Planning a family-friendly national parks / wheeling road trip

[smlobx]

There are a lot of great things to see in your planned itenerary. Since you going to a bunch of NP’s you may want to pick up a National park pass here. Best $ spent...

https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm

You’ll save a bunch of money!

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[red/green hawk]

There are a lot of great things to see in your planned itenerary. Since you going to a bunch of NP’s you may want to pick up a National park pass here. Best $ spent...

https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm

You’ll save a bunch of money!

Or do you have a 4th grader? They get a free NP pass.

 

[Troybilt]

If I was going to Moab for my 1st time wheeling and with family and I was the kind of guy that could afford to I would Hire Dan Mick as a guide. He has a ton of info on his site.
https://danmick.com.

I have a photo buddy that spends tons of time and has many connections in the area. He will most likely know where the Mustangs will be around the same time as you will be there. If you would like Ill contact him when it gets much closer to your trip and let you know what he has to offer up. Just shoot me a PM a week before your trip.

 

[Alans17]

Iv

First time to Moab for us .. today we did Fins and Things.. first time wheeling for us and we learned a lot on that trail.. enough to tackle Hell’s Revenge.. It was a long day.. your wife won’t take to well in Hell’s trail.. they entrance has 100ft drops it might be less but I was busy watching our route.. there are others after so stick with the other. You will take a full day in the Arches driving and looking.. beautiful is an understatement. There are a couple off road trails in the park that might be more her speed . You will also need taller tires and good traction for the fins or hell’s trails. I’m on 35’s and scrapped the underside a few times..

Yellowstone will take all day and several days to see everything. We drove over 8hrs to one end and back (if you can centralize in the park then hit each section that is best).

have fun and no matter what you do you will have a great time and you won’t work everything in so don’t stress about it.. it always works out.. the kids will have a blast .

I just found a video of the entrance to Hell’s Revenge. I can see why it would freak someone out, but it doesn’t seem like it should be that hard to stay on the path. And my understanding is that the rock is very grippy. Yeah she might not forgive me if I put her through that. But it’s my birthday just a day or two before. Maybe I can convince her. We’re there bypasses for every hard obstacle such as Hell’s Gate? I’d expect to take all the bypasses.

I’ve got a Max Tow with 33s and Rubi take=off rails. I’m ok with a bit of scraping, I’m assuming mostly due to departure angle. As long as I exit hills straight, I think the hitch receiver should bear the brunt of it. I also plan to upgrade the front skid plate before then.

As for Yellowstone, we’re staying at a relatively central location - Madison Campground. Fingers crossed that the weather doesn’t dip any lower than the yearly average at night. Texans weren’t built for the cold.

 

[Alans17]

If I was going to Moab for my 1st time wheeling and with family and I was the kind of guy that could afford to I would Hire Dan Mick as a guide. He has a ton of info on his site.
https://danmick.com.

I have a photo buddy that spends tons of time and has many connections in the area. He will most likely know where the Mustangs will be around the same time as you will be there. If you would like Ill contact him when it gets much closer to your trip and let you know what he has to offer up. Just shoot me a PM a week before your trip.

I don’t think we can afford a guide, but I did stumble across that website shortly before I saw your post.

When you talk about your buddy “in the area”, you mean near Cody? If so, that may be really helpful. Thanks! We’ve got a bead on two mustang sanctuaries, but any info is appreciated.

 

[Alans17]

There are a lot of great things to see in your planned itenerary. Since you going to a bunch of NP’s you may want to pick up a National park pass here. Best $ spent...

https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm

You’ll save a bunch of money!

This is a no brainer yet I somehow forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[Mark Doiron]

New Mexico has a two week mandatory quarantine--not allowed to leave your hotel room even to eat. Must order delivery food.

Fins and Things is a lot of fun. There is some exposure that adds to the thrill, but it's like riding a slow motion roller coaster. Not sure why you're skipping Canyonlands, however. Unless you think your family is really going to enjoy watching you drive Hell's Revenge, I'd skip that and take them on a day pass along White Rim Road in Canyonlands. Do it out and back, descending Shafer Switchbacks. The views are incredible. Nothing really technical, but there is still exposure when the shelf road you're driving has a 1200 foot drop-off. If you're interested, here's some video I shot of the Moab area. Skip to 2:30 for Canyonlands and White Rim Trail ...




In Arches, you can drive out the moderately rough dirt road to Tower Arch. A short hike to the arch, but you can see from the end of the road.

 

[Alans17]

New Mexico has a two week mandatory quarantine--not allowed to leave your hotel room even to eat. Must order delivery food.

Fins and Things is a lot of fun. There is some exposure that adds to the thrill, but it's like riding a slow motion roller coaster. Not sure why you're skipping Canyonlands, however. Unless you think your family is really going to enjoy watching you drive Hell's Revenge, I'd skip that and take them on a day pass along White Rim Road in Canyonlands. Do it out and back, descending Shafer Switchbacks. The views are incredible. Nothing really technical, but there is still exposure when the shelf road you're driving has a 1200 foot drop-off. If you're interested, here's some video I shot of the Moab area. Skip to 2:30 for Canyonlands and White Rim Trail ...




In Arches, you can drive out the moderately rough dirt road to Tower Arch. A short hike to the arch, but you can see from the end of the road.

I’m counting on quarantine being over by late July, but if it comes time to travel and the quarantine is still in place, I’ll call an audible, cancel our one remaining day there, and keep moving.

I’ve also already removed a day from Santa Fe and tacked it onto Moab specifically for Canyonlands and just generally more time in the area. Sounds like you know your way around so I will look into your itinerary suggestions. I’m not sure my wife will go for a 1200 ft drop off, though. Thanks!

 

[Alans17]

My planning also includes any Jeep upgrades, camping items, road trip items I may want to make the trip better.

For example, I plan to install a steel front skid plate and maybe rear lower control arm skid plates and a hitch-mounted skid plate. I also hate the look of tonneau covers, but I think I’m going to need one for security unless I want to empty the bed at every stop. And while I don’t think of the trails I’ve picked would necessitate a winch, I’ve been really wanting one so I may just go for it. And maybe some mounts for a phone or iPad in the vehicle. Oh! And a wireless CarPlay adapter. (They’re all just ideas until the credit card comes out, though.)

As for camping, most of my gear is not cold weather rated so I may be upgrading. Trying to keep that cost down if I can, though.

 

[red/green hawk]

New Mexico has a two week mandatory quarantine--not allowed to leave your hotel room even to eat. Must order delivery food.

Fins and Things is a lot of fun. There is some exposure that adds to the thrill, but it's like riding a slow motion roller coaster. Not sure why you're skipping Canyonlands, however. Unless you think your family is really going to enjoy watching you drive Hell's Revenge, I'd skip that and take them on a day pass along White Rim Road in Canyonlands. Do it out and back, descending Shafer Switchbacks. The views are incredible. Nothing really technical, but there is still exposure when the shelf road you're driving has a 1200 foot drop-off. If you're interested, here's some video I shot of the Moab area. Skip to 2:30 for Canyonlands and White Rim Trail ...




In Arches, you can drive out the moderately rough dirt road to Tower Arch. A short hike to the arch, but you can see from the end of the road.

Yeah screw our quarantine. My governess is an idiot. I have a mask to prove it. Word is stuff is suppose to start opening up here even though there has been 2000+ deaths between the tiered level of lockdowns starting mid-November until now and the prior 9 months there had only been 1200. Just a few short weeks ago New Mexicans were selfish for attending Christmas Eve service and having family over for the holidays. We were killing people for crying out loud. But now kids can start going back to school and restaurants can start opening even though hardly any vaccines have been given to the public. Geez I wonder what changed? What possibly could have hapoened around the 20th of January that could've changed my little Marxist of a governess's mind? Hmmm, very peculiar. Don't count on this state being totally open by July. Definitely have a plan B.

 

[SubiRubi]

Moab is great.. But once you get on the rocks you'll wish you had more days to explore.. the area is huge! Rim trail is a good one. It's a longer run and has the best views. Also I would skip Ophir Pass and do Yankee Boy Basin instead. There is a falls at the end and it's mild offroading for a Jeep to keep the lady inspired. The views at the falls is unbelievably gorgeous. People get married there even. If you really wanna freak the family out do Black Bear Pass..

 

[Mark Doiron]

Yeah screw our quarantine. .... Definitely have a plan B.

One of the things I like about this forum is that politics aren't allowed. Let's keep it that way before this thread is shut down.

 

[Alans17]

Moab is great.. But once you get on the rocks you'll wish you had more days to explore.. the area is huge! Rim trail is a good one. It's a longer run and has the best views. Also I would skip Ophir Pass and do Yankee Boy Basin instead. There is a falls at the end and it's mild offroading for a Jeep to keep the lady inspired. The views at the falls is unbelievably gorgeous. People get married there even. If you really wanna freak the family out do Black Bear Pass..

I looked for Yankee Boy on Gaia and didn’t see it. Maybe I just know what I’m looking for? I’ll keep trying.

I wanted to stick to Badge of Honor trails, but that’s not more important than just seeing really nice sights and having a trip everyone in the truck will enjoy. It occurs to me now that there’s so much more to see than what in that BoH app. The same clearly goes for Moab.

 

[Alans17]

One of the things I like about this forum is that politics aren't allowed. Let's keep it that way before this thread is shut down.

Agreed. I’ve never seen a thread locked on this forum, but I’d hate for it to happen on this one.

 

[Alans17]

So I’ve got everything booked! The final itinerary looks a lot like what’s on the first post except we chopped a day off of Santa Fe and gave it to Moab..

Hopefully that provides so time to soak things in and fight off road fatigue for my older daughter (7).

I’ll try to update the original post with the changes.

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