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Bootpathguy
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Joined: 18 Jun 2015
Posts: 1791 | TRs | Pics
Location: United States |
Experience is what'cha get, when you get what'cha don't want
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Malachai Constant
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Joined: 13 Jan 2002
Posts: 16093 | TRs | Pics
Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
Pretty understandable the only campground in the park Devils Garden is closed this year and only has about 20 spaces and is reserved a year ahead. Moab is super expensive and crowded with all the "adventure visitors". Utah has promoted the hell out of the place and the trail to Delicate Arch looks like the Chillkoot pass is 1899. Not much backpacking there anyway due to lack of water. Most of the "backpackers" there were just tourists looking for a place to crash. Canyonlands has few spots either and costs $$ for a backpacking permit.
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Sculpin
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Joined: 23 Apr 2015
Posts: 1383 | TRs | Pics
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Sculpin
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 Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:26 pm |
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Years ago, my wife and I drove out the Salt Valley Road and made a left onto the first road that heads out towards Klondike Bluffs. We made it maybe 1.5 miles before we reached a sandstone ledge that looked a bit too high for my Subaru, although it would have been passable to a true off-road vehicle. We parked and backpacked less than 2 miles to the park boundary and camped just outside in a dry wash. Morning light in the Klondike Bluffs was sublime, and we had the place to ourselves for a few hours before others trickled in. Dunno if there is a restriction against parking in the park nowadays, but it was legal back then.
Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
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Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cle Elum |
Never having been there I didnt know you needed to reserve overnight spots a year in advance. I drove up and saw the camp ground care taker and asked if anyone had cancelled their spot and he smiled and said, "I just got off the phone" "Do you want it?" Hell ya. So I got a two night spot in Arches. What a wonderful spot.
 Overnight spot Arches NP
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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spamfoote
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Joined: 26 Oct 2014
Posts: 860 | TRs | Pics
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| Sculpin wrote: | | We parked and backpacked less than 2 miles to the park boundary and camped just outside in a dry wash. Morning light in the Klondike Bluffs was sublime, and we had the place to ourselves for a few hours before others trickled in. |
This is true of pretty much anywhere in the SW USA. Get out of the canyons by a road and simply park, walk a short distance to the top of a bluff, overlook, ridge of stone etc, and camp. Absolutely nothing anywhere and the views are generally good compared to the constricted ones where the roads are all at.... the bottom of washes, canyons etc. Never camp in a canyon near a road. You can hear everyone driving by miles away in both directions all night long even if you are in a secluded concealed spot.
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nickmtn
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Joined: 04 Jun 2014
Posts: 105 | TRs | Pics
Location: Kirkland, wa |
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nickmtn
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Fri Feb 17, 2017 10:45 am |
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I will admit the two times I went "backpacking" in Arches it was just because I was looking for a place to crash. Both times were in January, so I don't remember if the campground was closed for the season or just full.
Arches isn't really set up for backpacking because of the crypto soils issue. The backcountry regulations say you must be 1/4 off developed trails and roads, which is difficult to do without disturbing the soils. At the ranger's recommendation we hiked along a buried pipeline a few miles to a pretty amazing vantage point on the edge of upper Salt Wash. Glad I got the chance to do it when I did!
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natural_log
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Joined: 19 Oct 2015
Posts: 49 | TRs | Pics
Location: Portland, OR |
| nickmtn wrote: | | Arches isn't really set up for backpacking because of the crypto soils issue. The backcountry regulations say you must be 1/4 off developed trails and roads, which is difficult to do without disturbing the soils. |
Agreed. If you can stomach the crowds, the best part about Arches is the arches themselves, most of the grandest ones being accessible by frontcountry trails. You can make up for (and them some) any lost backpacking in Arches with Canyonlands, Grand Gulch, so many other places in the region.
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Gil
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Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Posts: 4062 | TRs | Pics
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Gil
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Fri Feb 24, 2017 8:13 am |
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The only time Ive been to Arches I just pulled in and easily got a spot, but it was midweek in January. Devils was less than half full.
Friends help the miles go easier.
Klahini
Friends help the miles go easier.
Klahini
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wakerobin
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Joined: 13 Feb 2012
Posts: 346 | TRs | Pics
Location: burien |
Will Capitol Reef be as bad? (I am assuming Bryce is bad too) Roughly planning a trip for this fall, was wanting to do Monument Valley but the popularity of Westworld makes me think it might be "over run" these days.
Between the silence of the mountains and the crashing of the sea...
Between the silence of the mountains and the crashing of the sea...
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Malachai Constant
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Joined: 13 Jan 2002
Posts: 16093 | TRs | Pics
Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
Bryce is usually good, big campgrounds most people dayhike. Capital Reef smaller campgrounds no reservations come early.
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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