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Planning a Road Trip Southwest...

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Sticking to your planned route, I would at least add Valley of the Gods that is north of Monument Valley to your trip. I have been through Monument Valley five times. Valley of the Gods is prettier and right on your way. It is just north of Monument Valley about 10 or so miles. Well worth the detour.
If you had half a day and had to choose between Valley of the Gods and Arches National Park... which one would you choose?
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My 2 cents: On Day 1 if you just need a bed, press for Rifle, CO. That puts you beyond the pass and you will not be paying $$$. On Day 2 if you landed in Rifle, now you are only a couple of hours from Moab. Do the Onion Creek or Gemini Bridges trail in Moab (both scenic and easy) and then afternoon/sunset/star gazing at Arches. There is easy back-door 4wd access to Arches.
 
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My 2 cents: On Day 1 if you just need a bed, press for Rifle, CO. That puts you beyond the pass and you will not be paying $$$. On Day 2 if you landed in Rifle, now you are only a couple of hours from Moab. Do the Onion Creek or Gemini Bridges trail in Moab (both scenic and easy) and then afternoon/sunset/star gazing at Arches. There is easy back-door 4wd access to Arches.
Yeah, Day 1 is just putting in as many miles as possible to give us more time on Day 2 so we'll book a place for that night while we're on the road. I'll check out Rifle and see if that's doable.

I had checked out Gemini Bridges but I wasn't sure if it was something you could drive up to, or if you had to park and hike. My wife isn't able to do much hiking so we're focusing more on things we can park and see.
 

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May be a little tough for a drive-by time wise, but you could go in the off road back door to Arches (skip the reservation) and out the front gate.

As you come down 191 from I70 you would take a left on Willow Springs Rd (BLM 378), that will dead end into Arches NP Rd, take a right, and it would spit you back out onto 191 right by Moab.

The Dinosaur tracks are right by Willow Springs Rd at the west side of Arches, so you could see those without any hiking.

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Yeah, Day 1 is just putting in as many miles as possible to give us more time on Day 2 so we'll book a place while we're on the road. I'll check out Rifle and see if that's doable.

I had checked out Gemini Bridges but I wasn't sure if it was something you could drive up to, or if you had to park and hike. My wife isn't able to do much hiking so we're focusing more on things we can park and see.
Yeah - Onion Creek if you can swing it is fantastic. I've been to Moab wheeling twice and it is still my favorite. Agree on Sandia Peak via tram in NM - it is cool.
 

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If you had half a day and had to choose between Valley of the Gods and Arches National Park... which one would you choose?
I would ask what you're comfortable doing off road with your Jeep first. As you are in Moab, You can easily see a few of the better arches in the park in a few hours depending on how physically fit you are, most are a close hike from the road. In Moab, you could also run Onion Creek out and back for 30 small water crossing and some great view. Or Fins and Things, or Hells Revenge if you want a little more challenge. either of these trails are a half of a day. If you want big views with high drop offs but and easy drive., Shaffers Switch backs is another great loop.

Valley of the Gods is something you can easily drive through on the way to Monument Valley. It might be 20 miles total and it is not really out of your way. So you could do it the same day you plan to drive through Monument Valley.
 

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I agree that Onion Creek would be a great easy off-road stop.

Unless you back door Arches, I'd take 128 down from I70 instead of 191. It goes right by the Onion Creek entrance through Castle Valley along the Colorado and puts you on 191 just NW of Moab, probably 5 minutes from the main entrance to Arches.

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We're now about 2 months away from the start of our road trip and we've made a few adjustments to the itinerary:

Day 1: Drive from home and try to get west of Denver before the end of the day... find a hotel somewhere along the route. Silverthorne maybe? I realized that Breckenridge is too far off the Interstate.

Day 2: Continue west from Silverthorne or wherever we stop for the night. If time allows we may swing in to Arches National Park since it looks like our route goes right by it... Went to the Recreation.gov site and saw they have one-hour windows for entering the park??? We purchased a pass because it was cheap, but I'm not sure we'll be able to make the one-hour window. If it doesn't work out, then, on to Monument Valley where we'll stay the night at one of the cabins at The View in Monument Valley. Hoping to get there in time to snap a few photos of sunset (which now guarantees it will be overcast) :)

Day 3: Catch the sunrise. Drive the 17 mile Monument Valley route, then head on to the Grand Canyon. Stopping at places of interest along the way. That night we'll be staying at Kachina Lodge on the Southern Rim for two nights.

Day 4: Explore around the Canyon. I'm thinking maybe a drive along the southern rim to the Desert View Watchtower. Night at the Kachina again.

Day 5: Start heading home. We'll swing south and hit HWY 40 / Route 66 at Williams, AZ. Heading east along 40/66 we'll take the detour and check out Meteor Crater then stop in Albuquerque for the night. If we can get to Albuquerque early enough I'm hoping to take the Sandia Tram ride up into the mountains if weather permits. Hotel at the Sandia Resort and Casino.

Day 6: Leave Albuquerque and drive east to Oklahoma City stopping at interesting Route 66 attractions along the way. Bedding down at a hotel somewhere close to HWY 40 in Oklahoma City.

Day 7: Drive the final leg home.

If I'm counting it up correctly: 10 states... roughly 2885 miles round trip not counting detours along the way. Can. Not. Wait. :)

For those of you who've done this kind of trip, what do you recommend in regards to packing beyond the typical trip stuff (clothes, h.b.a. items, etc.). I'm planning to add a case of water bottles as well as emergency equipment (e.g. battery booster, jumper cables, tow strap, etc.). What other recommendations do you have?
I live in Albuquerque and can tell you that the tram ride is awesome, even for this local :). It takes you to the top of the Sandias, where there is a restaurant and beautiful views of Albuquerque below. nice little gift shop at the entrance to the tram and another restaurant that has great food. Cheaper than the one at the top of the Sandias. The Sandia Resort and Casino is a fantastic hotel to stay at and much safer than one further out towards I40. Dont ever stay anywhere along the central/Rt66 area, prime target for theft of vehicles and trailers. Hope you have a safe stay in our beautiful state!
 
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I would ask what you're comfortable doing off road with your Jeep first. As you are in Moab, You can easily see a few of the better arches in the park in a few hours depending on how physically fit you are, most are a close hike from the road. In Moab, you could also run Onion Creek out and back for 30 small water crossing and some great view. Or Fins and Things, or Hells Revenge if you want a little more challenge. either of these trails are a half of a day. If you want big views with high drop offs but and easy drive., Shaffers Switch backs is another great loop.

Valley of the Gods is something you can easily drive through on the way to Monument Valley. It might be 20 miles total and it is not really out of your way. So you could do it the same day you plan to drive through Monument Valley.
Hikes aren't an option. And in our case the Jeep is a bone-stock Sport S with Michelin A/T tires so I'm thinking Hell's Revenge probably isn't an option either... :) But I like the idea of Valley of the Gods. Thanks for the suggestion.

On the map, I see that the road through Valley of the Gods dumps out on to 261 very close to Moki Dugway...

I'm starting to see why I needed to give myself more time... :)
 
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I live in Albuquerque and can tell you that the tram ride is awesome, even for this local :). It takes you to the top of the Sandias, where there is a restaurant and beautiful views of Albuquerque below. nice little gift shop at the entrance to the tram and another restaurant that has great food. Cheaper than the one at the top of the Sandias. The Sandia Resort and Casino is a fantastic hotel to stay at and much safer than one further out towards I40. Dont ever stay anywhere along the central/Rt66 area, prime target for theft of vehicles and trailers. Hope you have a safe stay in our beautiful state!
Part of it will come down to time. We're also planning to check out Meteor Crater along the way that day. The rest will come down to weather. I see that you can only book a ticket for the tram a day in advance since it has to shut down on occasion for too high a wind or bad weather. But if it works out we'll definitely do it.
 

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Hikes aren't an option. And in our case the Jeep is a bone-stock Sport S with Michelin A/T tires so I'm thinking Hell's Revenge probably isn't an option either... :) But I like the idea of Valley of the Gods. Thanks for the suggestion.
I think you'd be surprised what a bone stock Jeep can do on Moab slickrock. Almost be worth the $5 day pass to just run up the entrance to Hells, and drive right back out the exit to the parking lot.

Onion Creek can 100% be done bone stock in 2wd without airing down.
 
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Well Day 2 is now shaping up to be quite the adventure. We're going to try to do Arches, Valley of the Gods and Moki Dugway on the way to Monument Valley...

Is it wrong, though, that we're also geeking out a little realizing we'll drive past Forrest Gump Point along the way... :)
 
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Nice. I checked and during our trip the moon is going to be 98% full, waxing gibbous... so I'm hoping to get some good shots by moonlight.
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