I lived in a condo near St. Mary's Glacier in Idaho Springs, CO back in 2015. I had a RZR 800 that I didn't even have to trailer. I could pack it up and hit the National Forest roads right from the parking lots. I looked about like your friend when I would hit the trails for a camping trip. Side x sides can be a blast for camping.
In today's world, it comes down to how friendly your State and County is to UTV/ATV use in public areas. AZ is great for them, on roads, as long as they are made street legal,....lights, blinkers, horn, mirrors etc. Other States also have more moderate laws vs some. Places like national parks do not. Even when made.... aka....street legal like in AZ. For example, North rim of the grand canyon, or along the shore area of Lake Mead (NV/AZ) within the parks boundaries. Places here in Southern NV, like in the Logandale/Overton area have made corridor's thru town to help with the passage of UTV/ATV use, while for now avoiding them being used on the city streets. Unpaved Side streets are ............mmm...unenforced, shall we say, as long as discretion is used. Out West BLM use is larglely open for multiple uses, and only posted areas are limited. The days of breaking trail was over decades ago. Trail Lightly/Tread Lightly is and should be the credo in this day and age.
In Utah you have a large expanse of trails, many of them linked, which allows you to base camp from a town, and hit the trail in all directions. Fuel, time, and days allotted to exploration are your only limits. I have seen many camping videos off the back of a ATV, where the riders planned fueling stops into a town, was the only limitation.