Southern Utah Off-roading trip — May 5-9, 2027 — gauging interest

[DTX2023Tremor]

We haven't even left for Moab yet, so this feels early. But planning Big Bend, Sedona, and Moab has taught me that lodging is the constraint, not the trails. We locked the Moab RV & Glamping Resort about 12 months out and that's the only reason we've got 32 people in one place. Eight to twelve months seems to be the window, and May 2027 puts us right at nine — so if this is going to happen, now is when it starts.

The trip: basecamp out of Escalante, Utah. One property, day trails into Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Waterpocket Fold. Three trail days — a bonus day Thursday for anyone traveling in early, then the two marquee days Friday and Saturday.

Where we'd stay: Yonder Escalante, on Highway 12 between town and Bryce. Same idea as Moab — RV sites, tent sites, cabins, and restored vintage Airstreams all at one property, so everyone picks their comfort level and we're still together. Clubhouse, pool and hot tub, firepits, a food truck doing breakfast, and a drive-in theater with vintage cars for seating.

That co-location matters. Sedona was the lesson — everyone booked separate hotels and the evenings ended early because we all had a drive ahead of us. Moab works because we're all in one spot.

The trails:

• Thursday (bonus) — Hole-in-the-Rock Road. Historic pioneer route, washboard the whole way, Devils Garden about 12 miles in. Long and straightforward. If you can't make Thursday, you're not missing the main event.
• Friday — Cottonwood Canyon Road and Grosvenor Arch. Follows the Cockscomb monocline. Most scenic-per-mile day of the three.
• Saturday — Burr Trail and the switchbacks, north on Notom-Bullfrog, back over Boulder Mountain on Highway 12. Long day, best day.

All of it is easy to moderate. Washboard, sand, one shelf road, no technical obstacles. A stock Tremor is plenty. Trailers are fine at the property but stay at camp on trail days.

One weather note: NOAA has a very strong El Niño in effect for this coming winter, with the heaviest precipitation ramping January through March 2027. These are clay roads and Cottonwood Canyon is genuinely impassable when wet, so early May puts us as far past that as we can reasonably get while still ahead of summer heat. There's a paved fallback day — Kodachrome Basin, the Hogback, Escalante Petrified Forest — if we get rained out.

Extending: Bryce is 1.5 hours west, Zion about 3, Capitol Reef an hour north of the Saturday route. Easy to make a longer trip of it on either end.

Vote in the poll up top so I can see whether there's enough interest to pursue this. If you're in, I'll follow up with a short form to collect lodging preference, arrival day, and vehicle info — that's what I need before I can have a real conversation with the property.

Ask questions, poke holes, tell me if there's a better trail I'm missing.

 

[Optimus🤖]

We haven't even left for Moab yet, so this feels early. But planning Big Bend, Sedona, and Moab has taught me that lodging is the constraint, not the trails. We locked the Moab RV & Glamping Resort about 12 months out and that's the only reason we've got 32 people in one place. Eight to twelve months seems to be the window, and May 2027 puts us right at nine — so if this is going to happen, now is when it starts.

The trip: basecamp out of Escalante, Utah. One property, day trails into Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Waterpocket Fold. Three trail days — a bonus day Thursday for anyone traveling in early, then the two marquee days Friday and Saturday.

Where we'd stay: Yonder Escalante, on Highway 12 between town and Bryce. Same idea as Moab — RV sites, tent sites, cabins, and restored vintage Airstreams all at one property, so everyone picks their comfort level and we're still together. Clubhouse, pool and hot tub, firepits, a food truck doing breakfast, and a drive-in theater with vintage cars for seating.

That co-location matters. Sedona was the lesson — everyone booked separate hotels and the evenings ended early because we all had a drive ahead of us. Moab works because we're all in one spot.

The trails:

• Thursday (bonus) — Hole-in-the-Rock Road. Historic pioneer route, washboard the whole way, Devils Garden about 12 miles in. Long and straightforward. If you can't make Thursday, you're not missing the main event.
• Friday — Cottonwood Canyon Road and Grosvenor Arch. Follows the Cockscomb monocline. Most scenic-per-mile day of the three.
• Saturday — Burr Trail and the switchbacks, north on Notom-Bullfrog, back over Boulder Mountain on Highway 12. Long day, best day.

All of it is easy to moderate. Washboard, sand, one shelf road, no technical obstacles. A stock Tremor is plenty. Trailers are fine at the property but stay at camp on trail days.

One weather note: NOAA has a very strong El Niño in effect for this coming winter, with the heaviest precipitation ramping January through March 2027. These are clay roads and Cottonwood Canyon is genuinely impassable when wet, so early May puts us as far past that as we can reasonably get while still ahead of summer heat. There's a paved fallback day — Kodachrome Basin, the Hogback, Escalante Petrified Forest — if we get rained out.

Extending: Bryce is 1.5 hours west, Zion about 3, Capitol Reef an hour north of the Saturday route. Easy to make a longer trip of it on either end.

Vote in the poll up top so I can see whether there's enough interest to pursue this. If you're in, I'll follow up with a short form to collect lodging preference, arrival day, and vehicle info — that's what I need before I can have a real conversation with the property.

Ask questions, poke holes, tell me if there's a better trail I'm missing.

I'm here just to poke the holes!

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

I'm here just to poke the holes!

You are the resident expert on hole poking.

 

[MDethloff]

This would be a great family trip for us only three hours from home. So long as it doesn't happen to overlap event dates for us, we're in!

I think you've got a great area. So many options around there that it's easy to make adjustments if needed. If people want to hit some fun stuff on the way in/out, Capitol Reef is just north like you mentioned, and Alstrom Point and similar areas are towards the SW.

Looks like we'll have a truck camper at that point and probably either hang out wherever the group is, or find a dispersed spot if people are into that.


Another idea - hell's backbone just north of Escalante is supposed to be a really cool day trip. I haven't done it but it's come well recommended.

 

[gsea]

First, I'm in, as it is only a couple hours from home.

Second, I know that area extremely well. We have a family ranch down there between Boulder and Torrey.


There's a couple of things to note:

Hole-in-the-Rock Road. It's about 60 miles and unless it's been freshly graded it can be a teeth-jarring experience in a SD, so definitely air down. A lot. You should plan on a hike or two along the way. I'd recommend Peek-a-boo and Spooky slot canyons. It's a couple hours and very unique. Also, at the very end of the rd it terminates at a cliff overlooking Lake Powell. You can hike down to the lake back us as well. I'd recommend hitting the visitors center in Escalante beforehand to fully understand the story of what happened there... it will give you an appreciation for what they accomplished getting wagons and oxen down there. There's a couple of places like Dance hall rock (and devils garden as you mentioned) for lunch stop. You cloud do it all in a day, but it will be long.

Just driving down the road and back without any stops... is frankly kind of a miss. It's just a long sandy washboard desert rd otherwise.

The Burr Trail and Switchbacks is neat, but IMO a little underwhelming compared to the hype all the van life bloggers give it. The switchbacks themselves are the highlight of course. Make sure you include a stop off at Long Canyon (aka Singing Canyon) as it's right off the rd. The Burr trail is mostly paved, and is pretty but hard to call it offroad. The switchbacks are very similar to those we'll see in a few weeks on Shaefer near Moab. Once past that. Notom-Bullfrog rd is just a long sandy washboard rd until it hit pavement again. I'd look into seeing if you can continue further South or East to the Henry's or Glenn Canyon areas. It's a long way up through Notom and then over on 24 through Capital Reef to 12 and then back down to Escalante again. Probably 2.5+ hours, all highway. Of course the drive through Capital Reef NP is beautiful as well as the drive from Torrey back down to Boulder and then Escalante. The hogsback is memorable. Sheer cliffs on each side.

If you want to include some more real 'offroading' on the route back, I'd suggest a quick stop on 24 to a place where you have to ford the fremont River. 100% easy in a stock Tremor, but something many won't have had the opportunity to do. Then, taking Scenic drive (that's the rd) into Capital Reef, past the visitors center, stopping to pick some Apricots, and then South Draw Rd from there... which is a much more of a 4x4 rd and will pop you back out Hwy 12 near lower Bown's reservoir. From there you still catch the Aspens of Boulder mtn and amazing overlooks of the valley you just drove through from along the highway. If you do go all the way through the park to Torrey, stop at Color Canyon for some Juniper Ice Cream. You're welcome.



Another option closer to Escalante and Boulder that can be a loop is Hells Backbone rd (with the bridge). In the area, definitely try to make reservations at Hell's Backbone grill. Seriously. Also Kiva coffeehouse is a cool experience built into the side of a cliff essentially.

There's all the Capital Reef NP stuff and Cathedral valley too, but that's a whole write-up on it's own, and a lot overlooked options near Tropic (seeing the old truck wedged into the canyon 80 ft in the air at Bull Valley gorge is fun) and Paunsaugunt NF over into Bryce area. The maze is also really special and a little more on the "proper offroad" spectrum. There's so much to see in that area, hard to cover it in a few days!