Utah – Page 3 – Trailer Travels

Sulphur Campground, Utah

From July 6th to July 13th, 2018 we camped at Sulphur Campground on the banks of the Hayden’s Fork of the Bear River. The campground is at 9100 feet of elevation and has forested and open meadow sites. We stayed in site 20 which is a pull-through site near the end of the campground. There was tall grasses and plants between the site and the river and a small forest on the south. The pull-through was a bit tight for our truck and trailer so we backed it in.

While at Sulphur we had family visit us and we participated in several activities. With our first visitors we went kayaking and fishing in Butterfly Lake. We caught a few fish, taught a few grandchildren to fish, and watched them have fun in and around the water.

Thunderstorms rolled in the next couple of afternoons and dropped lots of rain. The lightning was bright and the thunder was amazingly sharp and loud. We watched from within our home away from home and played board games.

With our next guests we hiked to Ruth Lake. The hike is short, but the lake is quite beautiful and the kids had fun playing in its icy waters. On our way out a thunderstorm rolled in and we quickly got into our rain gear. Fortunately the hike back to the car was only slightly over a mile and the storm was a short one.

The next morning seven of us hiked to the top of Bald Mountain. It’s summit is at 11,943 feet, but is one of the easiest mountains in Utah to summit. We were proud of our children and grandchildren for making the hike in just over an hour. Heck, we were proud of ourselves for making it! We have been enjoying the Uinta Mountains for over 34 years and had never taken the opportunity to climb this mountain, very happy we did.

At the summit there was a jar full of notes. The one I pulled out was from Ryan from Minnesota who asked that I send him a text message. Sure enough I had service, texted him, and received a friendly response. The message my wife pulled from the jar asked for a selfie, so she snapped one and sent it along. The response asked her to put the note back because the young lady is looking for a young and cute hiker guy 🙂

The area surrounding the Uinta Mountains has hundreds of small lakes, ponds, and rivers. From the top of Bald Mountain many are visible. The views were spectacular, but the gathering clouds and hunger drove us back down.

On July 11th our family departed, but we kept one of the grandchildren. In the afternoon we took our son and our grandson and taught them how to fly fish on the river. While we caught numerous fish earlier in the day, our afternoon training was unsuccessful in terms of catching fish. We did have a good time and we were able to pass on a tradition that was started 34 years ago when my wife’s grandfather taught us to fly fish on this very river and from this very campground. Perhaps these young people will remember this day and pass the lessons learned to their children and grandchildren. It was kind of an emotional experience for us as we reflected on our lives and those we miss, but praise for what they passed on to us.

On July 12th we had business down in the hot valley and used the time to shop, return our grandson to his family and pick up a friend of our son’s who will stay with us until the 18th. On the 13th we packed up and moved to Trial Lake for another week.

Best Sites

There are 21 sites in Sulphur Campground. The campground is spacious and is stretched out down the river. While we were camping there was running potable water in the campground.

While we enjoyed site 20, if we were to return we would select site 18. The pull-through of site 18 is far more usable than that of site 20, the fire ring and table are in great locations, and there is plenty of tent space. This site is closer to the river than site 20 and there is far less tall grass obscuring the river view.

Sites 19 and 21 are on the opposite side of the campground road, but offer a good alternative for two trailers and a plethora of tent spots. Site 16 is also a reasonable pull-through with a nice view of the river. Sites 7 and 9 are good options for a trailer and those using tents. Site 20 is pleasant, but better suited for a smaller trailer.

Sulphur Campground was a nice place to spend a week and for us to recall pleasant times past.

Nights	Total Nights	Miles	Total Miles
7	75	81	8243

Cherry Campground, Utah

We made a quick getaway this past weekend to celebrate a dear friends 60th birthday and the couple’s first time camping in a trailer. We arrived in Cherry Campground near Springville, Utah on Saturday June 30th and returned home on Monday July 2nd. Three of us were aware of the pending surprise, but her husband was not. We arrived at 4:30pm to ensure that he was settled and wouldn’t notice us arrive. We got the trailer parked in site 2 very quickly, waited for two of their children to arrive, and then walked down to their site and surprised him. It actually worked!

The campground was well maintained and our sites were right up against the Hobble Creek. Each site had the typical fire pit with grill and a picnic bench. The site was very adequate, and while we enjoyed it, it is very close to the canyon road which is just on the other side of the creek. If we were to camp in this campground again, without children, we would choose a site away from the stream to get us away from the road and its associated noise. With children, we would likely stay where we were simply because they enjoy the creek so much.

The campsite fee was $23 per night which seems a bit high for a campground with vault toilets and no running water. The sites were clean, a reasonable distance from one another, and the hosts were friendly. What more can you ask for for $23 per night?

We learned that Cherry opens in April which is welcome news for those of us who get the camping itch early in the year. This may be just the answer for spring get aways.

Just up the canyon from Cherry there is Balsam Campground. Balsam is not as good for RVs, but has many sites for larger groups of tent campers.

Nights	Total Nights	Miles	Total Miles
2	68	48	8162

Boondocking Near Goblin Valley, Utah

On Thursday May 24, 2018 we retrieved our trailer from its winter storage for the first time in 2018 and headed to an area near Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. We were joined by a son and his family and a daughter and her family. One of the families arrived on Friday and the other on Saturday. We chose not to stay at the state park, but rather boondocked in some neighboring BLM land at location, 38.569091, -110.743433. As you can see from the image, we didn’t have a lot of neighbors even though it was the Memorial Day weekend. More showed up as the weekend progressed, but none were close enough to be heard or bother us.

All but the last couple of miles to this location were well maintained paved roads. The last couple of miles were on dirt roads with lots of ruts and bumps. While it wasn’t smooth, it was easily managed at low speeds. The boondocking sites are so large you simply drive around in them until you find a place that’s level enough to add the final touches. As others arrived it was easy for them to “circle the wagons”. It was a great spot, but I think in the future we’ll try someplace just to the north of this area where we expect to find a bit more slick rock and a bit less dirt and sand.

The temperatures were in the high 80’s and low 90’s each day, but cooled off rapidly in the evening. The wind came up each afternoon about noon and blew pretty good, about 15 mph. The wind kicked up considerable sand and dust and made for pretty uncomfortable conditions for a few hours each day. However, the landscape was beautiful and the night skies were spectacular in spite of the nearly full moon. The children had a great time climbing in the rocks and rolling down the nearby sand hills.

On one of the days we hiked the nearby Wild Horse Canyon trail. This is a slot canyon that is only a few feet wide in some spots. We spent one of our days walking through Goblin Valley. The kids liked this as well and even though I have been there many times, it was still enjoyable. During our next visit to this part of the state we’ll try and hike the Ding and Dang canyons. I have heard they’re amazing!

We returned home, cleaned the trailer thoroughly and returned it to storage until the next outing in the middle of June. It was fun having the trailer out and can’t wait for the next outing. Perhaps I enjoy the trailer too much. I’ve been telling people for a couple of weeks that I am unhappy to have to go to Hawaii for a week because it will get in the way of going camping. Truly I have a problem!

Nights	Total Nights	Miles	Total Miles
4	62	378	7480

Red Cliff Campground, Utah

On Wednesday November 22, 2017 we left home for an undetermined location south of our home where we could enjoy a warm Thanksgiving holiday camping. We have gone camping nearly every Thanksgiving for twenty or so years. Most often we end up at Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, but on warmer years we consider Snow Canyon State Park in Utah or Zion National Park. This year we couldn’t decide so we decided to decide on the way.

While heading south we noticed signs indicating long delays getting to Zion and decided not to risk that this year. Just before Saint George, Utah we noticed a sign for Red Cliff Campground and, after conversing with our son and his family via cell phone, pulled off to give it a try. This little campground has ten sites, but on our way through we found site number 5 available. In a stroke of good luck those in the neighboring site were pulling out, so we claimed it for our son’s family who pulled in just a few minutes later.

After getting settled in we spent the remainder of the day playing on the red sandstone hills near our site. The sandstone made it very easy for the younger children to climb and hike around. It was amazing where they could get to on their own. The views from our trailer windows were stunning; everywhere you looked there was red rock.

On Thanksgiving day we had breakfast and then began the preparation of our feast. We don’t go without while camping on Thanksgiving. We prepared the turkey in a dutch oven on a stove and added briquettes later in the day to brown the bird.

With the turkey we had mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, beans with bacon, rolls with honey butter, stuffing and for desert pecan, chocolate and apple pie. My wife prepared the beautiful apple pie from scratch and cooked it in another dutch oven.

All of the food was cooked to perfection and very delicious. We weren’t hungry again until late into the evening when turkey sandwiches hit the spot.

On Friday we hiked up the river trail to a waterfall. However, this time of the year the river is dry and the pool at the bottom of the waterfall is something you wouldn’t want to fall into. The hike was still beautiful with plenty of huge boulders for the kids to climb and an endless supply of red canyon walls and blue sky. There are some huge trees and stumps along the trail that gave the kids an alternative medium to climb.

On Saturday we took a trip to the Silver Reef Museum to learn about the mining of silver from this area in the 1800’s. The museum is situated in a bit of a ghost town with a jail and a few other ruins. The street through the ghost town starts at the museum, passes the jail and the ruins and continues into a neighborhood of new homes, strange. At 1pm we watched a show where several bank robbers dressed in realistic attire had a shootout with law enforcement. I think all of us were amazed at how loud the revolvers were. They were shooting blanks, but the sound alone would stop you in your tracks.

On Sunday we packed up and headed home. Once we arrived we emptied the trailer and took it to its winter resting spot where we won’t see it again until March. During 2017 we camped for 43 nights in 6 states and enjoyed every minute. We have owned our trailer since August of 2016 and have camped for 57 nights. I can’t wait until March 2018 when our journeys will continue. Until then …

Nights	Total Nights	Miles	Total Miles
4	58	512	7102

Te-Ah Campground, Utah

On July 29, 2017 we left Arizona at 8:30 in the morning and headed due north to Utah. Many years ago we stayed at a campground near Navajo Lake and decided we’d like to go back to this area. We decided to look for space at the Te-Ah Campground northwest of Navajo Lake.

We arrived at Te-Ah Campground and found a nice site. The camp host was a bit of a male chauvinist and asked me if my wife needed assistance backing the trailer into the site. He once even volunteered to drive. I reassured him that she had this handled and she impressed the man by pushing our rig right into the site. The host muttered something as he walked back to his site. It was like he’d never seen a woman back in a trailer before, but today he was educated a bit!

At 9200 feet we were quite sure Te-Ah Campground would be a cool pleasant place to spend the last night of our 31 night adventure. We weren’t disappointed. When we arrived it was either threatening to rain or drizzling imperceptibly. I built a fire to roast brats and cook marshmallows. While It went unsaid, I think all of us wanted to do everything one does on a campout on this one, last night. We cooked brats, we roasted marshmallows, we played games, we sat out and hoped for stars and we stayed up late. None of us wanted this to end!

The next morning we slept in until 9:00am, we packed up the few outdoor items we used the previous night and we thoroughly cleaned the inside of the trailer. We like cleaning the last morning while there is still water in the fresh water tank and the other tanks have not yet been dumped. By doing this we find the trailer clean and ready to go the next time we want to go on an outing.

We left the area about noon and headed north to our home. As we drove north on I-15 and approached the I-70 east exit, we were tempted to take it and go for another month. As tempted as I was, I had to get back to work and earn time off for the coming July when once again we’ll leave the world behind and enjoy open spaces.

There will be other short outings before next July, but nothing beats getting away as a family for a long period of time and enjoying the best our land has to offer. We saw many incredible things, we enjoyed good food, great company, had some fun activities, caught fish in five states, and increased the unity and love in our family.

Nights	Total Nights	Miles	Total Miles
1	49	282	5364

Beach Campground, Starvation State Park, Utah

After leaving the Washington Lake Campground, we headed to Heber City, Utah to run a few errands. We had no definite plans for the remainder of our adventure, other than to visit Carlsbad Caverns. With that goal in mind and being in need of a dump station, we headed east to Starvation State Park.

When we arrived an hour and a half later and with the day coming to an end, we asked if there were any sites left at the Beach Campground. We ended up in site 16 for two nights and enjoyed the stay. While site 16 is not on the beach it is away from other campers and was a peaceful spot to rest and relax. The site had water and electric hookups. The electricity was appreciated because the temperature at Starvation State Park in July necessitated the use of air conditioning. This was the first time we had used the AC in the trailer and while it doesn’t cool down quickly it is eventually refreshing.

On Monday we invited one of our daughter’s family to join us at the lake for a day of swimming and fun. The three grandsons and their parents were a lot of fun to interact with. At the end of the day we fed them and sent them on their way. It was the last time we would see family for nearly a month and was an emotional farewell for me. There were many times during our trip where we mentioned how fun it would be to have family with us.

While at Starvation State Park we had great cell connectivity that allowed us to take care of a few things online, including determining where we would next stop. We determined to head to Trappers Lake in Colorado.

Nights	Total Nights	Miles	Total Miles
2	30	114	3236

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

5 States, 31 Nights, and 4200 Miles

On June 29th, 2017 our family of three hitched up our trailer and took off on an adventure. We travelled to 5 states, camped for 31 nights and put 4200 miles of road behind us. My wife and I thought it was great and our 11 year old son thought it was “good”. However, I view a “good” rating from him as a positive sign. It means he liked many of our activities and likes us, both good things!

We travelled to Idaho, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. We learned a few things along the way:

We’re glad we didn’t select a trailer larger than the one we did, 27′. Small trailers have fewer campground limitations, they’re easier to pull up steep mountain passes with tight switchbacks, and into and out of tight gas stations. When we buy another trailer, we’ll purchase the smallest one we can be comfortable in.
We love having a solar panel on our trailer and are now glad we purchased only one. When the sun is out, the one panel fully recharges the batteries by early afternoon. For fall or winter camping another panel would be nice, but the cost of a second panel is equivalent to the cost of a generator, which is mandatory even in the summer when you might experience multiple days of cloud cover. One solar panel means you’ll seldom need the generator, but when you do you have one.
While camping in a trailer you have several scarce resources: electricity, propane, fresh water, and limited holding tank capacity. With a solar panel and backup generator electricity is not very scarce. In the summer propane seems to last forever. Our trailer has two 30 pound tanks that hold 7 gallons of propane each. In 31 days of camping we went through both bottles. We have an 80 gallon fresh water tank and it lasts three of us nearly a week. Our experience has been that the gray water holding tank is the most limited resource. Nearly all of the fresh water we use goes straight down the sink and shower drains and fills this 40 gallon tank in 4 or 5 days. We could of course be more conservative, but …
We chose to purchase two 2kW Honda generators that can be connected in parallel to generate enough power to run everything in the trailer, including the air conditioner. One of these generators is sufficient to run everything but the AC and we never used both on our adventure. We did connect one of them periodically to watch a movie or play a video game on the large TV. The generator was quiet enough that we locked it to the front of the trailer and it never bothered us inside. While we chose the Honda, I later found that Costco offers a very similar Yamaha generator for half the price; I should have looked!
We’re glad we chose a trailer over a 5th wheel because I really utilized the bed of our truck for extra water, fuel for the generators, firewood, etc. I’m sure we would have loved a 5th wheel, but any fear we had about towing a trailer has dissipated.

When we left we had some trepidation about traveling in New Mexico and Arizona in July. However, both states have significant mountains and associated national forests. We stayed above 5000′ in elevation nearly all of the time and enjoyed reasonable temperatures, seldom if ever exceeding 80 degrees. The one exception was our three day stay in Carlsbad, New Mexico. While there we chose to stay at the Carlsbad RV Park and Campground, and while this isn’t our idea of camping, the facilities were clean, the staff was friendly and helpful, the pool was simple and refreshing, and most importantly we had electric hookups that allowed us to run the AC nearly 24 hours a day.

Our adventure was amazingly fun and relaxing. As we headed home on the last day we passed the I-70 East ramp and I just wanted to take it and continue our summer fun. The next few posts will describe each of the places we camped and the fun things we found to do there.

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