ISO: 1st time Utah overlanding/camping trip recommendations

[sweet5ltr]

My son and I are planning our first overlanding/camping trip to Utah and we're looking for any offroad trails/routes, sight, camping spot or campground recommendations anyone may have.

We'll be there at the beginning of June and have 10 days total in Utah. We're looking to hit the Moab area, Goblin Valley/Bentonite Hills, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion/St. George area and Coral Pink Sand Dunes/Kanab area. We're still not sure if we want to stay off the pavement as much as possible, or use the highway to get from area to area and them explore all the trails in that area.

Any tips/recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

I'll be in Moab during Memorial Day weekend!

I've been to all the locations on your list, skip Zion unless you book a tour as the normal driving route isn't great, Bryce Canyon is way better for driving. The most gnarly trail we ever done was exiting Capitol Reef into Dixie National Forest our last trip during Christmas, the last half mile was a completely washed out, very steep incline, rutted out, muddy disaster. It rained for two days going into it, and was raining during this. That trail is rated a 3/10 IIRC in the dry. If you didn't have lockers and a ridiculously good TC system, there was no way in h--- a normal rig could make it outside of perfect weather conditions, I had the throttle pinned in 2nd gear, 4L all the way up. People have gotten stuck going down the hill that we drove up. Dixie National Forest which is also beautiful, can be difficult if it's wet. There is a water crossing that's hard packed but a short stretch after that's super soft. You must commit 100% and make sure to always walk these water crossings.

I'd recommend Onion Creek for your first drive, it's one of the easiest and most scenic trails in the area. Few water crossings that are hard packed and easy. If you have family with you they'll really enjoy it. Can hit up some more difficult tracks after onion if you continue.

My comfort level ends at a 4/10 on OnX, which can easily become a 6/10 or more depending on weather conditions in Utah. Normal, dusty trails will become literally impassable under a light rainshower. While the LC is very capable, it's not on 37's with a foot of clearance under the diff, so while it can do some mild rock crawling you really need a spotter. Overall, It is incredibly capable off road, even stock if it has clearance.

The first weekend I owned it we went to Moab and figured out what exactly the limits of the stock configuration were (for us, actual owners, not reviewers). I picked up some take off FE rock sliders on the way and installed them in the KOA parking lot. My next trip, I installed once again, the FE skid plates at another KOA. My next trip, I had a bull bar and a winch. This trip, I'll have Bilstein 5100 series shocks, so we'll see how those go.

I have around 500-miles off the pavement so far in my 14,000-miles of ownership.

Have fun, it's a great time.

 

[sweet5ltr]

Onion creek Rd. can be driven as a loop up into the La Sal range to a State Park where there are Dinosaur footprints and comes out back into Moab through what is called the Trifecta (Had some medium mud ruts last week, nothing a stock height 250 couldn't handle though) or you can just drive to the top camp and drive back down to get to other sites/destinations. The whole trail for Onion Creek from Dewey bridge, through the La Sals and onto the Trefecta (Can be bypassed by staying on pavement) and back into Moab takes from about 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM with time for a few 15-30 minute stops in between.

This is the route we took in our bone-stock LC 250 the first weekend of ownership. Definitely a great drive. We were on the trail 6-7 hours.

 

[sweet5ltr]

That's likely next year for me. We just did the potash road to Schafer switchbacks entrance to Canyonlands this year. Nice easy drive and got a friend of mine to absolutely panic on the drive up them.

That drive is awesome, just don't attempt it when it's wet . My wife isn't great with heights, she had her eyes closed most of the time. We are doing the White Rim Trail later this year.