Last-minute cross-country trip tips/advice?

[KingKoopa17]

Hey all,

I've got a pretty big 5k roundtrip road/camping trip planned out that I'm starting this weekend. The plan is to leave Ohio early Sunday morning and head out to Denver/the Rockies for a few days; to Tooele for Raptor Assault on the 18th followed by a stay in Moab for that weekend. Then I'm off to Yellowstone for about five or six days. I intend on being back home by the 30th at the latest. Other than the few days in Colorado and RA, we plan on camping outdoors for as many nights as possible.

Just looking for some last minute advice/tips on anything about the locations, camping related, hiking, off-roading and such. Maybe some areas to check out in particular. As far as gear goes, we've got a Napier bed tent, I bought a Viair air compressor, bringing tools and some standard emergency equipment. I bought the Off-road guidebook for Moab, however I'm planning on sticking to the easy-moderate trails and not going too crazy since I'm only bringing my stock spare with me. Maybe someone could throw in which trails are more Raptor-friendly and those that are must-do's? We'll be seeking out those awesome views as well as some off-roading fun.

Note: I'll be breaking her in for the first time off-road on this trip.

Thanks in advance!

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

i am prerunning our wyoming event june 26-27. the event is first weekend of august if you want to come, but i dont mind if you want to tag along on the prerun. its in lander wyoming. a couple hours south of yellowstone. theres lots of fun trails out there that are raptor friendly

 

[wheelman55]

Some nice country in the Black Hills via dirt Forest Service roads.

Go south from Devil’s Tower/Sundance. Get on the FS roads just south of I-94 and head west into the hills. Exit the FS roads around Hill City.

Sorry I don’t have specifics. Maybe Car Stereo can suggest something?

From the Badlands, take highway 44 west from Interior, SD. Far more scenic than the interstate. You will thank me for this. 44 parallels I-90.

If you grow weary of the two lane, take a left up to I-90 and zoom home.

 

[JustBillin]

Hit it up with Noah (CSC) if you want to have serious fun and can fit it in your schedule!


I would recommend bringing an extra intake air filter!!


Dust gets kicked up if you aren't running out front!!!

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

Hit it up with Noah (CSC) if you want to have serious fun and can fit it in your schedule!


I would recommend bringing an extra intake air filter!!!

haha. you coming this year?

 

[JustBillin]

I wish that I could!

I'm hoping we can just get away for a couple long weekends close to home this year.

My wife has no problem bumping up really close to three digits in the dirt, but covid has her scared of hotels for some reason???

 

[Crosby]

Moab is awesome. I would hit the trails east of Moab off Utah hwy 128. Fisher Towers area. Onion Creek is Raptor freindly and not crazy for a Moab trail. Most trails in close to Moab are either rock crawls or tight fits for a Raptor. North of Moab there are some cool trails with dunes and sand if thats something you want to try out. Enjoy man, sounds like a cool road trip.

 

[KingKoopa17]

i am prerunning our wyoming event june 26-27. the event is first weekend of august if you want to come, but i dont mind if you want to tag along on the prerun. its in lander wyoming. a couple hours south of yellowstone. theres lots of fun trails out there that are raptor friendly

Sounds fun! Might take you up on that offer. We were looking to start heading back home on the 27th, but depending on what my wife's future work schedule looks like I'm hoping we can squeeze out an extra day or two before heading back. I should know within the next couple days.

Some nice country in the Black Hills via dirt Forest Service roads.

Go south from Devil’s Tower/Sundance. Get on the FS roads just south of I-94 and head west into the hills. Exit the FS roads around Hill City.

Sorry I don’t have specifics. Maybe Car Stereo can suggest something?

From the Badlands, take highway 44 west from Interior, SD. Far more scenic than the interstate. You will thank me for this. 44 parallels I-90.

If you grow weary of the two lane, take a left up to I-90 and zoom home.

Thanks for the suggestion, man. I was hoping we'd be able to pass through something scenic like that during our return trip.

Hit it up with Noah (CSC) if you want to have serious fun and can fit it in your schedule!


I would recommend bringing an extra intake air filter!!


Dust gets kicked up if you aren't running out front!!!

Haha, bringing two spares! After reading some posts of desert runs and it being my first time in the desert/mountains, I wanted to be damned sure I was prepared for all the dust and sand coming my way.

 

[TDBrown]

Was in Moab a couple weekends ago and ran Fins and Things. Not a lot of Raptors on that road, but we made it...with one exception. At the end of the first section, just past the campgrounds, my truck (Gen 1) got stuck on a rock. Stuck is the wrong term as I just backed down the hill and went out through the campgrounds. But the Raptor was too long (SCrew) for comfort there. I immediately went home and raised the truck to mid-perch and put the stock lifting blocks back in. If your truck is standard height or higher, you can do Fins and Things, and probably Hells Revenge. Those are the two tracks for which Moab is most famous if you want to say you've done them. But Crosby's recommendations are probably more fun than those.

We also really enjoyed the drive to Gemini Towers (or something with Gemini in the name). Beautiful scenery. And Shafer Trail/Potash Road should now be open through the Canyonlands section. Highly recommended. Not a challenge for the Raptor, but beautiful scenery again.

It's not off-road, but we loved the La Sal loop road. We took the reasonably short diversion to Oowah Lake. Amazing part of the country.

If you want a break from driving (and who would?), river rafting the Colorado was fun. We used Mild to Wild Rafting/Jeep and they were great. Ask for Gunner if you do a float. The dude was hilarious.

 

[KingKoopa17]

Moab is awesome. I would hit the trails east of Moab off Utah hwy 128. Fisher Towers area. Onion Creek is Raptor freindly and not crazy for a Moab trail. Most trails in close to Moab are either rock crawls or tight fits for a Raptor. North of Moab there are some cool trails with dunes and sand if thats something you want to try out. Enjoy man, sounds like a cool road trip.

View attachment 145436

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll be sure to check them out. I'm looking forward to playing in the sand the most!

Was in Moab a couple weekends ago and ran Fins and Things. Not a lot of Raptors on that road, but we made it...with one exception. At the end of the first section, just past the campgrounds, my truck (Gen 1) got stuck on a rock. Stuck is the wrong term as I just backed down the hill and went out through the campgrounds. But the Raptor was too long (SCrew) for comfort there. I immediately went home and raised the truck to mid-perch and put the stock lifting blocks back in. If your truck is standard height or higher, you can do Fins and Things, and probably Hells Revenge. Those are the two tracks for which Moab is most famous if you want to say you've done them. But Crosby's recommendations are probably more fun than those.

We also really enjoyed the drive to Gemini Towers (or something with Gemini in the name). Beautiful scenery. And Shafer Trail/Potash Road should now be open through the Canyonlands section. Highly recommended. Not a challenge for the Raptor, but beautiful scenery again.

It's not off-road, but we loved the La Sal loop road. We took the reasonably short diversion to Oowah Lake. Amazing part of the country.

If you want a break from driving (and who would?), river rafting the Colorado was fun. We used Mild to Wild Rafting/Jeep and they were great. Ask for Gunner if you do a float. The dude was hilarious.

I'll probably steer clear of Hell's Revenge, at least on this trip. I don't think I'm quite as prepared as I probably should be to tackle the more difficult trails. Would you say Fins and Things is more on the difficult side? I've read about Potash and Shafer, I'll definitely hit those as well as La Sal. Been a few years since I've gone rafting, but sounds fun, I'll look into it!