Moab - Canyonlands & Arches

Moab – Canyonlands & Arches

Friday morning, 8/5, found us hitting the road early.   We were not really sure how far down the road we would make it.  From Durango, Salt Lake City was something like 6.5 hours and Twin Falls, Idaho close to 9.5 hours. 

As we moseyed along the desolate Utah highway, when we reached the turnoff for Canyonlands NP Laura suggested we take a detour and check it out.  Man, are we ever glad we made that turn!!  Canyonlands, along with the drive into the Needles entry, is nothing short of breathtaking (stunning, amazing, fantastic…all these apply but none really do it justice!).  Most of the morning had been a nasty, drizzling rain.  As soon as we got to the park, the sun started peeking through the clouds, adding to the dramatic vistas.  

After exploring Canyonlands we headed into Moab.  Once we were resupplied with food and goodies, it was decided we would try to find a campsite further out of town…something “off the grid”.  Our first choice was a poor one.  Bride Canyon campground is “dispersed camping” situated on BLM land something like 13 miles from the highway.  No problem, eh?  The turn off of the highway was onto a dirt road that quickly turned into a boulder strewn goat path leading up the side of a mountain.  When Laura saw the zig-zagging path, all she could say was “Nope”.  I wasn’t about to tell  her there was no way possible we would make it up that road in a VW Passat towing a trailer.  Regardless, you ever try to turn around a car towing a trailer on a boulder strewn goat path?  Neither had I.  It took some effort and a few choice words, but we managed to unhook the trailer, swing the car around and get the trailer hooked back up.  We weren’t going to make it to Bride Canyon campground. 

On our way into Canyonlands earlier in the day we had taken a gravel road off into some BLM land before making our way into the park.  There was a really cool rock formation that was also a campground.  The name was Hamburger Rock Campground.  It was a pretty cool looking place with maybe half a dozen campsites.  Although it was about an hour drive from Moab, we thought it would be a cool place to stay.  With a modestly bruised ego, we headed south out of town with Hamburger Rock as our destination.    

As we are getting closer, we notice the sky to the southwest is getting angry.  It was going to storm again and we hadn’t yet reached the campsite.  A game point decision was made to pull into Windwhistle campground which is not too far from the turn-off to the Needles entrance to Canyonlands.  It ended up being a great choice!  The campground was empty upon our arrival.  The grill was fired up and some drinks poured.  It was time for a bit of exploring the cool rock outcrops that flanked the campground.  There was just enough time for the exploring and cooking of some delicious bacon wrapped morsels of pork and chicken before the storm swallowed the campground.  It was very cool watching the distant lightning as the storm rolled in.   Dinner was finished sitting in the trailer followed by some reminiscing of the beautiful sights we had consumed earlier in the day.  

The next morning we were up (well, I was up and daringly prodded Laura awake) around 5 am, well before sunrise.  After making a pot of coffee and packing up camp, we were back on the road.   We make it a few miles out of the campground when an antelope crossing the road right in front of the car.  There was enough light for Chewy to have caught a glimpse of the animal.  As we stopped the car, Chewy completely lost her head trying to get out of the car to chase down the antelope.  It was hysterical listening to her.  After a few minutes of taunting Chewy, the buck pronghorn pranced off into the scrub.  It took Chewy a good 10 minutes to calm down and return to her usual passed out position in the back seat.  

Chewy Losing Her Head 

Our early rise positioned us nicely for a drive through Arches before continuing on through Utah.  It was a beautiful drive through some more spectacular scenery.  This is one place we will definitely visit again in the future! 

The rest of the day was an uneventful drive to Twin Falls, Idaho.  We had done zero research regarding Twin Falls…it was simply a convenient spot on the map to pull over for the night.   So far, the drive through norther Utah and southern Idaho had been very uninspiring, especially when compared to the sights from earlier in the day at Arches.  As we pull off the interstate and start making our way towards the chosen RV park, we were pleasantly shocked to find the Snake River Canyon.  Here in this seemingly flat, boring terrain is this beautiful canyon complete with waterfalls!   Tired from driving all day, we did a quick pass by the falls and headed back to the campground for an early night.  Tomorrow we make it to Oregon!