TX-NM-AZ-CA-NV-UT-CO-WY-SD-NE-OK-TX, July 2018

[PetitFrereArmada]

Doing another road trip this summer and just love to do a trip report and share pictures along the way.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

July 8: Leaving Houston at 9pm. Driving 16 hours through the night to get to Phoenix, AZ

July 9: Arriving Phoenix, AZ.

Jul 10: Driving Phoenix AZ, to Kingman, AZ to Oatman, AZ to Las Vegas, NV. Spend 2 nights here.
Visit Oatman. Saltgreaves Pass, Cool Springs. Freemont street in Vegas.

July 11: Explore Vegas. Red Rock Canyon, Hoover Dam, Pawn Stars, Bellagio Conservatory.

July 12: Las Vegas, NV to Utah. Visit The Might 5 Parks in Utah. Las Vegas to Zion NP. Spend the whole day at the park.
Leave park and drive to Panguitch, UT to be close to the next park, Bryce Canyon. May use hwy 14 and 143 to Panguitch so as to visit Cedar Breaks National Monument and Dixie National Forest.

July 13: Checkout of hotel and go visit Bryce Canyon for the whole day.
Leave park and drive to Torrey, UT for the next park; Capitol Reef. Use hwy 12. Stop at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and maybe Lower Calf Creek Falls. Take Burr Trail into Capitol Reef NP.

July 14: Check out of hotel and visit Capitol Reef National Park for the whole day.
When done, hit the road for Moab, UT. Stay here 3 nights.

July 15: Explore Moab. Visit Arches NP. Canyonlands NP. Dead Horse State Park.

July 16: Explore Moab. Shafer Trail and Potash Rd. Gemini Bridges. Long Canyon Road.

July 17: Drive Moab, UT to Telluride, CO. Stay here 3 nights.
Do Bridal Veil trail on Black Bear Pass. Ophir Pass. Black Bear Pass.

July 18: Imogene Pass.

July 19: Hurricane Pass, California Pass, Engineer Pass, Cinnamon Pass. Animas Forks.

July 20: Checkout of hotel and drive 12 hours from Ouray, CO to Keystone, SD. Stay 4 nights.

July 21: Day trip. Keystone to Cheyenne crossing to Spearfish to Deadwood to Sturgis and back to Keystone.

July 22: Visit Mt Rushmore. Custer State Park. Wind Cave National Park. Jewel Cave Monument.

July 23: Day trip to Badlands National Park. Visit Wall Drug. Minutemen Missile National Historic Site.

July 24: Checkout of hotel and drive 11 hours to to Wichita, KS.

July 25: Checkout of hotel and drive 10 hours home.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Just thought I should post my past road trip report links here so I can easily find them.

2016 Summer Road trip
https://www.expeditionportal.com/fo...-add-wy-sd-nd-mn-ia-mo-ne-ks-ok.158004/page-4

2017 Summer Road Trip
https://www.expeditionportal.com/fo...states-and-4-canadian-provinces.171572/page-3

2018 Summer Road Trip
https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/tx-nm-az-ca-nv-ut-co-wy-sd-ne-ok-tx-july-2018.194752/

 

[Kingsize24]

Very nice! Looks like it will be a great time.

 

[molanginaeda]

@PetitFrereArmada Looks like we might crosspath each other again for 2018. FYI, July 18-22 is FJ summit in Ouray. There will be a lot of toyota in Ouray area. If you attend the event, good. If not, the trail use in Ouray area will be crowded. I will be arriving in Ouray in July 23 to avoid the crowd.

 

[BigDaveZJ]

Can't quite tell for sure from your itinerary, but it looks like you may be planning on running Black Bear from west to east. Black Bear is a one-way trail only, and is run from east to west.

 

[Justincredible]

On highway 12 between Bryce and Capitol Reef, make a quick stop and take the hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls (or upper if you don't mind a tougher hike to avoid people) its worth it.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Can't quite tell for sure from your itinerary, but it looks like you may be planning on running Black Bear from west to east. Black Bear is a one-way trail only, and is run from east to west.

I run the trail both ways. But not like the entire trail. Let me show you what I am saying.

The thing is you can run the trail from Telluride and go up. It is a two way road from Telluride up to the Bridalveil Falls. That is where I am going to. I know you cannot go past that point. I plan to drive from Telluride and go up the switchbacks up to the Bridalveil Falls. Many cars do that and it is allowed. That is where I will stop, visit the Fall, take some pictures with my drone and then make a uturn and drive back down. The next day, I will do Black Bear Pass from the normal side, which you are talking about, East to West. That is from the Silverton area to Telluride.

Here is the picture of what I am talking about.

 

[molanginaeda]

July 21: Day trip. Keystone to Cheyenne crossing to Spearfish to Deadwood to Sturgis and back to Keystone. (closed enough to visit Devils Tower National Monument?)

July 22: Visit Mt Rushmore. Custer State Park. Wind Cave National Park. (Jewel Cave National Monument)

July 23: Day trip to Badlands National Park. (Minutemen Missile National Historic Site & don't miss out Wall Drug, my fav tourist site)

Adding some info to your trip that you might want to consider.

 

[BigDaveZJ]

I've done Black Bear quite a few times so I'm familiar with the area, just wanted to make sure you were as well. Have fun on your trip!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

On highway 12 between Bryce and Capitol Reef, make a quick stop and take the hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls (or upper if you don't mind a tougher hike to avoid people) its worth it.

Thanks for that suggestion because I was not considering using hwy 12. My original plan plan was to use hwy 62 to get to Capitol Reef NP. But based on your suggestion, I just did some more research and I think that route would be very scenic. Besides, I just discovered hwy 12 is a famous Scenic Highway that I did not even know about. So, thanks for that suggestion and I will go that route. It even has some great views to fly my drone and do the active track feature so my drone can follow me on those curves where the speed limit is 25mph. And using this hwy 12 gives me the chance to visit the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument that I have never been to.

I like your avatar. I always take a picture at that same spot of the fallen rock on Long Canyon Road in Moab. I have done that each year for the past 2 years. And this year, I will still do it again.

As for Lower Calf Creek Falls, I will not be doing it after I just read it is a 6 miles round trip hike. I could stop only at the pullout on the side of the road.

But I see some people mentioning hwy 12 as one of the best scenic byways in the country. So, I am looking forward to experiencing it. And then I just discovered Burr Trail Rd. It is off hwy 12 in Boulder, UT. I have never heard of it, but it offers some great views and steep switchbacks too. It is a dirt road that any 2wd car can do it. But it seems a bit out of the way, but I may do it because of the views and switchbacks.

Burr Trail Road
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...rr_Trail-Capitol_Reef_National_Park_Utah.html

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

@PetitFrereArmada Looks like we might crosspath each other again for 2018. FYI, July 18-22 is FJ summit in Ouray. There will be a lot of toyota in Ouray area. If you attend the event, good. If not, the trail use in Ouray area will be crowded. I will be arriving in Ouray in July 23 to avoid the crowd.

Would be cool to meet you again on the road. But this time we are not eating only icecream. We are grilling that steak you promised when we met in Canada.

Yes, I know July 18-22 is the FJ Summit. That is the more reason why I am going during that period. I like to attend it. The town is full of life and the ambiance is one to be part of. And there is real traffic in the mountains trying to bypass other 4x4s. I also like the way Ouray and Telluride stay busy during this period and I like knowing there are so many 4x4s in the mountains. It gives me an extra sense of security to know that if I have a mechanical breakdown up those mountains, then help is close-by. You never know.

Adding some info to your trip that you might want to consider.

Thanks for some of those suggestions. I think I may use all of them.

 

[Justincredible]

Thanks for some of those suggestions. I think I may use all of them.

Good call. Devil's Tower is about an hour drive from Spearfish, but worth it if you have the time.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

This is a map of my route for this road trip...

 

[molanginaeda]

July 13: Checkout of hotel and go visit Bryce Canyon for the whole day.
Leave park and drive to Torrey, UT for the next park; Capitol Reef. Use hwy 12. Stop at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and maybe Lower Calf Creek Falls. Take Burr Trail into Capitol Reef NP.
(Burr Trail got nice switchback. It will take a few hours to cross from hwy 12)

July 14: Check out of hotel and visit Capitol Reef National Park for the whole day. (If you like offroad with scenic, do cathedral valley scenic backway)

When done, hit the road for Moab, UT. Stay here 3 nights

More recommendation around Capital Reef National Park. I'm actually doing both Burr trail & cathedral valley scenic backway. In Moab/Canyonland area, I hoping to do white rim trail, but have limited time, so Shafer trail/Potash Rd, Long Canyon Rd is my fallback.