My Utah Overland Journey

Hello everyone, finally found time to post details of my trip. Hope this helps the guys/gals that are planning a trek.

From NJ to the Bonneville Salt Flats and back, via I-70 & I-80, then to the Raptor Assault School, Moab, Arches NP, CanyonLands NP, Denver and then the return home. Between the Salt Flats and Denver I utilized unpaved off roads when possible.

Total trip was 19 days and about 7 gran. Truck ran great! (See pic of total trip screen). I had the bed loaded down with camping, hiking, tools and recovery gear, the back seat was loaded with luggage and coolers/food. Guessing about 1000lbs of stuff.

I-80 was great to drive, 80mph limit on most of it, I cruised at 86 but from Salt Lake City to the Salt Flats I cruised at 96 for over an hr! Straight, empty open road newly paved! It was one of my highlights of the trip, felt like I was driving 50 mph, smooth and quite. (see pic of speedometer ). Also, see blurry pic of my mph on the Salt Flats 

Again, truck ran great! We had two situations where we kind of got in over our heads, 1 hiking and the other offroad traveling to the top of the world. I researched the dirt roads before traveling them, however, while exploring there were signs pointing to the top of the word right off large NP campgrounds, I figured it must be a tourist thing and started up. About an hr later I concluded that no stock vehicle can make it to the top, I made it just over half way, the further you go the worse it gets and the rocks got too big to continue. Took me over 3hrs to go about 6 miles round trip. I am surprised the tires held up. BTW, I own a modded H3 that I use for rock crawling, so I’m accustomed to this type of terrain. If my Raptor had better clearance, rock guards, better skid plates and high ply tires I would had continued but the modded jeepers that were on the road highly recommended I turn around. It was getting dark also. So be well prepared and do research on the trails before heading out. Moab has lots of common trails (see pic). Be safe guys & gals.

Pics enroute!

Bonneville Salt Flats......Sorry for the blurry pic but some spots were slushy and rutted so I kept my eyes on the road.

Moab was great, I could spend a month there.

Pics cannot really catch the beauty and tranquility.

I'll be back and make it to the top of the world.

That looks awesome! Wonder how the Ford Escape rental I'll be driving to Raptor Assault would handle this

Let us know which routes in Moab were your favorite.

Absolutely amazing!! I envy you and can only imagine how much fun that must have been. There's something to be said about getting out on the open road and just being free. I hope someday I can also take a trip like this.

Thanks for posting your trip pics and info! More info on Moab please!

Moab is the place for people who love the outdoors. It’s all about Camping, hiking, overlanding, offroading, rafting, etc. That’s it! Not much else. If you don’t have a rig you can rent one. If you don’t want to go alone there are guides. There is one street and everything outdoor is there. Plenty of restaurants and hotels. I stayed in a cabin, $90 a night, full bath & kitchen. Plenty of remote camping everywhere. I was there just after peak season. We got lucky with the weather, it starts snowing in late November. Moab is a great base camp to explore the surrounding areas, Canyonlands and Arches are about 5-20min away, among other great spots.

I was there total of 3 days, I would like a month to really explore the less traveled areas. Drove to Moab from Tooele, UT after Raptor Assault. In the city of Green River we went the rest of the way offroad via Gemini Bridges. Awesome ride in the Raptor, nice dirt roads that temped me to go 100mph, but I just completed Raptor Assault and remembered the instructor say this truck will temp you to drive beyond your limit, so I kept it under 80, mostly drove 60. Baja mode in manual was my favorite.

Shafer Trail and White Rim rd are a must. Shafer is just windy, narrow & steep with a death drop if you make a mistake. White Rim rd takes about 2 or 3 day to complete and enjoy, it’s a mix of Baja mode and crawl mode with awesome views. We remote camped and hiked along the trail (note! Hiking trails on this road are extreme, kind of like hiking and climbing)

Potash rd goes offroad from Moab to the Canyonlands, I highly recommend it instead of blacktop.

I already said my piece on Top of The Word Safari Rte. It’s rock climbing.

Pics of Shafer Rd and our campsite on white Rim Rd: