Best time of year for Moab?

B

BlueRubicon

Caught the Bug
Hello, my wife and I want to drive the JLU out west. We are in Pa., and Moab is probably the closest to us of interest. I have been all over this country but not Jeeped it. I have only wheeled a Jeep here in the east, but really want to off road on the endless acres and crawl on that sick traction rock.
When would any of you who are in that area recommend we make the trip? Is staying in Moab the thing to do? It's a 2000 mile trek in a Jeep, than wheeling it, than driving 2K back. And lastly, who would want to meet us? Would love to wheel with some Jeepers from here that are cool!
 
I live in Northern Utah and I’m only about 3 hours away. If you are wanting to camp then late March to mid October is your window with prime season being may-September. But it does get busy. Hotels have gotten unreasonable IMHO so I now refuse to pay to sleep in Moab lol. But Moab is the place to stay if you want to wheel there. Lots of camping both in campgrounds and open. June through mid August its hot... I prefer to camp away from town 20 minutes or so. But there are good campgrounds in town.

Let me know when you’re planning the trip and if I’m around that week, I’ll make the drive down and meet you.
 
RESURECTIONJK said:
I live in Northern Utah and I’m only about 3 hours away. If you are wanting to camp then late March to mid October is your window with prime season being may-September. But it does get busy. Hotels have gotten unreasonable IMHO so I now refuse to pay to sleep in Moab lol. But Moab is the place to stay if you want to wheel there. Lots of camping both in campgrounds and open. June through mid August its hot... I prefer to camp away from town 20 minutes or so. But there are good campgrounds in town.

Let me know when you’re planning the trip and if I’m around that week, I’ll make the drive down and meet you.
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Outstanding info sir. I appreciate the swift feedback. Do I need to join a Jeep club to off road? Please say no ;). I presume the county or state may charge fee which I have no problem with. I just don't care so much for clubs or joining them. If I have to...well, it is what it is. I would imagine there are thousands of acres of off roading out there in Utah.
Meeting you to off road would be great. This is all preliminary, have a bunch of research to do. Wife just said May is earliest.
 
BlueRubicon said:
Outstanding info sir. I appreciate the swift feedback. Do I need to join a Jeep club to off road? Please say no ;). I presume the county or state may charge fee which I have no problem with. I just don't care so much for clubs or joining them. If I have to...well, it is what it is. I would imagine there are thousands of acres of off roading out there in Utah.
Meeting you to off road would be great. This is all preliminary, have a bunch of research to do. Wife just said May is earliest.
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Sounds great. No need to join a club to wheel out here. And only a couple of trails require a few... even then it’s very small and yes... thousands upon thousands of acres and dozens of trails. The hardest part will be deciding which trail to run.

Keep me posted. I’ll be available most of the year. R
 
We went during the second week of September. Weather was decent but I will say we did get stormed on during our stay. I would recommend picking up “Guide to Moab, UT Backroads & 4 Wheel-drive Trails, 3rd Edition.” It helped us plan our trip and provides useful information.

We ended up doing a VRBO in Spanish Valley, which we would stay at that place again in a heartbeat. It was nice to have a base camp for 3 jeeps.


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I second this ^^

Unless you want to camp, I'd highly recommend looking at VRBO or Airbnb. And the Charles Wells book is great guide to refer to before you go.
 
Ddays said:
I second this ^^

Unless you want to camp, I'd highly recommend looking at VRBO or Airbnb. And the Charles Wells book is great guide to refer to before you go.
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Thanks for info! :thumb: Probably not going to camp, we late 40's early 50's and the 2K Jeep ride alone is going to be brutal. I have driven from Ca to Pa and back and every way possible from Pa to Oregon when I was in my 20's. Not now!! We will want a comfy bed fir sure.
 
BlueRubicon said:
Hello, my wife and I want to drive the JLU out west. We are in Pa., and Moab is probably the closest to us of interest. I have been all over this country but not Jeeped it. I have only wheeled a Jeep here in the east, but really want to off road on the endless acres and crawl on that sick traction rock.
When would any of you who are in that area recommend we make the trip? Is staying in Moab the thing to do? It's a 2000 mile trek in a Jeep, than wheeling it, than driving 2K back. And lastly, who would want to meet us? Would love to wheel with some Jeepers from here that are cool!
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If May is the earliest, it may be worth your while to wait until the first weekend of August when there is a group already going


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Moab in the summer is HOT. Last time I was there in August, some years ago, it was 113 degrees. I think spring and fall are the best times to go.


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Yea August way to hot for me. I know it's dry heat, but still HOT! I reserved a Airbnb right outside of Moab for 1st week in May. Had to be early in May because of my wife's schedule. It is a place where a bunch of us (mature that is) could hang out after a day of wheeling. It's tentative and I may change dates slightly.
 
Spring and fall are the best times. Summers in Moab are sweltering. Harder on your vehicle, miserable/dangerous if you have to be outside doing a repair. The desert air dries you out fast, and you’ll need to drink way more water than you think to stay hydrated if you’re not a desert resident.

Week before Easter is always Easter Jeep Safari. If you love a party, like minded folks, want to meet the big vendors, vendor shows , raffles, freebies, etc then come out that week. But you’d need to make reservations now. The town sells out for the week. You can google it for more info. It’s the biggest Jeep event in the US.
 
BlueRubicon said:
Yea August way to hot for me. I know it's dry heat, but still HOT! I reserved a Airbnb right outside of Moab for 1st week in May. Had to be early in May because of my wife's schedule. It is a place where a bunch of us (mature that is) could hang out after a day of wheeling. It's tentative and I may change dates slightly.
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Good call, Aug is a terrible time to go there IMO, but the reason you'd do it is for Colorado. I've been about 5 times and EJS in April is super fun, but spendy, but worth doing once if you haven't done it. Otherwise around that time is really nice, so May or June is my recommendation. If you want to do some Colorado wheeling while you're out, make it late July or August though,as it's the prime season for CO.
 
H8ROADS said:
Good call, Aug is a terrible time to go there IMO, but the reason you'd do it is for Colorado. I've been about 5 times and EJS in April is super fun, but spendy, but worth doing once if you haven't done it. Otherwise around that time is really nice, so May or June is my recommendation. If you want to do some Colorado wheeling while you're out, make it late July or August though,as it's the prime season for CO.
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Does that mean you’re coming to East meets West??


2015 JKUR AEV JK350
1985 CJ8 Scrambler
 
BlueRubicon said:
Yea August way to hot for me. I know it's dry heat, but still HOT! I reserved a Airbnb right outside of Moab for 1st week in May. Had to be early in May because of my wife's schedule. It is a place where a bunch of us (mature that is) could hang out after a day of wheeling. It's tentative and I may change dates slightly.
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mind a tag-a-long? Taking a hiatus from work and am thinking of crossing Moab off the bucket list. I'll be driving out from the Detroit area.
 
Undertheradar said:
Spring and fall are the best times. Summers in Moab are sweltering. Harder on your vehicle, miserable/dangerous if you have to be outside doing a repair. The desert air dries you out fast, and you’ll need to drink way more water than you think to stay hydrated if you’re not a desert resident.

Week before Easter is always Easter Jeep Safari. If you love a party, like minded folks, want to meet the big vendors, vendor shows , raffles, freebies, etc then come out that week. But you’d need to make reservations now. The town sells out for the week. You can google it for more info. It’s the biggest Jeep event in the US.
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I second this advice!


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