horse, and something else.....?, Stay in Green River,

Monday: Drive back to Logan

Does that sound like a reasonable itinerary for Average paced hikers? Anything cool along the way (non-technical) that I am missing?

Thanks

Too much driving.... you have long hauls between some of your stops....

First suggestion.... Sunday spend it doing things in Capital Reef.... lots of fun things... you will eliminate at least 3 to 4 hours of total driving time.

You camping or moteling?

:cool2:

What Ice said, and do Ding and Dang in the swell.

Also.... your wife will love you more if you stay in Torrey and not Green River.... Torrey is a small romantic town.... Green River is an out house.

Or if you want to cut the cost stay in Bicknell instead of Torrey (20 miles down the road from Torrey). Bicknell is descent.

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

Too much driving.... you have long hauls between some of your stops....

First suggestion.... Sunday spend it doing things in Capital Reef.... lots of fun things... you will eliminate at least 3 to 4 hours of total driving time.

You camping or moteling?

:cool2:

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We are going to be camping. Do you mind elaborating on the "long hauls between stops..." The only one I was worried about was from Escalante Sunday morning to Goblin Valley. That'll be 3-ish hours by Google Maps, but I'd really like to do Little Wild Horse Canyon if possible. Then we just figured we'd drive north after Goblin Valley until we hit Green River. Camp there and be back to Logan by noon on Monday (to relieve the babysitter). Thanks for the help, I really do appreciate the tips from people who have been there.

Is it feasible to wake up in Escalante and do Peekaboo Spooky loop, and then go to Calf Creek Falls, and back to Escalante in the same day?

Agree that it is a lot of driving.

Also, Goblin Valley and the San Rafael is really hot during this time of year.

If you did go there, places like the Chute of Muddy Creek and Black Boxes are fine. Other than places like that, San Rafael/Goblin Valley is more a cool weather destination.

If you are going to Bryce anyway though, stick around Escalante instead of the Swell. In addition to the canyons you listed, Boulder Creek, lower Death Hollow and 40 mile are all great this time of year (unless it's flash flooding!).

doing spooky/peekaboo and calf creek in the same day? its over 30 miles one way to the trailhead for spooky from the pavement on a bumpy dirt road. figure an hour each way. Then you have to drive past boulder to get to calf creek. then back to escalante? easier to go north from boulder to torrey as suggested previously and stay there.

if you are going to be camping the last night there is a nice spot just north of I-70 before going up the swell. if you hit the rest area on the westbound I-70 you have gone a mile or so too far. it's out by black dragon and petroglyph canyon. easy access and a few nice camps can be found.

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Originally Posted by denaliguide

doing spooky/peekaboo and calf creek in the same day? its over 30 miles one way to the trailhead for spooky from the pavement on a bumpy dirt road. figure an hour each way. Then you have to drive past boulder to get to calf creek. then back to escalante? easier to go north from boulder to torrey as suggested previously and stay there.

if you are going to be camping the last night there is a nice spot just north of I-70 before going up the swell. if you hit the rest area on the westbound I-70 you have gone a mile or so too far. it's out by black dragon and petroglyph canyon. easy access and a few nice camps can be found.

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Good points, though my map is a little different.

Yes, from Escalante an hour of rough road down to Peekaboo/Spooky/Brimstone. I think you would do better to spend more time there, as in the whole day.

Calf Creek is between Escalante and Boulder, but closer to Boulder. A half hour from Escalante, maybe 40 minutes. A nice hike, but very conventional.

One of the best restaurants in the region is the Hells Back Bone Grill in Boulder. If'n you got some money to spend, that is a good place to spend it. You can camp (free, no services) at the Boulder Airport (and UFO Landing Site), which is a few miles south of Boulder at the corner where the Hells Backbone road branches right (west) off the highway. Look for small roads through the woods to follow, then just find a nice looking site, usually past the old airstrip.

As previously stated, it is a matter of style. You could drive to one place, and do stuff, and drive home. Or you can drive, do, drive, do, drive, do... etc. There is plenty to do at each place in S Utah.

Tom :moses:

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As previously stated, it is a matter of style. You could drive to one place, and do stuff, and drive home. Or you can drive, do, drive, do, drive, do... etc. There is plenty to do at each place in S Utah.

Tom

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Tom knows best.

We had a road trip earlier that included Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon..etc etc. We ended up spending 8 days in Zion, and it killed us to leave. We didn't see the Grand Canyon but we saw subway, pine creek, keyhole, behunin, angels landing, dumb tourists (kind of like us), and other great things. Plus, saved a BUNCH on gas. My vote is with Tom's, "drive to one place and do stuff"

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Originally Posted by ratagonia

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Originally Posted by denaliguide

doing spooky/peekaboo and calf creek in the same day? its over 30 miles one way to the trailhead for spooky from the pavement on a bumpy dirt road. figure an hour each way. Then you have to drive past boulder to get to calf creek. then back to escalante? easier to go north from boulder to torrey as suggested previously and stay there.

if you are going to be camping the last night there is a nice spot just north of I-70 before going up the swell. if you hit the rest area on the westbound I-70 you have gone a mile or so too far. it's out by black dragon and petroglyph canyon. easy access and a few nice camps can be found.

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Good points, though my map is a little different.

Yes, from Escalante an hour of rough road down to Peekaboo/Spooky/Brimstone. I think you would do better to spend more time there, as in the whole day.

Calf Creek is between Escalante and Boulder, but closer to Boulder. A half hour from Escalante, maybe 40 minutes. A nice hike, but very conventional.

One of the best restaurants in the region is the Hells Back Bone Grill in Boulder. If'n you got some money to spend, that is a good place to spend it. You can camp (free, no services) at the Boulder Airport (and UFO Landing Site), which is a few miles south of Boulder at the corner where the Hells Backbone road branches right (west) off the highway. Look for small roads through the woods to follow, then just find a nice looking site, usually past the old airstrip.

As previously stated, it is a matter of style. You could drive to one place, and do stuff, and drive home. Or you can drive, do, drive, do, drive, do... etc. There is plenty to do at each place in S Utah.

Tom :moses:

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I like Tom's suggestion because of the less driving. Looking up into Brimstone after (or before) Picaboo-Spooky is a good option. On the other hand, I think the driving times given above are significant over-estimates, and doing Picaboo-Spooky and Calf Creek in a day is quite reasonable. It is actually 26 miles down Hole in the Rock Rd to the Picaboo TH at Dry Fork. It probably typically takes me about 40 minutes. The drive from The HITRR-Highway 12 junction to Calf Creek should only take about 15-20 minutes.

Nat

Ok, so I figured that I would give a little update on my labor day road trip. We ended up partially taking Tom's advice and it worked out really well. The itinerary went a little something like this:

Stayed in Panguitch Thursday night, toured Bryce Canyon Friday. Drove to Escalante and stayed in the state park Friday night. Saturday did Peekaboo and Spooky loop (shortcut version....), and then hiked Lower Calf Creek Falls making the return hike in a crazy deluge with massive booming thunder and hail. A couple of the previously dry washed that crossed the trail flash flooded and made for an interesting exit. There were a bunch of small children behind us and the Park Ranger ended up calling the Sherrif's office in Boulder and Escalante to send in "teams." I assume he meant SAR....? We then drove to Torrey and stayed there (following Tom's advice). Sunday morning we woke up and drove to Little Wild Horse Canyon and then to Goblin Valley. We stayed in the Green River State Park that night and then drove back to Logan Monday morning.

All in all it was a great trip and we saw a bunch of different terrain. The driving amounts ended up being perfect and nothing too long. I recommend this trip for those that have not seen and explored that part of Utah.

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Originally Posted by neilether

Ok, so I figured that I would give a little update on my labor day road trip. ...

All in all it was a great trip and we saw a bunch of different terrain. The driving amounts ended up being perfect and nothing too long. I recommend this trip for those that have not seen and explored that part of Utah.

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Nice. I especially like this picture: