Campground – Page 5 – Trailer Travels

Washington Lake Campground, Utah

On July 2, 2017 we arrived at Washington Lake Campground in the Uinta Mountains of Utah. This was our second stop on our summer adventure and we were here from the 2nd of July to the 9th of July. As the map indicates, we travelled nearly due south from Idaho down to Utah and then east up into the Uinta Mountains. Washington Lake is at an elevation of 10,000 feet and is one of hundreds of lakes in this area.

We have camped in these mountains many times over the past 30 years, but this is our first time in a trailer. The Washington Lake Campground is much more developed than our previous stop and we’ve always thought it would be good for trailer camping. Each site is paved, has a table, fire pit, and a dutch oven cooking table. The campground has a host and well maintained pit toilets. The sites are also much closer together than they were at Pole Bridge Campground in Idaho. However, our site was easy to get the trailer into and the neighbors never bothered us.

One feature this campground lacks is water. There are no water faucets in this campground and while there are faucets a short drive away, at Lost Creek Campground, it was inconvenient. Fortunately, we carry several six gallon water jugs that we filled several times and brought back to the trailer. Without these we would have had to move the trailer after four or five days.

The lakes in the Uinta Mountains are typically small and sometimes you stop and wonder whether what you’re looking at is a lake or a pond. However, Washington Lake is a rather large reservoir that has plenty of room for the many visitors that enjoy it. Fishing is moderately good, children and adventurous adults find the water warm enough to play in, and kayaking or non motorized boating is entertaining. The scenery is breathtaking!

Nearby lakes include Crystal Lake, Ponds Lake, Lily Lake, Trail Lake, Wall Lake, and Hope Lake. Trial Lake can be reached by vehicle and has a very nice campground associated with it. It was closed the week we were there due to snow delayed cleanup, but we managed to get our bicycles around the gate and enjoyed riding in a deserted campground. The other lakes can be reached by trail. My wife and I with three sons, two daughter-in-laws, and two grandchildren hiked from the Crystal Lake trailhead to The Notch. The hike included beautiful scenery, nice weather and a reminder that summer comes late at nearly 11,000 feet, snow. The younger crew couldn’t pass up building a snowman in July, and here it is.

On the way to The Notch, the crest of the pass, we stopped and played at a very small high meadow lake called Hope Lake.

The children had fun playing in the water and catching waterdogs and tiger salamanders. We’re going back next year to have the children collect a few salamanders for our backyard pond. Utah law allows the collection of up to 50 specimens and the children will love seeing them in and around the pond.

From The Notch the view was amazing. We could look back and see several lakes. The hike back was a little warm, but overall it was a great day.

On Saturday of our stay, my son and I went to get water for both of our trailers. On the way back we noticed people parking a very long distance from the trailhead due to the Saturday crowds and a lack of close parking. We stopped, gathered a small crowd into the back of the truck and took them up to the trailhead. Each trip for water resulted in another small group getting a ride to the trail. Who knew our adventure would include starting a shuttle service.

On July 9th we said our goodbyes to family and headed to our next stop. However, we didn’t actually know where our next stop was. We drove down the mountain to Heber City, Utah and ran some errands. We couldn’t find a dump station and we knew we wanted to head east, so we headed to Starvation State Park to use their dump station. After arriving at the state park we asked if they had any sites available, and after receiving a positive response we decided to stay a couple of nights.

Nights	Total Nights	Miles	Total Miles
7	28	355	3122

Pole Bridge Campground, Idaho

On June 29, 2017 we arrived at Pole Bridge Campground in Southeast Idaho on the banks of the upper portion of the Warm River. This was our first stop on our one month excursion. We were here until July 2nd when we left to meet family in the Uinta Mountains of Utah, more on that later.

We approached the campground from the south on the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway turning right on Forest Service Road FS 150. However, continuing north on the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway and then heading east on FS 315 and then south on FS 150 yields a smoother ride on wider roads.

The campground is primitive, but each site includes a table and fire pit. The sites are well separated, easy to get into and the price is right, free! The campsite we chose was at the southern most area of the campground as indicated by the blue pin on the satellite view. This view includes the entire campground, shows FS 150 and the Warm River which is quite small this far north.

Our site was gorgeous and sat right on the banks of the Warm River. As small as the Warm River is we did catch some small fish and had fun in the river. The Warm River gets much larger where Warm Springs dumps into it further south. Warm Springs is worth visiting and is only a 20 minute drive from the campground. Upper and Lower Mesa Falls are also nice to see and are also about a 20 minute drive from the campground.

For those who love fly fishing, the Island Park area, to the northwest of the campground, has much to offer. A few examples include the Henry’s Fork, South Fork, Harriman State Park, Henry’s Lake, and the Maddison River. We’ve been out with guides in the area a couple of times and have really enjoyed the services provided by Henry’s Fork Anglers.

While in this part of the country we decided to visit a part of Yellowstone National Park we hadn’t visited before, Cave Falls. We had never visited this part of the park because the road simply takes you to the falls and a trailhead; you cannot get to other parts of the park in a vehicle via this entrance. The river was impressive and the falls were beautiful. It takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the falls from the campground with little but scenery to see on the way. It is a nice drive, worth seeing, but literally isn’t on the way to anything.

Pole Bridge Campground was a great starting point for our adventure. There is much to see and do in the area and the campground is relaxed, uncrowded and quiet. We’ll certainly camp here again!

On July 2nd we headed south to our next stop in the Uinta Mountains of Utah. On our way we discovered a Flying J truck stop that had a fuel isle with diesel, a dump station, potable water, and even propane. We took care of the trailer and continued south to Washington Lake Campground.

Nights	Total Nights	Miles	Total Miles
3	21	331	2767

Goblin Valley State Park, Utah

We arrived in Goblin Valley State Park in the afternoon of Thursday April 13, 2017 and setup in site 15 in a 25mph wind.

We were joined by a son and daughter-in-law and their three wonderful children. Grandchildren are amazing to watch and have fun with. When they become work the parents are usually close by! They camped next door to us in site 17 in their tent. It was very sunny, clear and warm when we arrived, but the wind and blowing sand made it interesting. Site 15 is pretty close to the site to the south, but livable. Each site has a tent space, a table, an awning, and a fire pit. The sites are very close together. In the future we would consider boondocking on the nearby BLM land.

Those 25mph winds were coming out of the South and rocked the trailer enough to wake us periodically during the night, but nothing that seemed dangerous.

On Friday we all hiked down into Goblin Valley and let the kids run wild around and on the hoodoos. They had a great time climbing and conquering these miniature summits. The floor of the valley has hundreds of these hoodoos and is surrounded by valley walls that are equally interesting to climb in and up. We made our way slowly across the valley and approached the wall on the far side. We climbed into and eventually up on this wall to see what lies on the far side. The kids did great on this hike. We likely covered 4 or 5 miles and they just kept going to the very end.

On Saturday we hiked one of the two slot canyons North of Goblin Valley State Park. I was amazed at the number of cars at the trailhead, but the hike itself wasn’t overly crowded. There were other people, but having witnessed the parking lot I was concerned that the day would be full of people taking away from the breathtaking beauty; my fears were unwarranted.

The beginning of the trail consists of a wide and dry river bed reminding us that this is nowhere to be during a rain storm. The aftermath of a thunderstorm must be spectacular, but obviously dangerous. While the stream bed is dry, water must not be too far below given the number of large trees enjoying it.

Further into the hike you come to the narrow bits of the canyon. In these places children and adults enjoyed building bridges and letting worthy souls pass. The sandstone surface makes climbing pretty easy and fun. Some places are narrow enough that with a backpack on it is difficult if not impossible to turn around. When you come across traffic headed in the “wrong” direction someone has to concede to go backward.

Nights	Total Nights	Miles	Total Miles
3	18	378	2436

Kodachrome Basin State Park, Utah

We arrived in Kodachrome Basin State Park on Thursday evening November 10, 2016 about 6:30 pm and setup in the dark. Trailering makes this far easier and the nearly full moon made it great.

We stayed in site 15 that has nice views and is quite private from others. There are two nice tent spots in addition to the long pull-through.

On Friday we hiked in the state park on the Angels Palace trail that has many beautiful vistas. The hike is probably a mile and a half and very easy in most spots. A few view points are pretty narrow and add a bit of excitement to the walk.

For 8 or fewer people our site, 15, is great. Pull-through for the trailer, a couple of cars, and a couple of tent sites. For a group of 16 to 24 take sites 13 and 14. The group site is for 35 or less and we aren’t sure you can park a trailer in the parking lot.

It was fairly chilly at night this time of year requiring our furnace to run quite often. In addition, the sun is quite low in the sky and the solar panel wasn’t sufficient to charge the batteries the last day or two. A four hour run of our little generator got the batteries charged and us warm. I wouldn’t mind a second solar panel, but I may attempt to make the one we have adjustable so we can better point it at the sun.

Nights	Total Nights	Miles	Total Miles
3	15	506	2058

Joe’s Valley Reservoir, Utah

We camped for five nights at the Joe’s Valley Reservoir Campground. When we arrived in the evening of Tuesday October 19, 2016 there were very few others in the campground. We chose a back-in spot with a great view of the lake.

While there we went to see the Little Grand Canyon of Utah.

We also went down a really cool canyon with great scenery and ancient Native American art.

In addition to beautiful scenery and the canyon art, we enjoyed some fun fishing at Potters Pond that is about 15 miles north of the campground in Upper Joe’s Valley. There is a small primitive campground there and two ponds. At this campground a single site for our trailer is site 11 and site 6 is better for a trailer and tents.

The East pond seems to have more fish, but they’re smaller. The West pond had 12-16 inch trout that were down deep. They seemed to like a blue and black balanced leech pattern. Preston caught his first trout on a fly rod at these ponds.

Nights	Total Nights	Miles	Total Miles
5	12	268	1552

Riverside Campground, Island Park, Idaho

Our first outing was to Riverside Campground on the bank of the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River in Eastern Idaho. We arrived early in the evening of Wednesday August 17th. On Thursday morning I arose, dressed in my suit and tie, and went to work at Brigham Young University – Idaho.

We fished on our own in the Henry’s Fork. When we get fishing we have a difficult time stopping for meals or anything else. Fortunately, the sun sets, ending our day. With our beautiful trailer we go home, turn on the furnace and the lights, and enjoy a great meal before retiring for the night.

Friday August 19 was our anniversary and we celebrated by floating down the South Fork of the Snake River with a guide. The guide wasn’t great, but the fishing was fun.

We stayed in a pull through campsite on the opposite side of the road from the river, but still quite nice. While there we drove through the Buffalo Campground, a bit further north, and thought the loop with hookups looked interesting to try someday.

On this trip we noticed several issues with the trailer. Several items were missing including the remote for the trailer, the remote’s charging cable, 12′ propane hose for a barbecue hookup, a hair dryer, and the remote for the TV. On the way home the refrigerator cover on the outside of the trailer blew or fell off. We returned the trailer to Stewart’s RV and they made appropriate adjustments under warrantee; they’ve been great to work with.

Nights	Total Nights	Miles	Trailer Miles
4	4	636	636