Desert Southwest Sept/Oct

[skiman]

We are contemplating a September trip to the the desert Soutwest. Grand Canyon, Arches, Capital Reef, etc. I read daily of lines to get in, full campgrounds, record crowds etc. Thought about what the situation will be like in September and October?

[diannelgraham]

Originally Posted by skiman

We are contemplating a September trip to the the desert Soutwest. Grand Canyon, Arches, Capital Reef, etc. I read daily of lines to get in, full campgrounds, record crowds etc. Thought about what the situation will be like in September and October?

If you don’t have reservations look for BLM land. It’s going to be busy with long lines to get into the National Parks. Good luck and have lots of patience

[kavm]

Originally Posted by skiman

We are contemplating a September trip to the the desert Soutwest. Grand Canyon, Arches, Capital Reef, etc. I read daily of lines to get in, full campgrounds, record crowds etc. Thought about what the situation will be like in September and October?

September is still quite warm. I’d delay if I could.

Plenty of campgrounds near Capitol Reef. Being between Capitol Reef and Grand Staircase Escalante NM is not bad - as both are very interesting. The parks are also on the quiet side, not busy to the extent of Arches or Zion. East side of Zion is also very quiet - and on the way to North Rim of Grand Canyon…

Arches / Moab area is perhaps the toughest one. There are campgrounds around it but I do not have a suggestion. We generally skip the area (as we have been there many times) and proceed to the Needles district of Canyonlands NP, which is much quieter.

[Doug2000]

If you go in Sept, book into one of the resort campgrounds with hydro and a pool. If you want to go hiking, be on the trail at sunrise. Take 2x more water than you normally would.

[davidmurphy02]

Some spots - like Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon - will be cooler because they are at considerably higher elevation, while Moab and Canyonlands tend to be much warmer. I would recommend going to the cooler places first if you go in September, and then hit Moab and Canyonlands in the latter part of your trip in October when the weather will have cooled off.

As far as crowds, I would expect record crowds to continue at all the Utah national parks this fall, they are very popular and fall is prime time weather-wise. Arches will likely have lines to get in for the forseeable future - you have to get up and go in early before the crowds hit, they often close the entrance by 9-10 AM and reopen later in the afternoon. Lots of BLM camping around Moab, but these days everything does tend to fill every day so you have to look for spots early. Lots of nice smaller campgrounds on 128 east of Moab, and BLM Horsethief campground near Canyonlands is large, 50+ sites. Lots of RV parks in Moab but they have become quite expensive. Dead Horse Point state park is nice but it may be too late to get reservations there now for Sept / Oct.

Canyonlands NP Needles section, south of Moab, is wonderful - very remote and far less crowds. Half their campground is no reservation, and there are a couple of primitive campgrounds right outside the park - Needles Outpost and BLM Hamburger Rock - that you can usually get a site at.

Capitol Reef is one of our favorite national parks. Their campground is terrific, but too late now to get reservations for the fall. There are a lot of nice BLM dispersed camping areas on the west side of the park near Torrey, and several commercial campgrounds in Torrey - highly recommend Thousand Lake RV Park. Lots to do and see in that area. The NP has no entrance station so even when a lot of people are around there are no lines to get in or big traffic jams.

In between Moab and Capitol Reef, Goblin Valley state park is very scenic and although the small campground is likely already reserved there is some wonderful dispersed camping right outside it in spectacular settings.

One of the two campgrounds at Bryce is no reservations - have to arrive early to get a spot, but it is very pretty and location can't be beat - walk to the rim and no worries about any crowds at the entrance station since you are inside the park. Ruby's is a large commercial RV park right outside the entrance to Bryce and they do have a shuttle bus you can catch into the park to avoid waiting in line at the entrance station.

At Grand Canyon we like to stay at one of the campgrounds right in the park at South Rim, the Mather NP campground or the commercial Trailer Village with hookups. The convenience of staying right in the park can't be beat - you can walk to the rim and they have a great shuttle bus system for getting around the park. Crowds at Grand Canyon tend to be worse in the middle of the day when the day visit people come - early in the morning, and late afternoon and evening, it's usually not too crowded and hanging out on the rim is very peaceful if you're staying there.

We haven't been to Zion in a while - due to its proximity to Salt Lake City it is really, really crowded these days.

There are plenty of other "off the beaten path" areas to explore in southern Utah - and the more remote areas are not as crowded as the national parks. But despite the crowds, this is still one of our favorite places to go - spent March and April there and are going back in October.

[Donna D.]

You're several months out yet, but you may want to keep an eye on the National Park Service website. This was posted this morning on Facebook.


"Zion
Per NPS website:
Due to flash flood SR-9 is currently closed, please avoid the area.
Due to flash flooding and an active technical Search and Rescue operation SR-9 in the park is closed to inbound traffic. Currently traffic in the park is being diverted outbound at both the South and East Entrances. Please avoid this area."

[kavm]

Flash flooding is common throughout SW. Two things that visitors to the South West underestimate (at their peril) are -

• The amount of water they need to carry AND drink. The reason for this is that the body loses a lot of water through evaporation that people from the not-so-dry climates do not realize.
• Flash flooding. Rains fairly far away from where you are might lead to a violent flash flood where you are with a lag of a few hours. So, just because it is dry where you are is no guarantee that you will not encounter a flash flood. Always look at the flash flood forecast. These floods don't last too long but are very violent when they occur.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by davidmurphy02

Some spots - like Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon - will be cooler because they are at considerably higher elevation, while Moab and Canyonlands tend to be much warmer. I would recommend going to the cooler places first if you go in September, and then hit Moab and Canyonlands in the latter part of your trip in October when the weather will have cooled off.

As far as crowds, I would expect record crowds to continue at all the Utah national parks this fall, they are very popular and fall is prime time weather-wise. Arches will likely have lines to get in for the forseeable future - you have to get up and go in early before the crowds hit, they often close the entrance by 9-10 AM and reopen later in the afternoon. Lots of BLM camping around Moab, but these days everything does tend to fill every day so you have to look for spots early. Lots of nice smaller campgrounds on 128 east of Moab, and BLM Horsethief campground near Canyonlands is large, 50+ sites. Lots of RV parks in Moab but they have become quite expensive. Dead Horse Point state park is nice but it may be too late to get reservations there now for Sept / Oct.

Canyonlands NP Needles section, south of Moab, is wonderful - very remote and far less crowds. Half their campground is no reservation, and there are a couple of primitive campgrounds right outside the park - Needles Outpost and BLM Hamburger Rock - that you can usually get a site at.

Capitol Reef is one of our favorite national parks. Their campground is terrific, but too late now to get reservations for the fall. There are a lot of nice BLM dispersed camping areas on the west side of the park near Torrey, and several commercial campgrounds in Torrey - highly recommend Thousand Lake RV Park. Lots to do and see in that area. The NP has no entrance station so even when a lot of people are around there are no lines to get in or big traffic jams.

In between Moab and Capitol Reef, Goblin Valley state park is very scenic and although the small campground is likely already reserved there is some wonderful dispersed camping right outside it in spectacular settings.

One of the two campgrounds at Bryce is no reservations - have to arrive early to get a spot, but it is very pretty and location can't be beat - walk to the rim and no worries about any crowds at the entrance station since you are inside the park. Ruby's is a large commercial RV park right outside the entrance to Bryce and they do have a shuttle bus you can catch into the park to avoid waiting in line at the entrance station.

At Grand Canyon we like to stay at one of the campgrounds right in the park at South Rim, the Mather NP campground or the commercial Trailer Village with hookups. The convenience of staying right in the park can't be beat - you can walk to the rim and they have a great shuttle bus system for getting around the park. Crowds at Grand Canyon tend to be worse in the middle of the day when the day visit people come - early in the morning, and late afternoon and evening, it's usually not too crowded and hanging out on the rim is very peaceful if you're staying there.

We haven't been to Zion in a while - due to its proximity to Salt Lake City it is really, really crowded these days.

There are plenty of other "off the beaten path" areas to explore in southern Utah - and the more remote areas are not as crowded as the national parks. But despite the crowds, this is still one of our favorite places to go - spent March and April there and are going back in October.

Very good advice!

I will add a couple of points -

• Depending upon the available time and interests, it might be worth lingering a bit in Colorado where the weather in September is cooler.
• Another park worth considering if you are going to Bryce is Great Basin. Although in Nevada, it is not too distant from Bryce. Google Bristlecone Pines to appreciate its unique highlights. The upper parts are cool to cold in September. It is not as crowded.

[wdr2]

We camped 7 nights at Capitol Reef NP 2 weeks ago. Very busy by 10AM and getting hot. We hiked every day, getting up at 5:30AM. We were mostly alone on the trails. Beautiful park, our 4th multiday visit in our Escape. Other campers said both the Moab area and Zion were a zoo. I suggest later in Oct for cooler days.