Scofield State Park

 

The drive from Huntington State Park to Scofield State Park was only about 60 miles. I passed through the old towns of Price and Helper and the turned south on UT 96. This road actually joins UT 264 which takes back up the mountains to UT 31. They call this the “Energy Loop” as it passes high through the mountains and features several still functioning coal mines. It is kind of bizarre to turn a corner on a high mountain road and see a huge coal mine.

Scofield State Park consists of 2 campgrounds, Madsen Bay and Mountain View at 7600’ of elevation. The former offers no hookups or showers while the latter is fully developed. Both offer launch ramps and Mountain View offers slip rentals as well. There is a small store 5 miles away in Scofield that carries supplies and gas.

The Lake itself is good sized, and there were plenty of people out on the water. Fishing is very popular, with some good sized Brown trout being caught. Here are 2 photos I took from my campsite:

 

Both campgrounds are on the water, but only Mountain View has any shade. Below are lake views from Madsen Bay and Mountain View respectively:

 

Scofield is a very small town, but they do have some bargains if you are looking for some vacation property. This home below is only $2K, but is does need some work:

 

Finally, a brief word on nutrition. As you all know, Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Tacos are the best meal. So I think it was appropriate to have some tacos for breakfast this Saturday Morning:

I did get the attention of a local who smelled it heating up, so I had to share some:

Who could resist a face like that! He did not like the dollop of homemade habanero salsa I dropped for him. After giving me a scathing look, he scampered away. That is what I was trying to accomplish. You should never feed the wildlife, no matter how cute they are. Moving up the food chain, hundreds of bears have had to be killed due to careless campers not storing their supplies properly. They start associating humans with food, and that is not a good thing.

I am heading out Sunday July 24, stopping by Utah Lake State Park, and the camping at Deer Creek State Park. Till next time.

Regards,

Greg

Over The Hills and Far Away

 

 

I left Yuba State Park early Wednesday morning. I stopped at Palisade State Park, went over the Manti-LaSal Mountains, and ended up at Huntington State Park. About150 miles all together.

Palisade State Park would be a great place to camp. The nearby town of Manti has gas and food and the campground even has a golf course right next to it! Below are some photos of the lake and a campsite:

 

About 40 miles North along Utah 89 is the town of Fairview. This is where Utah 31 starts. It is a beautiful 47 mile long road that takes you from the desert, up through a nice cool forest, and then back down into the desert. Don’t get me wrong, I like the desert, but nothing beats a forest for me. There were many lakes along the way. Here are some photos:

You can also practice your “Avalanche Beacon” skills here:

A meadow with a small stream running through it:

 

I finally made it to Huntington State Park, watched the sunset and hit the sack.

 

Thursday Morning I drove down Utah 10 to Millsite State Park. Another pretty campground with a small lake AND a golf course. Most of these high desert campgrounds have reservoirs and golf courses need a lot of water, so I guess they go well together. Here is a picture of the lake:

After getting back to camp, I took campsite photos at Huntington. The lake here is bigger than Millsite, but the campground it close by Utah 10, so you do get some traffic noise. Here is a photo of Huntington Lake:

 

I will be heading to Scofield State Park on Friday for 2 nights and should be updating the blog again on Sunday. You get bonus points if you realized that the title of this post, “Over the Hills and Far Away” is a Led Zeppelin song…

Regards,

Greg

Arrived in Utah!

 

I left at 4:45am on Monday morning to head out on my adventure. My GPS had the distance as being 583 miles to the Oasis Campground at Yuba Lake Park.

But first I had to pass through Vegas. It seems like they are always doing construction on Interstate 15:

 

Around 4:00 pm local time I finally arrive at my campsite:

This campground is very aptly named Oasis. It is located lakeside in the Utah high desert. Luckily I made reservations as the campground was full…on a Monday! The reason for it’s popularity is that has 2 campgrounds with boat ramps, and Utah’s only boat-in campground. There are also OHV trails nearby. Camper’s can launch their boat at Oasis and leave it tied up on the shoreline:

Tuesday morning I took campsite photos here at Oasis and then decided to drive to the other side of the lake to get campsite photos at Painted Rocks Campground. The Ranger told me about a shortcut that would save me some time. Below are some pictures of the “shortcut”:

 

It worked out fine! I will be leaving here on Tuesday and heading to Huntington State Park. There is a very scenic route I want to try, Utah 31, so hopefully I will capture some fun images.

Regards,

Greg

Getting Ready to Roll!

 

I will be hitting the road bright and early next Monday. It’s 520 miles to my first destination.

Here are the main campgrounds I plan to visit.

In Utah they are:

A.   Yuba Lake State Park

B.   Palisade State Park

C.   Huntington Lake State Park

D.   Millsite State Park

E.   Scofield State Park

F.   Utah Lake State Park

G.   Deer Creek State Park

H.   Wasatch Mountain State Park

I.   Rockport State Park

J.   Starvation State Park

K.   Steinaker State Park

L.   Red Fleet State Park

 

In Colorado they are:

A.   Highline Lake State Park

B.   James M. Robb State Park

C.   Crawford State Park

D.   Vega State Park

E.   Yampa River State Park

F.   Stagecoach State Park

G.   State Forest State Park

H.   Boyd Lake State Park

I.   St. Vrain State Park

J.   Cherry Creek State Park

K.   Chatfield State Park

L.   Mueller State Park

M.   Eleven Mile State Park

N.   Navajo State Park

O.   Mancos State Park

 

I will be driving my Honda Element, the PERFECT camping vehicle:

 

I will also be breaking in my new tent, a Big Agnes Jupiter’s Cabin. It replaces my old Eureka Backcountry 4, pictured above, which was finally sent to that big campground in the sky by my brother’s cats.

Here is a picture of the new tent from a 3 day trip last month:

I took it up to Palomar Mountain and was impressed by it’s performance in the rain for the first 2 days. At least it was sunny the last day I was there…

I visited Palomar Mountain State Park and Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.

Here are the videos of those campgrounds:

Thanks to McDonalds and their free wi-fi, I will be able to update this blog every 2 to 3 days. So keep checking in and see what trouble I will be getting myself into!

Regards, Greg

Summer Camping Trip 2011

On July 18th I will be heading out on a 45 day camping trip. I will be visiting State Parks in Utah and Colorado.

In this blog, I will be posting fun photos and insights from my journey.

I will be updating as often as I can, hopefully every few days.