Pittsburgh, PA to Moab, Utah: TIPS & INFO

[James202198]

My girlfriend and I are considering doing a road trip from Pittsburgh, PA to Moab, Utah in my 2021 Wrangler JLU Willys currently running 35” tires with 2.5” lift. We have never gone very far west or gone camping with the wrangler yet so I was wondering if any of you with more experience could give me some useful info and tips regarding the trip. We intend to sleep out of the Jeep with a DeepSleepJeep mattress. It will be me, my girlfriend and our 14lb. dog. We also intend to pretty much just aight see and do some off-roading.

A few questions of mine:

• What equipment would you guys highly recommend for about a week trip like this? Cooler? Not sure what else? Lol
• How much should I expect to spend on fuel, there and back? (currently average about 11 MPG)
• Is there any place in particular I should set my destination to as far as camping location, off-roading trails, etc

Honestly any information you guys have that you feel could be helpful please share because the last time I went camping was probably at least 6 years ago and have never gone camping in a Jeep or for a road trip this long. Thank you all in advance!

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[psucanary]

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/11-days-pa-co-and-back….77804/

My wife and I did a very similar trip last summer (see link above) and actually plan to do it again this July, this time making it over into Moab then back up into Northern CO. Ironically, very similar set-up on the jeep and starting location (Johnstown, PA). Feel free to shoot me a PM and I can give you some tips or lessons learned on the 24 hr travel to CO, the time spent bouncing around the mtns. on various trails and camping somewhere diff each night. Know this, you will NOT regret it!

 

[Mad Hatter]

James, the Doubletree Hotel in the background (likely) gives away the locale of your dealership. Nice knowing we have a Forum Member working at a dealership. That makes you a resource! Guess that means if I ever look to replace my JLUR, I've got a second dealer to negotiate with.

If you will be on an extended trip overlanding away from fresh supplies and/or cold beer and/or cooler ice, you might want to consider a Dometic or Iceco 12-volt refrigerator. I have one of each. The Dometic CFX3 45 is built like a tank, but is a bit costly vs. the Iceco GO20 I use for smaller volume needs. Then I have a Jackery 300 rechargeable power source that runs the cooler at night and is recharged when driving (or by solar panel). (If true overlanding in hot areas--where the electric cooler might run continuously, I might go with the Jackery 500.)

One downside of these coolers is that you wouldn't be able to sleep inside the jeep with a double mattress inside, something you might want if you had bad weather. On the other hand, tents are made for that purpose...

Have a great trip!

MH

 

[KevinC11]

Why is your Jeep only getting 11MPG?

Security. Whether you like it or not, this world is not as safe as it used to be 6 years ago. Promise her anything, but give her security.

Cooler. Big enough for 3 days of food. Quality enough to last 3 days. Pack 3 days supply of meals that you can grill. I usually cook breakfast and supper; lunch is something from a bag, trail mix, nuts.

Fire starter. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can make a roaring campfire with a bow drill. I use those fireplace starter things. A campfire is important to me.

Just a few notes I had in my head that makes planning easier as you get close. Hope that gets you started.

KevinC

 

[BDinTX]

Depending on the time of year, as you move West, sleeping in the vehicle may prove to be a miserable experience. Unless your girlfriend is VERY outdoorsy and low maintenance you may have a better chance of gettting her to do it again if you hit AirBnBs or hotels on the way out there, set up a base camp with a tent for a few days to explore, then get back into something with hot water.

My wife was a good sport the first time around but she was really wanting to wash her hair by day 3 on the trail. It also becomes very tedious setting up camp each night, then trying to drive any appreciable distance, just to do it again.

As far as equipment, you will want a way to air up/down. The trails can be uncomfortable at road pressures.

 

[dchemphill1]

What time of year? Summer is hotter than Hates in Moab area. If camping in mountains it will be much cooler. If back country camping...coolers should be bear proof. My wife and I tent camped for 10 days throughout the San Juan range (Ouray, Silverton, Durango) we travelled in our JLR and even slept in it one night due to T storms with sharp lightning. That is not fun in the mountains with tall trees around. Otherwise trip was awesome!

 

[Morris4x4]

I've done the trip from Cleveland to Moab/CO (now residing in CO though) many times. Jeeps has done the 24-28 hour haul 9 times.

First trip to Moab with it we had a cooler that we'd just buy ice & perishables when we knew we'd use them that night or the next morning (after the years investing in a small 50L fridge/freezer is a game-changer as we use it around the house too when it's not in our rig). A laundry basket was nice for keeping dry foods/toilet paper/dishes in. We ground camped in the tent every night but for the drive it was a driver switch/passenger sleep book it out there type of deal. Trail-wise I was too new and nervous/stock so we did Hurrah pass and the beginning of Hells.

Second trip is when I lived in Moab for a few months to work. Jeep was still stock besides winch, bumper, wheels/tires. The drive out was the same but for trails we ran Kane creek, fins, top of the world, steel bender, part of hells since a storm was rolling in. All of those trails would be manageable for you but go with people so you're not alone.

For the trails I'd start with Hurrah to get a tease, then Fins and Things, Hells, and if you feel good after that, give Kane a shot, again if you feel comfortable/can get a group.

If you're sleeping inside just be prepared to shuffle every morning, put duffels and such in the front seats and the food too. Hard goods (like tables and chairs) that you aren't worried about that also don't attract animals can go next to your vehicle (walk around before you leave to check for stragglers).

Pro Tip: if you do camp, the rec center offers cheap showers (not sure with covid stuff now but call ahead). And it can get windy too. Camp higher into the la sals if it gets hot at night. Sand flats (a road that you have to pay for but has hells revenge and fins off it plus is a road up to the la sals) is great for camping and also along the river.

Gas for us was split in half because college but was probably oft ermmmm maybe $500? This was years ago too when it was like $1.75 a gallon lol I still get about 17 on 35s and 3.5" lift so I guess I'm just thankful.

-Julia

 

[James202198]

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/11-days-pa-co-and-back….77804/

My wife and I did a very similar trip last summer (see link above) and actually plan to do it again this July, this time making it over into Moab then back up into Northern CO. Ironically, very similar set-up on the jeep and starting location (Johnstown, PA). Feel free to shoot me a PM and I can give you some tips or lessons learned on the 24 hr travel to CO, the time spent bouncing around the mtns. on various trails and camping somewhere diff each night. Know this, you will NOT regret it!

Great to know I’ll definitely hit you up, just trying to make sure we’re prepared!

 

[James202198]

James, the Doubletree Hotel in the background (likely) gives away the locale of your dealership. Nice knowing we have a Forum Member working at a dealership. That makes you a resource! Guess that means if I ever look to replace my JLUR, I've got a second dealer to negotiate with.

If you will be on an extended trip overlanding away from fresh supplies and/or cold beer and/or cooler ice, you might want to consider a Dometic or Iceco 12-volt refrigerator. I have one of each. The Dometic CFX3 45 is built like a tank, but is a bit costly vs. the Iceco GO20 I use for smaller volume needs. Then I have a Jackery 300 rechargeable power source that runs the cooler at night and is recharged when driving (or by solar panel). (If true overlanding in hot areas--where the electric cooler might run continuously, I might go with the Jackery 500.)

One downside of these coolers is that you wouldn't be able to sleep inside the jeep with a double mattress inside, something you might want if you had bad weather. On the other hand, tents are made for that purpose...

Have a great trip!

MH

Thank you for the info, honestly I would just sleep in a tent personally, only reason we are sleeping in the Jeep is so my girlfriend feels safe, she can be scared fairly easily lol

 

[James202198]

Why is your Jeep only getting 11MPG?

Security. Whether you like it or not, this world is not as safe as it used to be 6 years ago. Promise her anything, but give her security.

Cooler. Big enough for 3 days of food. Quality enough to last 3 days. Pack 3 days supply of meals that you can grill. I usually cook breakfast and supper; lunch is something from a bag, trail mix, nuts.

Fire starter. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can make a roaring campfire with a bow drill. I use those fireplace starter things. A campfire is important to me.

Just a few notes I had in my head that makes planning easier as you get close. Hope that gets you started.

KevinC

Yes definitely some useful info. Thank you! But idk about my MPG, I mean I’m a bit of a lead foot so that certainly doesn’t help but otherwise I chalk it up to the lift, tires, metal bumpers

 

[James202198]

Depending on the time of year, as you move West, sleeping in the vehicle may prove to be a miserable experience. Unless your girlfriend is VERY outdoorsy and low maintenance you may have a better chance of gettting her to do it again if you hit AirBnBs or hotels on the way out there, set up a base camp with a tent for a few days to explore, then get back into something with hot water.

My wife was a good sport the first time around but she was really wanting to wash her hair by day 3 on the trail. It also becomes very tedious setting up camp each night, then trying to drive any appreciable distance, just to do it again.

As far as equipment, you will want a way to air up/down. The trails can be uncomfortable at road pressures.

Yeah we were already thinking we may do Airbnb or something for the trip out but we are likely thinking summer time, thanks for the info!

 

[James202198]

What time of year? Summer is hotter than Hates in Moab area. If camping in mountains it will be much cooler. If back country camping...coolers should be bear proof. My wife and I tent camped for 10 days throughout the San Juan range (Ouray, Silverton, Durango) we travelled in our JLR and even slept in it one night due to T storms with sharp lightning. That is not fun in the mountains with tall trees around. Otherwise trip was awesome!

Likely looking at summer time but thanks for the info!

 

[James202198]

I've done the trip from Cleveland to Moab/CO (now residing in CO though) many times. Jeeps has done the 24-28 hour haul 9 times.

First trip to Moab with it we had a cooler that we'd just buy ice & perishables when we knew we'd use them that night or the next morning (after the years investing in a small 50L fridge/freezer is a game-changer as we use it around the house too when it's not in our rig). A laundry basket was nice for keeping dry foods/toilet paper/dishes in. We ground camped in the tent every night but for the drive it was a driver switch/passenger sleep book it out there type of deal. Trail-wise I was too new and nervous/stock so we did Hurrah pass and the beginning of Hells.

Second trip is when I lived in Moab for a few months to work. Jeep was still stock besides winch, bumper, wheels/tires. The drive out was the same but for trails we ran Kane creek, fins, top of the world, steel bender, part of hells since a storm was rolling in. All of those trails would be manageable for you but go with people so you're not alone.

For the trails I'd start with Hurrah to get a tease, then Fins and Things, Hells, and if you feel good after that, give Kane a shot, again if you feel comfortable/can get a group.

If you're sleeping inside just be prepared to shuffle every morning, put duffels and such in the front seats and the food too. Hard goods (like tables and chairs) that you aren't worried about that also don't attract animals can go next to your vehicle (walk around before you leave to check for stragglers).

Pro Tip: if you do camp, the rec center offers cheap showers (not sure with covid stuff now but call ahead). And it can get windy too. Camp higher into the la sals if it gets hot at night. Sand flats (a road that you have to pay for but has hells revenge and fins off it plus is a road up to the la sals) is great for camping and also along the river.

Gas for us was split in half because college but was probably oft ermmmm maybe $500? This was years ago too when it was like $1.75 a gallon lol I still get about 17 on 35s and 3.5" lift so I guess I'm just thankful.

-Julia

Thank you for all that info! As far as showering goes we were thinking we may just utilize our planet fitness black cards and shower in their locker room, we just have to see how realistic that is as far as finding planet fitness locations that make sense for our route and where we end up each night. But definitely good to know about a backup shower lol

 

[guarnibl]

Yes definitely some useful info. Thank you! But idk about my MPG, I mean I’m a bit of a lead foot so that certainly doesn’t help but otherwise I chalk it up to the lift, tires, metal bumpers

That's a bit surprising tbh. I'm getting 12 mpg on my 392 with equivalent lift as you, steel bumpers, 35's and 4.56 gears. What 35's do you have and what wheels? Might be the culprit and thus undergeared.

 

[James202198]

That's a bit surprising tbh. I'm getting 12 mpg on my 392 with equivalent lift as you, steel bumpers, 35's and 4.56 gears.

Honestly in that case I have no clue cuz I wouldn’t consider myself to be THAT much of a lead foot that I’m getting worse mileage than a 392 with similar mods.

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