📍 Meet-Up Southern Utah Off-roading trip — Proposed shift in dates - see post #37

Meet-Up📍

Southern Utah, May 5-9, 2027 — are you in?

  • Total voters
    27
AndyD78 said:
Unfortunately, we will not be able to make it. This trip is the same dates as my setup time for a big equipment show we have in DFW the week after.
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Bummer! Sorry you're going to miss this one. Hopefully you're able to make the one in the works for May in southern UT.
 
Any interest in booking a group site in the National Park for the first 2-3 nights? Only problem is they aren't reservable that far out, but May 2 is considered off-peak.
 
MrFancypants said:
Any interest in booking a group site in the National Park for the first 2-3 nights? Only problem is they aren't reservable that far out, but May 2 is considered off-peak.
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We already extended our stay at the resort, but definitely down to explore the park with ya.
 
Nice! With 9 people confirmed and 13 still sorting things out, this is shaping up to be another good group.
 
DTX2023Tremor said:
Bummer! Sorry you're going to miss this one. Hopefully you're able to make the one in the works for May in southern UT.
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This is the one for May in southern UT. Unless there's another trip planned?
 
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Optimus🤖 said:
This is the onen for May in southern UT. Unless there's another trip planned?
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My bad. I had Moab, UT on my mind when writing this response.
 
Sign me up! After Moab, it's a no-brainer 😀.
 
DTX2023Tremor said:
We've got a property, we've got a group discount, and you can book right now.

Escalante Grand Resort has offered our group 20% off their rates. Use the link below to book with the discount applied.

BOOKING LINK

View attachment 269285

The dates
  • Check in: Wednesday, May 5, 2027
  • Group off-roading: Thursday May 6 and Friday May 7
  • Check out: Saturday, May 8, 2027

Arriving early? Let me know as soon as possible and I'll get the discount extended to cover your additional nights. If there's enough interest in coming in a day early, I'll add a bonus trail day — Hole-in-the-Rock Road makes a good warm-up and nobody who skips it misses the main event.

Why this property

If you were with us at Terlingua Ranch Lodge in Big Bend or at Moab Glamping and RV Resort, this is the same idea — one place for the whole group, with enough variety that everyone stays in whatever way suits them. That's been the single biggest factor in these trips working. Sedona taught us the opposite lesson: everyone booked separate hotels and the evenings ended early because we all had a drive ahead of us.

Escalante Grand Resort sits at 680 W Main Street, right in town and across from the Interagency Visitor Center where we'll check road conditions.

Where you can stay

Cabins — 5 available. Mixed configurations: queen beds, bunk beds, bed plus sofa bed, queen plus bunk. All have their own bathroom. Several have a kitchenette and one has a full kitchen. These will go fast — five is five.

RV sites — 43 available. 37 pull-through and 6 back-in, all with full hookups. If you're towing a trailer or running an RV, this is the easiest logistics of any property in town.

Overlanding sites — room for 22 rigs. No hookups at the sites themselves, but you have full access to the resort's bathrooms and showers, laundry, and wifi. Call to book these directly rather than using the link. There's also a group site, and they'll likely put most of our overlanding folks together there — which gives us a natural place to gather in the evenings.

Tent sites — 7 available. For anyone who prefers traditional camping.

What's on the property

Coffee shop in the resort office. Espresso drinks, seasonal specialties, tea, and hot chocolate. Relevant when we're rolling out early.

Food truck — Red's Hot Boots + Buckles Grill. Southwest-inspired menu, right on site. Take it to the fire pit or eat on your patio and watch the sun go down on the cliffs. In a town this size, not having to drive somewhere for dinner is a real perk.

Wellness center. Infrared sauna and ionic footbaths. Say what you want, but after two days of washboard I suspect there will be a line.

Also on site: zen garden, playground, and the Prospector Pit — a sandbox-style dig area with tools and toys, which is worth knowing if anyone's bringing kids.

The trails

Two days of running Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Waterpocket Fold. Cottonwood Canyon Road and Grosvenor Arch one day, the Burr Trail switchbacks and Notom-Bullfrog the other. Easy to moderate — washboard, some sand, one shelf descent, no technical obstacles. A stock Tremor is plenty.

Full trail details and route files will come later. Trailers stay at the property on trail days.

Extending your trip

Bryce Canyon is 1.5 hours west, Zion about 3, Capitol Reef about 2 north. Easy to make a longer trip out of it on either end.

Contact for the property

680 W Main Street, Escalante, UT 84726
(435) 690-0819
[email protected]

Book early. Escalante is a town of under 200 people and total lodging inventory across every property is limited. May is peak season. The 20% discount is secured but the units aren't reserved until you book them, and there are only 5 cabins.

Post here or message me with questions.
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Just a bump for booking at our base for the trip.

The resort isn't holding space for our group, but we are getting a really nice discount. If you had a great time at Moab (or wish you could have come), come out for this next round. Book early to assure you've got a space at the resort.
 
DTX2023Tremor said:
Just a bump for booking at our base for the trip.

The resort isn't holding space for our group, but we are getting a really nice discount. If you had a great time at Moab (or wish you could have come), come out for this next round. Book early to assure you've got a space at the resort.
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I have already booked, and the person I spoke with said they were going to put us all together as much as possible... instead of spread out like at Moab.
Now I have fully considered that maybe some folks don't necessarily want to be that close (a-hm) to some folks... :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
soulezoo said:
I have already booked, and the person I spoke with said they were going to put us all together as much as possible... instead of spread out like at Moab.
Now I have fully considered that maybe some folks don't necessarily want to be that close (a-hm) to some folks... :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
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When nature sounds too natural, ear plugs are very helpful to carry.
 
Proposing a move dates to June 9–12

Hey all. As I’ve been mapping trails for the Escalante trip, I’ve come to think we should shift it from early May to early June. Here’s why, followed by the proposed itinerary.

Why move it

The more I dug into the routes, the more early May looked like a gamble:
  • Snow up high. Hell’s Backbone and the forest roads above Escalante sit at 8,500–9,200 ft and often don’t clear until late spring.
  • Rivers at peak runoff. Early May is snowmelt season. The Fremont River ford on the Cathedral Valley loop has been reported at 18 inches to 3 feet when the river is up.
  • Roads still damaged from last fall. BLM’s current report lists Left Hand Collet as impassable and Smoky Mountain Road as damaged. Both are on our route list. June gives BLM another month to get them graded.
  • A strong El Niño winter. NOAA is forecasting a strong to possibly record El Niño this winter. That usually means a wetter winter in southern Utah: more snow up high, higher spring runoff, and more washouts. All of that lands right on an early-May trip.
Early June fixes most of it. June is the driest month of the year there, with about 90% dry days, which matters because nearly every road we’d drive is clay that becomes impassable when wet. The high country should be open, and the roads have more time to be repaired. It also keeps us clear of Memorial Day crowds. The trade-off is warmer weather, with highs in the low-to-mid 80s in Escalante.

Proposed dates and itinerary

Homebase is the Escalante Grand Resort.

Optional early-arrival days
  • Sun, June 6: Book a night in Springdale (the town at Zion’s south entrance).
  • Mon, June 7: Zion.Park at your hotel and ride the free town shuttle into the park; the main canyon is shuttle-only in season. In the late afternoon, drive to Escalante (night 2 there).
    • Heads up: As of June 2026, Zion no longer allows vehicles wider than 7'10" including mirrors through the Zion–Mt. Carmel tunnel and the east side of the park, and the escort program is gone. Most of our trucks are over that with mirrors out. So the drive to Escalante goes around via Cedar City or Kanab, about 3.5–4 hours.
    • If you want Angels Landing, you’ll need a permit from the lottery.
  • Tue, June 8: Kodachrome Basin, Grosvenor Arch and Bryce Canyon. Kodachrome and Grosvenor in the morning while it’s cooler down low, then Bryce in the afternoon up at 8,000+ ft. Grosvenor Arch is about 10 miles of dirt down Cottonwood Canyon Road.
Trail days
  • Wed, June 9: Hole-in-the-Rock Road, out and back(early arrivals, our most technical day). About 112 miles round trip. The last ~6 miles past the Glen Canyon boundary are slickrock, ending at the overlook above Lake Powell where the 1880 pioneers lowered their wagons. Stops at Dance Hall Rock on the way. Leave 7:00 am, back around 5:00 pm.
    • Evening: Driver’s meeting and welcome for anyone arriving Wednesday.
  • Thu, June 10: Left Hand Collet loop (full group). Hole-in-the-Rock to Devils Garden, then Left Hand Collet Canyon, Collet Top, and back to town on Smoky Mountain Road. About 58 miles of dirt with no highway; we start and end at the resort. Left Hand Collet is a wash-and-canyon trail with some rocky sections, and the lunch spot is under a balancing rock and cave. About 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.
  • Fri, June 11: Burr Trail day(full group). Burr Trail through Long Canyon, the Wolverine Loop past petrified wood, down the Burr Trail switchbacks into the Waterpocket Fold, then north on Notom-Bullfrog to Capitol Reef. Back to Escalante over Boulder Mountain. About 85 miles of trail. Leave 8:30 am, back around 5:30 pm.
    • No trailers this day. NPS says the switchbacks aren’t suitable for vehicles towing trailers.
    • Evening: Farewell dinner.
  • Sat, June 12: Head home.
Backup plans

Every trail day has a Plan B in case of weather or road damage. We’ll make the final go/no-go calls in late April based on BLM road reports, snowpack, and a call to the Escalante visitor center.

What I need from you

Reply here and let me know:
  1. Do the June 9–12 dates work for you?
  2. Are you planning to join the early-arrival days (Zion / Bryce, June 6–8)?
  3. Anyone already booked for May? Let me know so we can sort out changes with the Escalante Grand Resort.
Looking forward to it!
 
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