2018 Western Fall Colors trip report

COcamper

Trip Dates: September 18 – 28, 2018
Route: CO > UT > ID> WY> UT> CO



Our 2018 Fall Colors roadtrip was an 11-day, 1200 mile adventure of off-season hiking through orange aspen groves, swimming in bowls of ancient sandstone, seeing bison and bighorns, cultural and paleontological history, eating homemade vegan meals, and both boondocking and plugging-in for 10 beautiful nights.

Day 1

• Campsite: South side of Dinosaur National Monument, CO - free BLM dispersed camping, no services.
• Highlights: On the way out we stopped at Rabbit Ears pass for the first of many golden aspen hikes plus a dog swim. The backdrop of Plug Hat Butte at sunrise and sunset was spectacular. In the morning of Day 2, we walked Bull Canyon Rim Trail.

Dinosaur NM

Rabbit Ears Pass area

Days 2 & 3

• Campsite: Red Fleet State Park, UT – reserved site #22 with hookups and a grassy front porch ahead of time. Bathrooms but no showers. The campground was empty on night 1(Wednesday night) and a few other campers of Thursday night.
• Highlights: Swimming and cliff jumping. Desert hikes to an arch and to fossilized dinosaur footprints. Desert marbles. Aspen forest hike in Ashley National Forest up the road.

Red Fleet SP

Red Fleet SP

Red Fleet SP

Dinosaur trackway

Wasatch NF

Days 4 & 5

• Campsite: Wasatch Mountain State Park, UT – reserved site #11 in Cottonwood Loop with hookups and view to the Wasatch Mountains ahead of time. Bathrooms with showers. The campground was mostly full on Friday and Saturday. MANY campers left Saturday evening to get to church in the morning.
• Highlights: Hike to Wall Lake in Wasatch National Forest on National Public Lands Day (rec area fees waived).  Fall colors drive and hikes / sightseeing over Guardsman Pass into Brighton ski area. Huber Grove historic apple orchard.

Wasatch Mtn SP

Wall Lake

Brighton has 40% expert & 40% intermediate terrain. We'll be back. 

Spicy Peanut Noodle Dinner

Day 6

• Campsite: Antelope Island State Park, UT – got site #11 in Bridger Bay Campground at walk-in. The campground has vault toilets and no other services. Camped among free range bison! The campground almost filled up on a Sunday night.
• Highlights: Walking across the Great Salt Lake saltbeds into the water. Spectacular sunset. Hundreds of free range bison. Oh yeah and some antelope too. 

Stunning?

Bison came to visit. 

Walking out to the Great Salt Lake

Wading in Great Salt Lake

Day 7

• Campsite: Hyrum State Park, UT – got site #29 at walk-in. The campground has full services, restrooms and showers. The campground was largely empty on a Monday night. I forgot to take any pictures at camp!!
• Highlights: Meeting the extended family of campers next to us and sharing stories. Driving into Logan to see the Tabernacle and Temple, plus treating ourselves to vegan pizza and cauliflower wings at Lucky Slice. Delicious!

Mormon temple

Buffalo cauliflower wings

Day 8

• Campsite: Cache National Forest, UT (nearly Idaho) – free dispersed camping, no services.
• Highlights: The drive and hikes in Logan Canyon in fall were amazing and the road was empty. Relaxing once we got to camp, reading for a bit, and enjoying homemade chik’n soup before dinner.

Cache NF 

Logan Canyon is beautiful

Day 9

• Campsite: Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, UT – free dispersed camping, no services. Unbelievably, after miles of dirt road to get to camp we were rewarded with complete solitude perched on the canyon rim. And another amazing sunset and sunrise.
• Highlights: During the day we checked out Beaver Mountain Ski area - in operation since 1939 - and talked to an old timer who has worked there since 1977. Driving from Logan to Flaming Gorge, we stopped at Bear Lake on the Utah / Idaho border. The water was perfectly clear and blue. Absolutely beautiful and we need to go back. It looks like it would be a zoo in the summer though. Also: Tour Bus Zombies at a highway rest stop! Lots of ‘em!!!

Canyon rim camp. 

Sunrise at camp. 

The original Beaver Mountain Ski Area lodge, circa 1939. 

Did I mention how beautiful Logan Canyon is? 

Day 10

• Campsite: Arriving back into Colorado, traffic volume picked up. We’d been spoiled by quiet roads and it was kind of a shock again. We tried for Rifle Falls State Park but it was full – on a Thursday. We needed water so couldn’t boondock another night. Rather fittingly, we ended up paying $48 to camp in gravel at the KOA in Silt next to the highway. At least there were showers. The campground was full though! And they were settled in! Next to the highway! What are these people doing?!?! No pics of the KOA. 
• Highlights: Hiking the Canyon Rim rail at Flaming Gorge, all to ourselves. We spotted a herd of Bighorn sheep too. And a rig at the KOA with 2 pet dogs and 2 pet pigs with a kiddie pool litterbox in one of those extended rear tail hatches. It was quite the scene.

Morning at camp at Flaming Gorge before leaving. 

Dayhike on the canyon rim. 

Day 11

Rolled out of the KOA early and headed home down I-70 on a Friday morning with thousands of our closest friends with out of state and rental plates driving while distracted at full speed on curving roads. Colorado is full, folks! Time to go c@mping!

dragonsdofly

@COcamper, thanks for the detail. Love the pics. Have done the Antelope Island and Great Salt Lake adventure as well as Wyoming and Idaho. Look forward to traversing your fine state some day, though not by interstate, and maybe off peak season. Hope there won't be a no vacancy sign when we arrive. We'll wave if we see you on the road sometime! 

rkj__

Thanks for sharing your trip with us.  It looks like you got to visit some lovely places.

ChrisandAlexis

@COcamper, I just knew when I saw the title of your post that I was going to be jealous reading it. We had plans in September to do a week long trip with our T@B 
for the fall colors in Colorado but ended up not going. Thank for the pictures to show what I missed.

JanandDave

@COcamper,

Oh my, what a ride. Been exploring Utah for 43 years, so I know how special this trip was. My youngest lives in Draper, Utah, so I'm out there every year.

Utah, the best kept secret of the west.

A couple of ideas for your next trip.

Don't know if you like to golf, but the mountain course at Wasatch SP is out of this world.

Consider State Route 150 between Evanston, WY. and Kamas, UT. through the Uintas (closed in the winter).

Also consider the Hwy 92 bypass out of Highland, UT. going east past Timpanogos Caves to Sundance (also closed in the winter). You won't regret either. 

And yes, I know how beautiful Logan canyon is.

Thanks for sharing the pics, and I'm so jealous. 

COcamper

@dragonsdofly There's always vacancy! It's just that the rooms get smaller  We can't wait to meet another T@bber in person - we've only ever seen a couple on the road.
@ChrisandAlexis Sorry your trip didn't work out. The best of Colorado's fall colors are in Utah though! 
@JanandDave Thank you for the route suggestions! See you out there next time maybe.  We're not golfers but neither were the wild turkeys on the course who we enjoyed watching in the mornings from camp. It seemed a nice place for them to set up shop!