As you sip hot toddies and reflect on your holiday celebrations, now’s the time to dream about great RV destinations to visit in 2015. According to the most recent Trailer Life Readers Choice Awards, you need to add Utah to your bucket list. The magazine’s loyal readers voted it the best state to go RVing, here’s why.
Why Utah? Well, for starters, no matter where you land you’re within a day’s drive of:
- five national parks
- seven national monuments
- two national recreation areas
- one national historic site
- 43 state parks and
- over 23 million acres of public lands.
From skiing to hiking to white water rafting, forests to canyons to alpine meadows, Utah offers one of the most diverse selections of places to go RVing. These are just a few great Utah destinations that all RVers should experience:
Utah National Parks
Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Arches are Utah’s Mighty 5®, stellar examples of the reasons why so many RVers head to Utah any time of year. No amount of GoPro footage or Instagrammed adventures captured on camera can do justice to the ethereal nature of the parks’ geologic wonders, you have to go there to experience them. From Capitol Reef’s Waterpocket Fold to the slot canyons of Zion, you will never forget the breathtaking scenery at your doorstep. Just be sure to make reservations if you go during the peak times of late spring and early fall, since all of these parks are constantly busy with adventurers like us.
Utah’s BLM Lands
The Bureau of Land Management manages over 23 million acres in Utah, prime real estate for jeeping, rock climbing and rugged mile high adventures not for the faint of heart. Many BLM lands offer RVers the chance to dry camp at no charge in isolated, off-the-beaten-path areas that beckon with solitude and beauty reserved just for you. Established BLM campgrounds provide equally gorgeous scenery while throwing in a few of life’s little luxuries like picnic tables and pit toilets, all for a nominal charge. Consider setting up a home base on any of the BLM lands that lay just beyond national park boundaries – enabling you to make day trips to the more regulated but spectacular national park destinations while enjoying more freedom camping outside the limits.
The country is full of great RVing destinations, but the proximity to diverse scenery and activities clearly helps Utah rise above the rest. When you make plans for your 2015 camping destinations, be sure to add the Beehive State to your agenda. As Utah’s founding father Brigham Young said when he set eyes upon the Salt Lake Valley, “This is the place.”
Often called “The O.G. of full-time RVing,” Rene Agredano and her husband Jim Nelson hit the road in a fifth wheel trailer in 2007, after their dog Jerry lost a leg to terminal cancer. Sixteen years later they are still traveling and sharing their nomadic adventures at LiveWorkDream. As a self-employed wordsmith, Rene shares her expertise for many RV industry videos, publications such as the Escapees RV Club Magazine, and has authored numerous books, including the Essential RVing Guide to National Parks, and Income Anywhere, a guide to earning money on the road. She has been featured in global media outlets including the PBS documentary “NATURE: Why We Love Cats and Dogs,” The Guardian Sunday Edition, and the Dan Pink book Free Agent Nation.
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