Those are really cool! Thanks for sharing.

Killer writeup! I enjoyed it.

Excellent trip report

Planning possibly two four day trips to Utah and or Yosemite in April

Can you give a genral breakdown of costs and any money saving tips

If i go I am likely solo both trips and could sleep in car a night or two if necessary

Very cool. Southern Utah is probably my favorite place in the US. I'll be going back to the Moab/Hanksville in the spring for climbing and canyoneering. Someday I may get a place out there. We'll see.

I'm glad you liked Navtech. We used them on a 4x4 tour of the Chessler Park area in the Needles of Canyonlands and had a great time.

I'm also glad you got to hike the Narrows. It's one of the best hikes out there. That's said, it's really hard to go wrong out there, as you now know. One tip for next time: get some canyoneering in the plans for outside of Zion and/or Hanksville. It's an interesting way to see the slot canyons.

Wicked Good Ag said:

---

If i go I am likely solo both trips and could sleep in car a night or two if necessary

---

Good news: There's plenty of BLM land all over Utah on which to camp.

Awesome!

Cost breakdown for 2 people for 10 nights / 10 days. This won't include EVERYTHING ($75 for equipment rental to hike The Narrows, e.g.) but should give you a decent idea.

Flights (SWAG) - $700
Hotels / sleep - $1,941
Transportation (rental + gas) - $682 + $259 = $941
Food (this one's a SWAG) - $550
Park fees (incl parking in Springdale for Zion) - $160
Tours + tips - $1,300

I was surprised at the cost of hotels in southern Utah; they were not cheap. Do not let my total of $1,941 fool you - 4 of those nights were $117/night in a glamping tent. If you take that out, the average cost for a hotel was $245/night. Maybe this is normal to this area but it was not normal to me!


As for cost saving tips - I'm sure others will have better suggestions, but here's my observation.
- If you plan to visit 3 or more national parks / areas within a year, buy the annual National parks pass for $100. Entry fees are ~$30/per car. I would've spent more than this on this trip alone.
- Go to the grocery store on stock up on protein snacks and maybe things to make sandwiches instead of eating at restaurants (duh). But this also aids in convenience bc there were so many times we had to plan around getting food instead of maxing our time within the parks. It was annoying as hell.
- Sleeping in your car? Do it! Or if you have a tent and know how all of that works? Camping permits will cost you $25 / night, and as BSD mentioned above, a lot of the land surrounding national parks in southern Utah is owned by the state's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and its free to camp on - be it in your car or in an RV or tent. (Book your camping permit ahead of time for national park land; they can fill up quickly. Same for hotels.)
- If you want to sleep in a proper bed, look for glamping options. The cheapest I found was $99/night ($117 with taxes and fees), but this was still cheaper than $250!
- Put in the work yourself instead of booking a tour. I made a really intense schedule for us and was exhausted with planning to bother reading up and teaching myself about what we were actually going to see and how it was created, so having extra money allowed me the convenience of booking tours. But it's not necessary, with exception to Antelope Canyon in Page, AZ.

Canyoneering would've been SO cool! I was big time intimidated by Zion and waited until the last minute to plan our time there. I do wish we could've done canyoneering, but I'm sure there will be a next time. Pretty sure some healthy 40 year old fell to his death during a canyoneering tour just before we got there; several hikes had been closed for maintenance, including Angels Landing.

And The Needles district of Canyonlands - UGH! Why does it have to be SO far away from Moab?! Canyonlands might be my favorite of the parks. When I go back, I'll need a 4x4 bc I also want to do the Shafer Trail drive.

713nervy said:

---

And The Needles district of Canyonlands - UGH! Why does it have to be SO far away from Moab?! Canyonlands might be my favorite of the parks. When I go back, I'll need a 4x4 bc I also want to do the Shafer Trail drive.

---

It's really not too far away, but I get it. There's so much to do out there that you have to allocate your time appropriately and get the really good stuff in, especially on your first trip. Y'all obviously did a great job. These days I break up trips into either just Moab area or just the Zion/Bryce area. But if you love the area and do go back, have Navtech take you over Elephant Hill and into Chesler Park. It's pretty amazing out there. I would not drive Elephant Hill on my own, though! Also horseback riding out by Fisher Towers near Moab is a pretty amazing way to spend a sunset.

And I saw that about the guy who died canyoneering! I haven't seen any cause yet, or his experience level. There's a good book called Death in Zion that lists several ways of how things go south out there. Lots of falls and floods but a few canyoneering deaths occur. That is why I hire qualified guides! I actually use the same guide every time. Damn, now I want to go to Utah.

Good post. Great post.

Great write up! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks so much for sharing! Looks like it was an incredible trip.

Hoping to do this soon so I definitely will keep for reference.

Great pics! Dead Horse Point is such an overlooked place to visit. Since it is a state park, it doesn't get nearly the visitors of the national parks. Such a great place for hikes, mountain biking, camping (incl yurts), and that incredible view out at the point!

"Nice!", he says as he starts mapping out a trip back to Utah in his head

Great pics. Thanks for sharing!

Awesome trip and even awesomer pics! You picked a great time to visit, but it was definitely way hotter this year than normal. You'll have to go back.

Quote:

---

---

man.. I so wished we could have enjoyed shafer trail.. but blowing a tire right before the switchbacks an hour before sunset with entire family/dogs in the truck is something hard to get over

That buffalo thing sounds amazing! Even though after Yellowstone, I'd be good if I never see a bison or buffalo again for the rest of my life