To Moab 2025

The fall of 2025 saw our 2nd summer workamping at Priest Gulch draw to a close. The aspens and cottonwoods dazzled the landscape of the San Juans with brilliant shades of yellows, golds and orange in early October. The weather brought us almost a week of straight rain in the mountains. While other rivers in the San Juans overflowed their banks, the Dolores river, running through the campground, increased to the level of the normal spring snow melt.

The campground chased out all the campers the morning of October 11th, the other work kampers left PGC on Monday October 13th. Tuesday the 14th, we shared hugs and goodbyes with Rob & April Scott (owner/managers of the campground) and said goodbye to PGC. We are planning on returning the summer of 2026 if all goes well.

Our first destination was Grand Junction Colorado. We had no strict adherence to a timed schedule so we decided on a more leisurely scenic drive to Grand Junction. The Map below starts at point A (Dolores Co.) where we turn on to hwy 184 from 145. That takes us to hwy 491 up to Dove Creek (B) Naturita (C) Gateway D) where we caught hwy 141 to 50 and then 50 took us to Grand Junction (E).

The first stretch of 141 after your a ways out of Dove Creek takes you down Slick Rock hill, which is a steep 7% grade, 6 miles long, down into Disappointment Valley. The internet says:

"Disappointment Valley, located in southwestern Colorado, was named by early explorers and settlers who were likely disheartened by the lack of valuable mineral resources or water. The valley is part of a tradition of negative place-naming in the American West, where initial high hopes were often met with difficult or underwhelming conditions. "

Regardless of other disappointments, the views overlooking the valley were dramatic, as seen below.

We both agree that hwy 141 along the Dolores river ( Unaweep-Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway) is one of the most beautiful drives we have experienced. As you drive the road along next to the Dolores river, the steep red cliffs of the canyon are simply breathtaking! We look forward to driving it again in the opposite direction (north to south) we highly recommend this beautiful drive. Below are some pictures of the drive, but they really can't capture the incredible views that your eyes would behold in person.

Upon arriving in Grand Junction, we secured a full hook-up spot at "The Eddy" RV campground. This was a really nice spot next to the Colorado river and the city's riverfront park. We liked the fact it was away from the interstates and has a really nice clubhouse area. The pictures below show the RV park from across the Colorado river. It is in more of an industrial type area, which was a plus in the evenings because it was relatively quiet.

In the picture below, can you find Thundra with the yellow canoe on top?

A really special treat while we were in Grand Junction was to have two of our best friends from Tucson stop by for a visit. James and Sarah were traveling up to Idaho and made some time to stop and have lunch with us. We enjoyed our lunch out on the clubhouse patio. The temperature was that wonderful warm-in-the-sun but cool-in-the-shade type that makes outdoor activities enjoyable. We were also treated to the sight of a pair of Bald Eagles flying over the Colorado river scolded with a warning screech by a Red-tailed hawk.

James recently began a new career adventure of towing RV's (fifth wheels & travel trailers) around the country. As Sarah and he are not yet retired, this new career path gives them the opportunity to work and travel to see the country. Sarah is also able to work remotely on the road, so it's a win/win for them. It's such a special experience to be in a different state and have Tucson friends stop by for a visit.

Before we completely departed Grand Junction, we fueled up the motorhome and truck, parked YOLO at the Loves truck stop, and then took a scenic drive in Thundra. We took the Historic Rim Rock drive out of the Colorado National Monument near Fruita CO. The road is just as it's name suggests: on the rim of a stunning red rock canyon with sheer cliffs and monumental rock structures in all shades of sandy red and white stone. We highly recommend this route if driving on the edge of sheer cliffs with only short twelve inch rock curbs to keep you from going over the edge appeals to you! Super cool.

Map and pictures from our Rim Rock experience;

We finished our rim drive, picked up Yolo, attached Thundra, and off we went towards Moab along I-70. We chose to take a scenic route into Moab down Hwy 128. We highly recommend taking exit 204 to Hwy 128. The 214 exit we happened upon, took us through 5 miles of unmarked, poorly maintained asphalt that rattled us around for what seemed like 20 miles. It was sheer joy to finally come upon nice smooth asphalt and the road was very pleasant from there. As you will see from the pictures below, this is one of the must do drives if you're in the Moab area.

We arrived in Moab and made our way to Red Desert RV park. Not very many amenities at this park and mostly gravel, but hey, we're here to explore Moab, not the RV park.

Our first day took us into Moab and breakfast at Cactus Jacks. I highly recommend the Chicken Benny, it's what breakfast dreams are made of (chicken on biscuits with eggs, hollandaise sauce, and hash browns).

🎜🎝Food Coma🎝🎜! BRING IT ON!!

mmm-mmm-mmm

Day-one exploring was up Hwy 279 Potash Rd. We enjoyed watching rock climbers, checking out dinosaur tracks, and driving along the Colorado River. We happened upon a sign that said "Jug Handle Arch", took a right, and headed up the 4x4 and high clearance recommended road. We later learned (when we got back to wifi) that the "Arch" was visible from the paved highway however, we thought it was further up the steep dirt road, so on we drove. The sights were awesome from "Long Canyon road".

Did that house-sized rock fall after they built the road or was the road constructed beneath it?

In the canyon bed, you can see the road we traveled.

We navigated the rough road pretty easily with Thundra.

When we finally reached the end of the canyon and arrived on top of the plateau, we found that we were just a few miles from Dead Horse Point state park. Total win stumbling upon one of the places we were planning on visiting in Moab. This park has overlooks of the Canyonlands and the Colorado River... simply stunning views. The roads you see down below is where we would have ended up had we not turned up Long Canyon road.

This picture alone sums up the endless views from Dead Horse Point state park. Very much worth the time and modest entry fee. That was quite a bit of activity for day one.

For day-two, we planned another drive down Kane Creek Rd. Google maps showed that it was a loop so I, (Rick) decided to start on the south end and loop back around into Moab where we could do a lil' shopping before heading back to the RV park. Well, yeah, you're probably right in what you're thinking, things took a lil' bit of a troubling turn. You know how Thundra scoffs at "4x4 recommended" road warning signs. We drove Long Canyon road with no trouble at all and it was high clearance and 4x4 "recommended"; that underlined word is key here, so take special note of the sign below.

You see the difference, no recommendation here. Turns out, this really WAS a 4x4 road ONLY! 🙄

We (ahem, Rick), had driven down a steep hill, made a left turn and realized we shouldn't be going down this road. The rocks below had drop offs of 12-18 inches and the danger of sliding into the rocks on the passenger side were a real possibility. We tried reversing back up the hill, but the two-wheel drive of Thundra could not move out of danger. After burning some rubber and throwing mud and rock everywhere, we submitted to our situation. We can't go backwards, we have to go forward down over these rocks! Uncertain if we'd be able to get back up or if we could continue down the road, we had no choice; with no rescue coming and unable to go backwards, we went forward. I moved rocks around to get the best possible angle and traction for Thundra. With a few bangs and thumps we were down! We pressed forward to see if we could continue, but the condition of the road with steep creek crossings, narrow paths, and large rocks motivated our decision to turn around. Crossing our fingers, we were determined to try climbing (forward) over boulders and up the steep hill.

We made it! We got out! 😰😰

The moral of the story here is to do just a wee bit of research and/or scouting before exploring off-road! Lesson learned.

The image below (from a YouTube video) shows the sketchy stretch we had to climb out of to be free of Kane Creek. Gathering rocks, I had to fill in the gap between the boulders to be able to climb that section.

Thundra getting the heck outta there!

Once free (and Rick with a fresh change of drawers) we drove to the civilized and very popular Kane Creek Rd. on the other end of Moab. This route begins along the Colorado river and shoots off down Kane Creek canyon. Dozens of vehicles and campers were dispersed along miles of this road. This is a very popular spot for camping, mountain biking and climbing.

Pictures of Kane Creek canyon area (the 2 wheel drive civilized end).

Kane creek road along the Colorado river.

We spent our final day in Moab exploring Arches national park. The name pretty much sums it up about the park. Lots of arches, tourists and trails to go along with the breathtaking views! We would say it's worth spending a good day or so at the park.