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Thread: CUT-PRICE MAZE: CANYONLANDS NP - looking for at least 1 to join us on a 6-day tour

  1. #1

    CUT-PRICE MAZE: CANYONLANDS NP - looking for at least 1 to join us on a 6-day tour

    [FONT=Calibri]CUT-price tour! In a last bid to try & get a 3rd we are willing to subsidise anyone joining us by contributing $300 of their tour costs because for various reasons we may not get another opportunity to do this tour. Thanks for the good suggestions so far for alternative plans, but each doesn't quite work for what we want so ideally we'd still like to use Navtec.

    Hi, Myself and a friend from the UK want to do Navtec

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  3. #2
    If it comes down to alternative plans, just drive a rental car (carefully) on the Hans Flat Rd to the visitor center from the rt 24 turnoff. In the area you'll be able to access the Millard Canyon viewpoint and the hike to Horseshoe Cyn. You can also hike the North Point/North Canyon trail to the Maze Overlook and then down into the Maze. Two or three nights camping there will allow you to loop around to the Harvest Scene, up to the Drops, and on to Lizard Rock and other standing rocks and vistas.

  4. #3
    I rented a Jeep out of SLC much cheaper than the rates out of Moab. In Moab they are geared towards renting 4WD vehicles for folks that want to do all the Jeep Safari stuff and need lifted and modified jeeps. A stock Wrangler w/4WD should be enough, esp. the 2-door version with shorter wheel base. It's also significantly easier to drive to the Maze Overlook than to the Dollhouse area. And also easier to come from Hite than Hans Flat. If you did Hite->Maze Overlook I bet you could take a 4WD SUV. To me it's not just the cost but the experience of not being "guided". But a packaged trip has definite advantages in terms of planning and just relaxing and enjoying. I'm sure you'll have a great time no matter what.

    Side note: my trip to the Maze was the whole starting point for my participation on Bogley and then for gaining a whole community of canyoneering friends.
    It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life. - Ten Bears, "The Outlaw Josie Wales"

  5. #4
    thanks ststephen. I've never done a multi-day guided trip before, but whenever I've gone off road in a rental before it's only been an hour's drive and a town with recovery vehicle hasn't been as far away as in the Maze, so I've been lucky so far, but talk of thousands of dollars recovery fees worry me.
    When you say 4WD SUV from Hite, would AWD SUV be OK as that's all rental firms give tourists, Jeep Cherokee or Chevrolet Traverse type?
    And how much per day can you hire a Wrangler for in SLC?

  6. #5
    The firm I used was Rugged Rental in SLC. Looking just now they may only do the 4-door Jeep Wranglers. I understand the fear about recovery fees. You got to make some trade-offs and choices. I can't give you an iron-clad guarantee about any particular vehicle. But it's Teapot Canyon that causes all the trouble followed by the Flint Trail (though only because of rain or snow). If you can give up the Dollhouse it becomes much easier. FYI - we did the whole enchilada and brought the best gear I could muster to try self-recovery if needed (e.g. an inflatable jack that hooks to the exhaust).
    It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life. - Ten Bears, "The Outlaw Josie Wales"

  7. #6
    Yeah, hiring a Wrangler looks a good deal for a long weekend or one trip to save paying for a guided trip. But on a 2-3 week vacation your paying for the 4WD for all those days on paved road or hiking from your tent when the car doesn't move, so it might work out cheaper for me to get a 2WD and splash out on a tour firm for 6 days, using their gas too! Thanks for the advice though, it might be handy for future trips.

  8. #7
    Thanks Erial. I did consider this, but the scramble down from Maze Overlook and then back up with a week's worth of camping gear sounds pretty tough as I've read bits require lowering a pack with a rope, and although I wouldn't need 4WD, I'd have to pay for 3 weeks of a high-clearance SUV when I could get away with an Economy for the rest of the vacation. In my younger money-saving days I would have definitely taken the extra day or 2 to hike to and from North Canyon to reach Maze Overlook! (although it doesn't look a great hike until the destination), but now I look at "viewpoint-reaching" hiking when I could have got somewhere by car as a day lost doing an average hike, and a day's extra car hire spent, 1/20 of my transatlantic flight, and maybe extra food/accommodation when i could have used the day to see to some other amazing Utah place. Would be different if I was lucky enough to live out there. But your suggestions are definitely worthwhile if I have no other options thanks.

  9. #8
    [QUOTE][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Calibri]Hi, Myself and a friend from the UK want to do Navtec
    Utah is a very special and unique place. There is no where else like it on earth. Please take care of it and keep the remaining wild areas in pristine condition. The world will be a better place if you do.

  10. #9
    My first trip to the Maze I didn't realize I needed a permit. I was at the Hite marina area store getting gas and picked up a map and thought--I'll go there.
    Along the way in checked in a guide book I had then tried to call the ranger station to get a permit but didn't have a good enough cell signal. So I drove up the Flint trail ( meeting a low rider SUV coming down, I sidehilled it to let them pass) got my permit for Dollhouse One, and proceeded to have a wonderful 3-4 days.
    But I was driving a Jeep Wrangler with a 6 inch lift and 33 inch tires, locked front and rear, with a 9K warn winch, onboard air compressor, spare gas cans, full camp gear etc. The only trouble I had was a ringtail getting into the trash I had in my Jeep. Don't leave the soft top open.
    You can rest when you're dead

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