Saturday – September 28, 2013
Island In The Sky
Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Friday was our last day at Ken’s Lake BLM Campground, ten miles south of Moab, Utah. We have completed our very enjoyable visits to the Arches National Park and the "Island In The Sky" region in the northern area of the Canyonlands National Park. We will now visit the "The Needles" region of the Canyonlands National Park, which is in the southern area of the park near Monticello, Utah.
We departed Ken’s Lake campground at 9:15 a.m. and traveled 43 miles south on US-191 to Scenic Highway UT-211. We then traveled 34 miles west on UT-211 to the Squaw Flat Campground, arriving there at 11:00 a.m. This campground is located within "The Needles" region of the Canyonlands National Park. All campsites are First-Come-First-Serve. Unfortunately, all of the campsites were taken. So, now we must search for a BLM or National Forest campground in a close proximity to the park. Oh, did I mention there is a 10% grade for 1.5 miles westbound on UT-150! That was exciting towing the trailer down that grade.
We checked out the Needles Outpost, a private campground, located 1.5 miles from the park’s entrance station. The road throughout the campground is a red dirt road and quite rutted in places. There was only two other campers’ there, out of close to thirty campsites available. The cost per night is $20.00. We decided this was not a suitable campground for our camping preference.
We continued eastbound on UT-211 and came upon Harts Draw Road, a two-lane, paved road that went south off of UT-211. The road sign at the entrance showed this road went through the Manti-La Sal National Forest and exited at Monticello, Utah, a distance of some 18 miles. The road sign also showed a few campgrounds along this route. So, off we go on another adventure, only this time we are towing the trailer on another winding, mountain road. This road took us up some steep inclines with a few 15-mph hairpin turns. We passed the campgrounds and found them not to our liking. We finally reached Monticello and decided to refuel. We had burned almost half a tank of gas traversing those mountain roads. Gas stations are scarce in this area, no need to take any chance of running out of gas out here.
We now head northbound on US-191 out of Monticello. We travel six miles north of UT-211 and exit onto the Needles Outlook road. This is a two-lane, paved road that will take us westbound 22 miles to the Needles Overlook. After driving six miles, we come upon the Wind Whistle BLM Campground, at 1:30 p.m.
Camping Fees:
Non-Electric Sites: $15.00
Golden Age Pass holders receive a 50% discount.
There is no cellular or Internet service available at this campground through our T-Mobile service provider.
Time to relax and enjoy the views!
Total miles traveled today: 147
Tomorrow another adventure begins.
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