Arches national park

[meg]

Has anyone camp in Devils playground in Arches at the end of August? They don't have any hookups and have heard it gets really hot there. Can't decide if it is worth battling the heat to stay there.

[f5moab]

Haven't camped there since Arches is only five miles from my house, but July and August are definitely the hotter months of the year around here. Late August will be a bit cooler, probably in the 90s (vs. 100s) but cooler during the nights.

Also, it is usually booked out months in advance. Plenty of commercial places in town with full hookups. The numerous BLM campgrounds in the area have no services.

[wmcclay]

Try Spanish Trails Rv park, not bad and only 4-5 miles from the entrance.

[Herk7769]

We stayed at the Moab KOA and loved it.
Less than 10 minutes from Arches.

[hagar]

We also stayed at Spanish Trails RV park -- 3 nights in June. Park itself is nice but in a bit of industrial part of town. In fact, much of Moab had an industrial character, something we were not expecting.

Dead Horse State Park was also a bit of surprise - possibly nicer than the 2 national parks there. Certainly worth 2 hours.

[f5moab]

Your opinion but Industrial? I've lived here almost six years, and that is the last thing I would say about Moab. Basically, the only industry here is the motel business and commercial outfitters. Biggest employer in town is the US government with the National Park Service (arches/canyonlands/hovenweep/bridge headquarters), USGS, and Bureau of Land Management (Canyon Country District office and Moab Field office) and one or two others I won't mention.

The character I would put to Moab is WEIRD!

[hagar]

We found a lot of abandoned buildings and fenced yards full of rusted equipment, etc., on the south side of town that we were not expecting. I guess remnants of mining or oil wells? It is visible from Google Satellite view of the campground - I even e-mailed them to ask what all that stuff was before we finalized the reservation.

Only local we really spent time with was the guy driving the Hummer on our 3 hour tour of the rock trail. I wouldn't say he was weird, but certainly eclectic and entertaining.

I meant no offense, just my opinion. We had been out in the desert camping in towns of 300 people for the previous 6 days ---- maybe I was just having trouble getting re-adjusted to big city life.

[f5moab]

Originally Posted by hagar

We found a lot of abandoned buildings and fenced yards full of rusted equipment, etc., on the south side of town that we were not expecting. I guess remnants of mining or oil wells? It is visible from Google Satellite view of the campground - I even e-mailed them to ask what all that stuff was before we finalized the reservation.

Only local we really spent time with was the guy driving the Hummer on our 3 hour tour of the rock trail. I wouldn't say he was weird, but certainly eclectic and entertaining.

I meant no offense, just my opinion. We had been out in the desert camping in towns of 300 people for the previous 6 days ---- maybe I was just having trouble getting re-adjusted to big city life.

No offense taken, I just never thought of it that way. But those areas in Grand County I guess could look industrial to some; to me they look like Junk yards. Some is mining junk left over from the uranium days but a lot is just plain old JUNK. (Did you drive by the VW graveyard?). And since that is not in Moab, we Moab residents like to correct people. (It's like when people call my dog a Husky; I always correct them.)

I guess looking at that area, I can see the industrial look; I never go that way preferring to take Hwy 191 down to whatever road takes me east over to the Lasal Mtns.

What tour? If the Moab Adventure Center Hummer Tours; curious was it Mike or Eric? I assume you did the Hell's Revenge tour. Yes, some are a bit strange, I actually drove that tour a few times, but found the tourists were too strange for me. So now just drive my own Hummer.




Have to admit, when I move there are places in and around Moab I will miss. Hell's might be one of them, but the biggest miss will be the one I can no longer drive....Lion's Back. They closed it a few years back, I only got to drive it once and ride another time with someone else.

[hagar]

We took the tour with Mark Moore with Moab Tour Company. If Lion's Back is where the lady rolled the big blazer years ago, he showed us that and said they closed it after the wreck. What fascinated us was all the tourists with the $60K jeeps on the trail. We followed 4-5 of them up the first 2 hills, then they stopped at that rock where there are 2 lanes. Mark said when they get there, they just want off - that's why there are 2 lanes there.

MEG -- my apologies for getting your original post off track. We were in Moab first week in June and I don't know how we would have made it without electricity and A/C. My son in Santa Fe has tent-camped there several times and said July/August are just brutal - he's the reason we came early. So if nothing else, I think we all strongly suggest you find a place with hook-ups. It's a dry heat, but there is a lot of dust.

Downtown Moab (within the city limits, as my new friend points out) is quite nice and surprisingly neat and clean and orderly for a tourist town. In fact, to our surprise all of Utah was nice and neat and orderly and friendly. We did a 12 day loop thru Utah from Santa Fe and it was the most enjoyable driving trip we've ever taken.

[f5moab]

Well, not sure who the guy was but there is some inaccuracies in his statements.
Lion's back was closed when the School Institutional state trust agency (SITLA) leased the land at the base of Lion's back to a developer. The guy who used to lease the land, ran the small store at the base and charged 10 bucks to drive up Lion's back. The new owners closed it and were supposed to build condos.
I believe that was six years ago when LB closed.
In the video, the K5 lost it's brakes. They were injured but the pile of sand at the bottom saved their lives.

IT WAS NOT closed for a few years after that crash.

As for Hell's. I'm not even sure what the driver was trying to imply. Most people in the past few years go into Hell's and almost go to the exit, but turn around at Tip Over Challenge due to the exit road being the roughest spot of real estate in Sand Flats. A few years ago, all the exits, except one were closed since they were on private land. The one remaining exit is terrible, but BLM did send out a grader last month to try and do something with it.
So, there is two-way traffic on Hell's, EXCEPT during Easter Jeep Safari when it is made a one-way trail and people have to bang their way out.

I have seen plenty of those 60K Jeeps do Hell's gate, the Escalator and Tip Over. Believe it was the Hummer driver trying to imply that Jeeps cannot do it without damage. As a Hummer owner, I have to say, the Jeeps are as good as any Hummer or FJ in doing Hell's and if doing the Escalator actually better, since they are narrower.

I guess they need to heighten the BS for the tourists.

Sorry for going off track.

For the best campgrounds, the ones on the north side of Moab seen to be the best and the closest to Arches. Here's a great reference for camping in and around the Moab area...
Moab Campgrounds

[mlhawke]

At Dead Horse Point the SP has electricity, no water. We stayed at Goblin Valley just after that and they had water but no electricity. We had bought battery operated fans and used the heck out of them. Love southern Utah!!


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[The RB]

Goblin valley IS fantastic. So calm and quiet, I could hear myself think !