Planning a Road Trip Southwest...

[Opus]

Last year my wife and I loaded up the Renegade and took a six day road trip to Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Devil's Tower, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons and home again. We had a fantastic time. Other than our destinations, every other stop (Wall Drug for example) was done on a whim. When we got tired, we'd Google a nearby hotel. The only reservation we made in advance was at Yellowstone so we could get a room as close to the park as possible.

Anywho. Next summer, with any luck, we'll have the new Wrangler sufficiently broken in and we're thinking about another trip. This time we're thinking the Grand Canyon (South Rim, probably) with a stop at Monument Valley along the way.

If you've made that trip, and I'm guessing some of you have since the route we'll be taking goes through Denver and Moab, feel free to post any tips or things to avoid. Best times to go. Things to see (that aren't too far out of the way). Places to stay. Restaurant suggestions, etc.

Disclaimer: I should add that the Wrangler will be a stock Sport S:

so hardcore rock crawling off-roading won't be on our itinerary. I know, I know, that makes me less of a man, but I'll just have to live with it.

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[Opus]

Doing a little mapping last night. Now we're thinking that rather than simply doubling-back for our return trip home we might take an alternate route. This would take us through Albuquerque. There's an interesting tram ride there up into the mountains we might check out.

 

[runningshoes]

Ted and his wife did a long trip with some really cool recos - try this thread.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...alaska-and-back-three-jlur-and-campers.85316/

 

[GATORB8]

A great thing about Moab is they have a very clear trail rating system. There is a ton of tough rock crawling stuff, but there's also a lot of trails a decent driver will have no problem with in a stock rig.

Moab is only a few hours from Telluride/Ouray, and it's like another world. That area also has mountain pass trails that are definitely stock friendly.

I wish I had found them before our trip, but I'd recommend picking up the FunTreks guidebooks for Moab, CO and AZ. https://funtreks.com/products/ .

 

[Drytellsr]

Side trips
Monument Valley
Gouldings, see where the John Wayne movie "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" was filmed Capt. Nathan Brittles cabin is still there, the saloon in the movie was renovated into Gouldings restaurant and the museum was the fort commanders quarters.
Four corners.
Gila Cliff Dwellings NM
Cliff Dwellings in Mesa Verde outside Cortez Colorado
Horseshoe bend and Antelope Slot Canyon out side of Page AZ.
Stand on the Corner in Winslow Arizona.
Meteor Crater near Winslow AZ.
Many Dinosaur track sites in Moab, Mill Creek, Copper canyon Willow springs, Moab Giants. Great day for some easy hiking and easy trails to each site.
Goblin Valley in Hanksville UT.
Bear country in Williams AZ

Places to stay
The View Hotel Monument Valley
Red Cliffs Lodge in Moab
Red Garter Hotel in Williams AZ, 60 Min South of the Grand Canyon (The place is Haunted).

Places to eat.
The View Hotel
Cruisers in Williams AZ.
Bojo's Grill and sports club in Winslow AZ. freekin awesome Mexican food.
Fiesta Mexicana in Moab

I thought the Grand Canyon would be Epic but after spending time in Moab and actually being able to drive into the scenery, The Grand Canyon was just not that Epic. You can just drive the south rim Road and hit about 3 overlooks and your good to go. No need to stay at the GC that's why I recommended Williams AZ to stay the night. But GC is one of those places you have to see for yourself.

 

[Opus]

Excellent. Thanks for the suggestions. Yep, I’ve heard that once you see GC… you’ve seen it. But as you said we have to see it for ourselves. Thinking about staying at the Kachina at GC. Would love to do El Tovar and be in one of the suites, but it’s out of our price range.

 

[srt20]

JMO but if you dont want to rock crawl you could do some MTN passes in CO.
You could do Shafer trail near Moab, it basically a gravel road car go on it, very cool. You will be driving on a shelf road so if you are deathly afraid of heights, forget it.
Page AZ has the famous Horseshoe bend in the CO river. Park in parking lot and walk gravel down to bend overlook.
Ophir pass is an easy pass, again shelf road.
You can google mining ghost towns if you are into that.
I highly agree on the cliff dwellings. We’ve been to Mesa Verde and to Gila dwellings. Gila you can go up into. Very cool, 1.5 hr drive through the Gila National Forest on pavement. Does have off road trails on way. We did a few and the ones we did were very easy for stock Jeep.

We drove through NM early this summer. Was a lot of wildfires going on, so that cut down our off reading in NM. But a lot of it is pretty flat desert. Personally I will avoid that area again. But there was a few cool things like petroglyphs to see.

San Juans in SW CO are awesome. Just do a search and you will find all kinds of stuff.

We are same. We dont reserve hotels a head of time. Many times we want to see something only to discover it isnt as cool as we thought and no need to spend another day at it. Move on to next thing to see.

 

[Opus]

Thanks. Good to know there are some stock friendly off-road option. I know we’ll do the loop around Monument Valley. Trying to decide when to go, also. We’d like to go before it gets ridiculously hot, but not so early that we end up hitting a lot of snow in the mountains. Late May, maybe?

 

[JZK]

Valley of the Gods (north of Monument Valley). Great backroad drive through there.
Moki Dugway
Goosenecks State Park
Natural Bridges National Monument
Dead Horse Point State Park (great view of Colorado River). Be sure to take Potash road down to Moab.
CanyonLands Island in the Sky. (Needles would be good if camping) Arches National Park is right there but pretty insane with people.
Escalante, Grandstair Case. Peekaboo, Spooky slots. Hole in the Rock road to the end and hike Hole in the Rock since you have a Wrangler.
Bryce Canyon
Buckskin Gulch, White Pocket (4WD only). This is half way between Kanab Utah and Page AZ.
Someone else had mentioned Goblin Valley State Park. As long as you are there, take a look at Little Wild Horse Canyon & Bell Canyon loop for a neat day hike in the slots. Temple Mt Road west of there back to I70 is a neat drive especially via Tomsich Butte.

 

[Opus]

Glad I’m not leaving for a while. I’ve suddenly got a lot of Googling to do…

 

[srt20]

Thanks. Good to know there are some stock friendly off-road option. I know we’ll do the loop around Monument Valley. Trying to decide when to go, also. We’d like to go before it gets ridiculously hot, but not so early that we end up hitting a lot of snow in the mountains. Late May, maybe?

There will likely be some passes closed yet in late May. We were in beginning of June this year and some were closed yet. Some had just opened. Speaking about the San Juans.

 

[Jcsii]

Few spots that might have been missed....


Black Canyon of the Gunnison, its pictures don't come close...

Alpine Loop
Lake City to Animas Forks (Engineer Pass) is not bad, avoid Engineer pass to Ouray (17 on google maps), going via Silverton not as rough.

Last Dollar road to Telluride

If your going to Moab via US70 exit onto 128, much nicer drive in. Other option from Ouray is via Paradox Valley.

Willow Springs will get you into Arches the back way.

Dead horse point SP Utah has some pretty nice yurts to stay in. If your in a hurry, almost as good as Canyonlands and not as far out. Long canyon is great trail but a little rough after the rock..

Moab, Milt's Stop & Eat, Avocado BLT

Shafer trail to Moab via Potash Rd is OK but may push your comfort level.

Mexican Hat and Gooseneck SP

North Rim of the Grand Canyon is less crowded than the south. Has a completely different vibe.
NF on the north rim has a lot of trails that are really easy... google : Saddle Mountain Overlook, Sublime Point.

Trail to white pocket, but probably should have another vehicle with you, easy but remote.

Flagstaff : Cinder Hills Off Highway Vehicle Area is worth a quick look, not the sand most people are used to. Also Sunset Crater. Its on the way from Grand Canyon NP to 40.

in NM
Valles Caldera National Preserve

if back up to Denver from 40.
Great Sand dunes NP , Zapata Falls and Medano Pass is a great drive but you need to be comfortable driving in sand. If going west to east you will need something to air up your tires.

I would recommend you get either Avensa or Gaia for mapping, download the maps for when you are out of cell range.

Take a look on line at the BLM and National forest interactive maps.

If you can get some Rubi take off wheels and tires ($600-$800 range down here) would give you some comfort on some of the trails, you could resell them when you get back home.

 

[rickinAZ]

Remember to get a photo of yourself sprawled on your back across four states. I have mine. Goofy, but fun.

 

[Opus]

For us we actually like the tourist traps (we're weird that way), so I figured Grand Canyon Village would probably fit that bill on the South Rim.

 

[Jcsii]

You will like Hole in the Rock south of Moab

Also, Great train ride out of Durango, CO

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