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Old 05-08-2019, 05:41 AM   #21
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We found that three days made for a less frantic trip. We went from the Lynden KOA to the Umatilla Marina RV Park in Umatilla, OR, then to the Heyburn Riverside RV Park in Heyburn, ID which is then an easy day's drive to Moab. Both are small, scenic, inexpensive city-owned RV parks on rivers and we really enjoyed them.

Also, if you try to get to Moab in two days you will likely be driving through Salt Lake City during afternoon/evening rush hour. Taking three days for the trip positions you to go through SLC mid-day - it's a long slog but we have found that if it's not rush hour, there will still be a lot of traffic but it moves right along at highway speed and is not too bad.
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Old 05-08-2019, 06:21 AM   #22
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Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz View Post
We're doing a arches/canyonland trip next month, and are staying at dead horse point state park.
We stayed there lMarch 2018. Wonderful campground close to everything. As John mentioned, fill your fresh tank beforehand. We filled our tank at Green River State Park and it was good tasting water. We also brought along a 6 gal portable for drinking water.
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Old 05-08-2019, 08:38 AM   #23
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Just past the Arches NP entrance turn left off 191 onto 279, drive a few miles to Gold Bar BLM. No hookups, vault toilets, right beside the big river, free when we were there a few years ago.
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Old 05-08-2019, 08:50 AM   #24
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We're going to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival 2nd week of October......
Tip....get up early (4:30!) and go to one of the morning light ups, there’s a shuttle that runs to the park from different places, one is Coronado Mall in ABQ. Also, a company called Quiet Waters paddling offers canoe/kayak paddle trips (also really early) from Bernalillo that put you right under the balloons as they go over the river and attempt to “splash and go”-lowering the basket into the water and taking off again. It’s a pretty cool trip.
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Old 05-15-2019, 08:42 AM   #25
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Jon any suggestions on water and dump station in Moab?
Good morning
There's a sporting good shop (high end, great place) in Moab that provides free filtered water. Just carry your containers in to the large sinks and have at it! It's on the same side of the street as the large grocery store and located in a strip mall with a laundromat.....can't remember the name, but Google will find it for you.
Also, on the outside of town (farthest from the NP) there's an rv shop with a dump station. Nice folks.
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Old 05-15-2019, 10:39 AM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by davidmurphy02 View Post
We found that three days made for a less frantic trip. We went from the Lynden KOA to the Umatilla Marina RV Park in Umatilla, OR, then to the Heyburn Riverside RV Park in Heyburn, ID which is then an easy day's drive to Moab. Both are small, scenic, inexpensive city-owned RV parks on rivers and we really enjoyed them.

Also, if you try to get to Moab in two days you will likely be driving through Salt Lake City during afternoon/evening rush hour. Taking three days for the trip positions you to go through SLC mid-day - it's a long slog but we have found that if it's not rush hour, there will still be a lot of traffic but it moves right along at highway speed and is not too bad.
Again Good Info Made reservations in Umatilla and Heyburn. Unfortunately waited too long and could not get into Dead Horse State Park and Grand Canyon North Rim. I'll know better next time. Might split the nights around Mexican Hat between Goosenecks and Valley of the Gods.
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Old 05-15-2019, 12:08 PM   #27
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Originally Posted by Sherm2954 View Post
Good morning
There's a sporting good shop (high end, great place) in Moab that provides free filtered water. Just carry your containers in to the large sinks and have at it! It's on the same side of the street as the large grocery store and located in a strip mall with a laundromat.....can't remember the name, but Google will find it for you.
Also, on the outside of town (farthest from the NP) there's an rv shop with a dump station. Nice folks.
those sinks large enough to fill a 5 gallon water cooler style bottle ?


googling, I'm guessing its "GearHeads Outdoor Store", GEARHEADS OUTDOOR STORE - GearHeads Outdoor Store
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Old 05-15-2019, 12:45 PM   #28
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Unfortunately waited too long and could not get into Dead Horse State Park and Grand Canyon North Rim. I'll know better next time. Might split the nights around Mexican Hat between Goosenecks and Valley of the Gods.
Dead Horse, and North Rim, are the kind of places you more or less need reservations as soon as the reservation window opens.
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Old 06-14-2019, 09:37 AM   #29
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If you can’t get a spot at Dead Horse and think the Horse Thief BLM campground is bone ugly, which it is, then drive back onto 191 south, cross over the bridge (Colorado River) and watch for the blue Hospital road sign. Turn right and go to the end of the road, turn right, and now you are on the road along the Colorado and, will end up at the Kane Campground area. It’s just a big open field and probably little known but the perfect boondocking site.

De-hitch, then stay on the road past all this and you’re now on Cliff Hanger Road, which is a ripping good ride into the deep Canyonlands.
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Old 06-14-2019, 10:54 AM   #30
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I have not been to Devils Garden since the renovations which were done about 2 years ago, but I doubt the campsites have changed. The campsites that would work with a trailer were 1, 7, 11, 13, 18, 21, 22, 24, 33, 36, 46, and 52. The best of these were 18, 21, 24, and 33.

If anyone goes to Goblin Valley SP the best sites are 13, 14, and 15. If you have younger children, Goblin Valley SP is a great place. Not bad for adults too. Makes a nice day trip.
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Old 06-14-2019, 12:05 PM   #31
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fyi, we found a great free camping area immediately outside Bryce Canyon NP. JUST before the big park sign, turn right onto FR090, go about 1/10th of a mile, and there's all kinda spaces large enough for trailers, we even saw a 5th wheel rig. This is actually a corner of Dixie National Forest, so NFS dispersed camping rules apply. the road loops around, so you don't have to turn around to leave...

I found this website extremely helpful, https://freecampsites.net/ be sure to read /all/ the reviews of any site you're interested in, and weigh what they say versus your needs/wants.
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Old 07-03-2019, 10:19 AM   #32
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If you can’t get a spot at Dead Horse and think the Horse Thief BLM campground is bone ugly, which it is, then drive back onto 191 south, cross over the bridge (Colorado River) and watch for the blue Hospital road sign. Turn right and go to the end of the road, turn right, and now you are on the road along the Colorado and, will end up at the Kane Campground area. It’s just a big open field and probably little known but the perfect boondocking site.

De-hitch, then stay on the road past all this and you’re now on Cliff Hanger Road, which is a ripping good ride into the deep Canyonlands.
FYI: Just read the terrible online reviews of Kane Campground. Sky-high prices and current, new owners sound like they’ve ruined a formerly well run, reasonably priced place.- Tom
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Old 07-07-2019, 03:35 PM   #33
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Wow -just read those terrible reviews of Kane. Good to know I got lucky, and very glad I stayed on the other side of the river at the Gold Bar BLM. $10/night with senior pass, strictly dry camping, first come first serve, and no hassles. Probably no wifi or cell service, or water, either, but -- what me worry? I got an Escape.
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Old 06-10-2020, 12:52 PM   #34
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Free Camping?

I am probably not going to be intelligent about this. I want to take my trailer camping. Someplace, anyplace. Just to get out there, unfurl the canopy, set up my Weber, look out at the forest from my folding chair, see a babbling brook, a snow capped mountain, wave at a fellow camper at a site 30 feet away from mine.

Intelligence however, advises me not to do it. First of all, all the campsites, well the attractive ones I know about anyway, are all closed and will stay closed, far as I know. This Covid-19 outbreak has seen to that. New Mexico is closed. Arizona is currently experiencing a surge. Over a hundred thousand deaths so far? They are predicting another wave will hit us by September. Thanks a lot, and here we are. Months ago this was predictable by anyone paying attention to public health and saw what was coming.

Is not social distancing the essence of the camping life? If I don’t get out I know my trailer tires will become permanently flat. It’s electrical system will have corroded over with dust and rust. The dinette cushions will all be stiff and hard. Hard to believe even I could be at risk. I am in the very senior citizen category but, come on, I will hold on at least to next November.

Yet, even here in the great wide open southwest, we can’t go camping? Colorado has made all their great spots available by reservation only. This is terrible. That means my favorite camping habit, free-wheeling un-inhibited, take your chances camping without the restrictions of a schedule or itinerary, is history. I want to camp in them mountains, at least one more time. Then they can bury me in my Escape.

I read sales of AV’s of all kinds are currently flying off the shelves because people see them, in face of the pandemic, as alternative way to get away. I wonder, could that influx of traffic make it even harder to find a campground? Pity the people living where there’s a dense population and fewer places to camp.

There must be a way, and maybe I found it. That website, https://freecampsites.net/ ....Which I just discovered, thanks to John in Santa Cruz, shows a map of the continent and lists places, primarily I think, boondocking sites, across the country that look like they are not restricted by the virus. But are they? Colorado just got very interesting.

Here is what they say: “Our focus is on public lands. (Not WalMarts or truck stops.) You own these lands and you are entitled to use them. We especially like camping on Forest Service land, BLM (Bureau of Land Management) areas, WMA's (Wildlife Management Areas) and county or city parks. We hope you enjoy the same style of camping.”

Can anyone confirm or comment on this?
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Old 06-10-2020, 01:17 PM   #35
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I agree 100% with you Myron, except the acronym BLM has taken on a new identity. It has been 8 months since we last moved the trailer and went anywhere. I'm chomping at the bit....
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Old 06-10-2020, 02:45 PM   #36
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Hey Myron,
The commercial campgrounds are open in AZ and booked May trip, June and July. May trip was uneventful and distance was kept good on the sites. Not sure whats going on with commercial sites in NM or CO, but I don't think the BLM sites here ever closed down or people were ignoring it.
Some of our parks are still closed and with AZ reopening too soon and now becoming a hotspot with very few hospital beds left, we may have to shut down again soon.
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Old 06-10-2020, 05:42 PM   #37
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Just as I suspected, Greg. Being as cheap as i am, and given them probably all booked up anyway, not at all keen about any commercial campgrounds.
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Old 06-11-2020, 02:27 AM   #38
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I think dispersed camping in BLM sorta of places is probably permissible, you'll be dry camping, and practicing social distancing at its finest (ideally, you're the only people in a square mile!).

I've taken to carrying around a little spray bottle, like the ones you get with eyeglass cleaner with your prescription, but filled with 75% pure ethanol, 30% water, and I carry a box of those Costco disposable Nitrle gloves, I don a pair when I go in a store or whatever, along with my mask, and I take them off (insideout and oneinside the other) before I get back in my car. When I get home, I spritz the door handle and wipe it with a tissue or whatever.

I spritz my credit card if I have to use it (yay, google pay, 90% of my charges are touchless with my phone). god forbid, but if I have to accept cash, I stuff it in a now-dirty pocket, then when I get home, I don a fresh pair of gloves, spread out the money, spritz both sides, wiping, let dry, invert the pocket I used and double spray that with the alcohol

if I have to touch a keypad or something without a glove on, I spritz my fingers and use it like hand cleaner. it dries instantly


60%+ ethanol is about the most effective virus killer. its nearly instant on contact.
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Old 06-11-2020, 07:47 AM   #39
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Gives a whole new meaning to "money laundering".........
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Old 06-11-2020, 08:25 AM   #40
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Just as I suspected, Greg. Being as cheap as i am, and given them probably all booked up anyway, not at all keen about any commercial campgrounds.
If there is a specific part of CO you’re interested in camping, say so and I , or other CO campers, will likely be able to offer some non-commercial camping ideas.

The state parks are reservation only but not the woods.
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