Utah National Parks Trip

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The Overland Couple

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My wife and I plan to take a 2 week on/off road trip from Pennsylvania to Utah and visit the "Mighty 5" National Parks in July. We have a RTT and plan to camp as much as possible. My wife would prefer to be able to shower each day if possible. We weren't sure if we should book campgrounds now or if we would be able to wing it and see where we end up each night. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
 
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Preston Tiegs

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Utah'n here! The national parks are great, but if you want to camp in their campgrounds, you'd better start booking! They fill up quickly. If it were me, I'd camp on the copious amounts of BLM land around the parks, and take the money you would have spent on campsites to purchase a camp shower.

Plus, I prefer camping on my own to a busy campground.
 
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The Overland Couple

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I prefer when we are camping on our own too, but I need to make the wife happy. We have a camp shower, but she wants access to a " real shower"...
 

Obi-Juan

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My wife and I plan to take a 2 week on/off road trip from Pennsylvania to Utah and visit the "Mighty 5" National Parks in July. We have a RTT and plan to camp as much as possible. My wife would prefer to be able to shower each day if possible. We weren't sure if we should book campgrounds now or if we would be able to wing it and see where we end up each night. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
We spent some time at the National Parks out there last year. What amazing place, you all are definitely in for a treat!

Just like @Preston Tiegs mentioned... you will have to book way ahead of time for most of the popular campgrounds near the NP's. Have a look at the following link. You will need to create an account and login to the Hipcamp site. They are a great resource for finding both popular and obscure campsite locations. They also have a handy app that you can use on the road in pinch. Hope this helps
 
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Kelly

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My wife and I plan to take a 2 week on/off road trip from Pennsylvania to Utah and visit the "Mighty 5" National Parks in July. We have a RTT and plan to camp as much as possible. My wife would prefer to be able to shower each day if possible. We weren't sure if we should book campgrounds now or if we would be able to wing it and see where we end up each night. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Screen Shot 2017-04-05 at 12.52.36 PM.png
 
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Preston Tiegs

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Also, if I can make a recommendation, add Escalate to your list. Not a national park, but you'll get less crowds. So many amazing hikes in a small area. Look for Jacob Hamblin Arch, Golden Cathedral, and Calf Creek Falls.



 

The Overland Couple

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I have actually been looking into one of those units from Mr. Heater!. Currently we have a Nemo Helio shower kit. Since our itinerary is pretty open we may try to find campgrounds outside of the parks instead of booking ahead and having a strict timeline.
 

Kait&Alex

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Utah'n here! The national parks are great, but if you want to camp in their campgrounds, you'd better start booking! They fill up quickly. If it were me, I'd camp on the copious amounts of BLM land around the parks, and take the money you would have spent on campsites to purchase a camp shower.

Plus, I prefer camping on my own to a busy campground.
Howdy Preston! Hoping to pick your knowledge on the land of Utah and camping. Alex and I will be in your beautiful state in June and we are hoping to take advantage of those copious amounts of BLM land but don't know where to find this information. Would love some insider help! We are stoked to be taking out our new rig and put some miles on it and make amazing memories.


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Preston Tiegs

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Howdy Preston! Hoping to pick your knowledge on the land of Utah and camping. Alex and I will be in your beautiful state in June and we are hoping to take advantage of those copious amounts of BLM land but don't know where to find this information. Would love some insider help! We are stoked to be taking out our new rig and put some miles on it and make amazing memories.


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I'm afraid I don't have one, exhaustive source. often, I just ask my buddy who used to work for the forest service where recommends camping! But I'll usually just do a Google Search with the place I want to visit, followed by "BLM Land" or "Dispersed Camping" Generally, if you google the site you want to visit with "dispersed camping," you will find a blog post where someone has told you the best places to camp.
 
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I don't know about near the western parks, but near Arches and Canyonlands there is an RV park called Moab Rim.Campark. It is south of town and will let you use the shower for $10. Maybe other places offer the same thing.

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Kait&Alex

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Thank you so much for the information! We are looking forward to this trip very much. Each post, picture, and video we see or watch has us more excited to experience those beautiful red rocks first hand.


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