Canyonlands in Dec.

Since my new school schedule makes a mountain bike trip kind of difficult, we're gong to go in December to Canyonlands, Bryce and Zion. No biking unfortunately but hiking and maybe (?) snowshoeing. It's a photography trip. I've locked on a place to stay near Bryce/Zion. But haven't picked anything for the Moab/Canyonlands area. Any suggestions? Camping is out. I'm not a fan of below freezing camping. I'll do 40s and even rain, but camping with the potential for snow - count me out. I'm a cold weenie. :p

V.

jealous, that will be an awesome place to work on photography! Already your photos are wonderful.

I went through all my old stuff from that area but I can't find the name of the tiny little town I am thinking of near Escalante. Anyway, if you get the chance to day hike or explore the escalante are, DO IT!! To me, it's by far some of the most incredible country down there. I've seen a lot of it, we used to spend 10 days there every spring for break.

irulan

My personal favorite non-camping place to stay in Moab is the Hotel Off-Center. We stayed there a couple of nights after we did the WRT.

It's a funky place owned by a mother & her son, and he used to be a Hollywood prop designer or something. Every room has a different theme. Bathrooms are shared. They let us bring our bikes up to our rooms. :) THe kitchen is great - it's set up like an old diner.

I tried to find a website for them, and came up with this:
http://www.moab-utah.com/hotel/offcenter.html, which says something about it being under new ownership, so things may have changed since we were there.

HTH
gabrielle

(Funny - snow camping is about the only camping I'll do anymore. :) )

Kinda late in my reply here...

We stayed at the Big Horn Lodge. Simple, clean, friendly.

I found this thread trying to see if anyone has any experience with the Skinny Tire Festival in March. Don't know if I can keep up...

Since it's over the Christmas holidays we decided to go fancy and we're staying at Sorrel River Ranch. We're not planning on doing any riding, but if the weather is good we'll rent some mountain bikes and do some.

V.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Veronica

Since my new school schedule makes a mountain bike trip kind of difficult, we're gong to go in December to Canyonlands, Bryce and Zion. No biking unfortunately but hiking and maybe (?) snowshoeing. It's a photography trip. I've locked on a place to stay near Bryce/Zion. But haven't picked anything for the Moab/Canyonlands area. Any suggestions? Camping is out. I'm not a fan of below freezing camping. I'll do 40s and even rain, but camping with the potential for snow - count me out. I'm a cold weenie. :p

V.

---

Curious on where you stayed and if you would recommend it?
For future use of when I move back and for those sprouting up on the forum that are moving there.
I have been to both Bryce and Zions but only walking/hiking.
Moab- Touring night ride in Aug I believe. Sleep during day in AC and ride at night through Moab.

Here is some info I found for cycling tours in UT

http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1146342

http://www.co.davis.ut.us/discoverda...on/bicycle.cfm

Trails etc.
http://www.recreation.slco.org/parks/html/jordan.html

Sorrel River Ranch - near Moab. It's a spa resort. We'd like it because it was so quiet, right on the river. Very elegant, but not over the top. NICE bathroom and a good size mini kitchen. We ate at their restaurant twice - very expensive, but worth it.

Zion Mountain Resort - near Zion. The room was very nice, with a fantastic walk in shower. The mini kitchen did not have a stove, only a microwave and no dishes or utensils. They didn't service the room on Christmas Day, which I only care about because they didn't bring more coffee and they didn't tell us they weren't going to. We tried to go horsback riding here. Signed up first thing in the morning, someone came in later and asked for a spot like 30 minutes before ours, nobody noticed we'd already signed up. No horsies or ride leader when we showed up for our time. The food at the restaurant was amazing, the service was absymmal. It's a fairly new place and I don't think they have the customer service thing figured out yet.

V.

I appreciate your input on this, will be helpful later. And for others more currently visiting. Can't wait to come home.
-Breezy