Seeking Opinions on Whether We "Need" an Outback Package

TamsonWI

Newbie Outback owner here (our eclipse adventure in a couple of weeks will be our 7th time out!) and we love ours.   Being absolute beginners at RVing, we liked that the clearance was higher and the wheels a bit more rugged when we make mistakes.  I love how un-fussy the interior is with the gray seats and flooring and hubs loves the front platform for bringing extra water and gas for the generator.  Also, tall Husband likes the ceiling height when we attach the tent.

Funnily enough, having lived in NM previously, we bought ours and our 4Runner with a future trip back to Chaco in mind (the history!  the star gazing!).   You could pull a standard T@B on the road into Chaco fairly easily, but you'd have to be a bit more careful than with an Outback. 

ChanW

Love the talk about Chaco. Didn't know it was well known.

We just happened to go down there after a guy who was getting out of work at the COE office (next to the Abiquiu Dam) said 'sure, just go down that road there, that runs across the front of the dam, and you can camp anywhere past the cattle guard, it's BLM land'. So we did.

The alarm warning sign at the bottom of the dam was a little disconcerting: ' If Alarm Horn Blares, Run to High Ground Fast!', but we set up in a nice little spot right down river from the dam, anyway.

It was a great spot, but we left after only one night, because of the threat of snow. We were afraid that the clay-powder road would become like wet soap once a little water was added. Glad we did, we found out later that hiking in that wet clay-mud was a whole new thing!

The whole Abiquiu area was amazing. We spent a few nights at Georgia O'Keefe's Ghost Ranch, taking incredible hikes and hanging out with artsy folks.