Hurricane Utah to St. Louis

[Lightseekers]

We are going to be in Hurricane Utah the first week of June. We will be traveling in 2 MH with one toad. We are looking for a scenic route -- but only have 4 to 5 days to make the trip back home to St. Louis, MO. We were thinking of taking hiway 160 to 50 to I-70. Has anyone done this, how bad are the road thru the mountains?

[Ding-a-ling]

Wow! That would be scenic!

May I suggest getting on SR14 at Cedar City, US89 to SR12 to Torrey and SR24 to I-70 near Green River. It is a climb up 14 to Cedar Breaks NM but you can make it. Now, Utah SR12 is SCENIC! There are grades, but nothing the average MH couldn't handle.

I know you have limited time, but things to see along the way include Zion's Kolob Canyon off I-15, Cedar Breaks NM, Bryce Canyon NP, Capitol Reef NP and Goblin Valley SP near I-70. I-70 from the Utah border to the Continental Divide is as scenic as it can get. Going up and thru the Eisenhower Tunnel is a long climb but not impossible - lots of us have done it! After that it's all downhill to St. Louis.

[Our Time]

Ding-a-ling gives you a great route. We made that trip last fall and it was awesome. If you have to cut some of the recommendations out, be sure to see Bryce Canyon! The climb to the Eisenhower Tunnel is a long one but you can make it. Be careful on the decent into Denver, it is long, but not a problem if you obey the well marked signs for grades.

[Lightseekers]

We are going from St. Louis via I-70 to Moab Utah to take in Arches NP. We will be there for 4 days then we will move over to the Zion NP area and plan to see Bryce NP while in that area. We were thinking we wanted to come home a little slower than the trip out and get off the interstates for part of the run home. That is why we were thinking of the route I asked about.

Thanks for the suggestions. We will have to look over the maps and see how we can fit in your route.

[Ding-a-ling]

OK. Here's Plan B.

From Hurricane take Utah SR59 to Fredona, AZ. Alt. US89 to US89 to US160. 160 past Four Corners to Durango, CO. US550 to 50 east to I-25 at Pueblo, CO.

North of Durango on 550 there's the Coal Bank Pass, Molas Divide and Red Mtn. Pass. On 50 heading to Salida there's Monarch Pass at the Continental Divide. All of these are 10 or 11,000'+. You can take your time going up and down and will be rewarded with some spectacular scenery.

US24 from Colorado Springs to Limon and I-70 is a nice shortcut.

I have personally travelled all these routes with the MH, except US 550 we were touring in a car.

Happy motoring !

[Lightseekers]

Thanks Ding-a-ling. We are looking at both routes. Lots to think about.

We are making this a two week trip to see the NP in Utah but like to get off the interstates when we can. The trip out we will push pretty hard to get there.

One more question for you. Any idea how long it will take use to go from Moab to Hurricane? We were thinking it would be a solid day of driving but after looking at the map tonight we are questioning if it is possible.

[Lightseekers]

Thanks Ding-a-ling.

We were looking at the map tonight at your other suggestion. Lots to think about!

We are going to drive pretty hard to get to Utah. The whole plan was to take 2 weeks to see the NP there. We also want to take a little time off the interstates.

One more question for you. We thought we could drive from Moab to Hurricane in about 8 hours. After looking at the map tonight we are questioning if that is possible. Do you know if it is possible?

[Lightseekers]

Sorry about the double reply, I thought the first one didn't make it.

[Ding-a-ling]

If driving was your objective, just getting from Point A to Point B, I suppose it would be one long day of travel. Between Moab and St. George we had two over-nites. One over-nite would be reasonable. There is just so much to see in that beautiful area, it's a shame to rush. Even if one doesn't have time to stop and visit everything, just pulling off to the side at times to get out and admire the scenery is great.

We've seen lots of sights across the USA and Canada, but southern Utah, northern Arizona and the Colorado Rockies are among our favorites.

[Lightseekers]

Sounds like we better plan on at least 2 days for the move from Moab to Hurricane. We are going to take some day trips while at Moab to see the area there - we have 4 days planned for that area.

Thanks again for you input.

[skigramp]

Note #1

Here is Plan B.5

From Fredonia, AZ go north on A-89 to Kanab, UT ... then east on 89 to Page, AZ.

At Page you will find Antelope Canyon (google it ... it is fantastic), Horshoe Bend in the Colorado River, and Glenn Canyon Dam

then back on Ding-A-Lings plan B

Note #2

I think you will be short changing yourself if you take the interstate route (I-70 and I-15) from Moab to Hurricane .... the drive from Torrey to Escalante is every bit as spectacular as our drive along hwy 1 up the California coast a few years ago.

[Lightseekers]

We are going take the none interstate route between Moab and Hurricane. How the question - any suggestions on overnight stops along the way. Were did you stay and would you stay there again if taking the same trip?

[Ding-a-ling]

When we travelled between Moab and St. George, UT we stayed at Thousand Lakes RV Park & CG (I have no idea where that name comes from!) in Torrey and Ruby's Inn CG at Bryce Canyon.

Both were fine for a brief stay and just what you would expect of a campground in that dry climate.

Yes, we would use them again.

FJF

[skigramp]

There are three RV Parks in Torrey ... but we stayed at Thousand Lakes also ... it was late April or early May when we were there and we got about 3 inches of fluffy snow that fell straight down ... the next morning the "cliffs" behind the RV park were spectacular.

The owner told me the name comes from lots of Lakes that are up over the hills behind there ... but I never saw any lakes ... afterwards I was wishing I had asked how far North of there the lakes were ... maybe all the way to Candada ...

There are also a couple of RV Parks and a State Park at Escalante ... I did not stay there ...