Grand Canyon National Park North Rim

When last I wrote, we had camped in a great boondocking spot just north of Grand Canyon National Park. We only spent part of one day exploring the North Rim. I know it sounds really bad to be in such a beautiful area and spend so little time, but neither of us is in hiking shape so we are restricted to views from the top.

    We drove about 10 miles from camp to the park entrance and proceded to the visitor center parking lot. From there we made the short hike out to Bright Angel Point. The photo below is a panorama, thanks to Google Photos of view from there.

If you wish to get to the other side and don't feel up to the 21-mile hike, there is another way.

We stayed in the truck and drove to the various overlooks. Pictures are worth 1,000 words, or so they say, so here come the photos.

I am so sorry that this post is so late and so rushed now. Hope to do better next time. Until then, we are C&L On The Road.

Boondocking at the North Rim

After leaving our boondocking location near Zion National Park, we headed toward the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

Zion National Park

From Brice Canyon, we traveled to a boondocking area on BLM-managed land located between Mt. Carmel Junction and Zion National Park. Our campsite was located at the end of forest road 71 in a large clear area. Although the campsite was next to and above state Rt. 9, road noise was tolerable. We stayed for about a week before moving on. Coordinates were approximately 37.260297 -112.77024.

On to Bryce Canyon

After our visit to Capital Reef National Park, we headed west and south toward Bryce Canyon. Along the way, we stopped for gas at a place I thought only existed in the old Burl Ives song. Big Rock Candy Mountain. It is indeed a real place with a restaurant, cabins, and rafting trips.

Fremont Granary Site

We arrived at the entrance of Capital Reef National Park in the late afternoon. Not wanting to risk failing to find a campsite in the park, I turned around and drove about three miles back to a parking area we passed. What we found was a pleasant surprise.

Capital Reef National Park

Approximately 150 miles west of Blanding Utah, beyond the Glen Canyon Recreation Area, lies Capital Reef National Park.

Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands National Park was the second destination in our quest to visit all the National Parks in Utah. Being only about 25 miles from our campsite, the northern, Island in the Sky area is where we spent the morning. In typical Moab fashion, there is Jeep access into the canyon as well as the hiking and biking trails found in all national parks.

Arches National Park

Double Arch

It was my intention to write one blog post named The Utah Five and cover all five of the national parks in Utah. After visiting all five, I decided that due to the unique features of each, they all deserved their own post. There is no particular reason I am showing you Arches first other than it was the first one we visited. That trend will continue.

Blanding Utah

After leaving the Moab area, we traveled south a few miles to Blanding Utah and the Recapture Recreation area. This is another BLM area that allows free camping and just happens to have a small lake.

Moab Utah

We went to Moab because there are two National Parks in the area. Both Arches and Canyonlands are near Moab and will be covered in another post.

South Bound

Just south of Yellowstone National Park is Grand Teton National Park. After looking over the list of attractions at the later, we decided the only thing it had to offer that Yellowstone did not was the Tetons. So we basically did a drive by, spending one night in the campground at The Gros Ventre Campground at the southern end of the park.

Yellowstone

C &  L  On The Road left the Mt. Rushmore area on the morning of the third day heading west to a place called Yellowstone. Clara had never been there, it was high on her bucket list. I had been once as a teenager (yeah about 50 years ago) so I had some bucket left to fill on this one too.

Mt. Rushmore

From the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, we drove to the Oreville Campground near Hill City South Dakota. This is a National Forest campground with no hook ups although there is water in the camp and pit toilets.

We had a thunder storm complete with hail one day and this is the only picture I got of the campground. If you would like more information, The official National Forest Service website is linked above.

The evening of our 1st day found us at the national monument called Mt. Rushmore.

Sunday Afternoon Entertainment

We left Badlands National Park on Sunday morning and drove about 50 miles to a popular motorcycle and four wheeler riding area in the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. Having already picked a National Forest campground near Mt. Rushmore that had walk in sites available for Monday, Monday morning seemed the proper arrival time.

Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park is on the way to Mt. Rushmore from the east so, even though it really wasn't on anybody's bucket list, ( and that senior pass saved us the $15.00 entry fee ) we stopped to take a look.

South Dakota isn't Cool Either

Well you all know by now that the number one destination on this trip is Mt, Rushmore. So it should come as no surprise that we found ourselves in Kennebec SD. There is a sign along the road that posses the question you all may be asking "Where the heck is Kennebec?". The whole reason for our stop here was the Lake Byre Recreational Area.

Being Tourists

After leaving Pittsburg Mo. we did a short drive to a free campground just outside of Osborn Mo. The Pony Express Lake Conservation area is made up of 740 acres of old fields and over 1000 acres of grasslands.

Where is it cool?

We spent three and half days running hard (for us) seeking cooler weather. Those nights were spent at small truck stops in Georgia, Mississippi, and Missouri. It wasn't cool but it was time to slow down and rest.

Buck Hall

After spending four days in the primitive site at Honey Hill, we needed a place to dump the black tank and replenish our fresh water supply. Roughly 15 miles south of our location was another National Forest campground called Buck Hall Recreation Area.

Honey Hill

Google map of Francis Marion National
Forest

The Francis Marion National Forest is located about 30 miles north of Charleston South Carolina and located near the town of
McClellanville is a primitive campground named Honey Hill Recreation area (location is not the dot on the map). We made our base camp here for 4 days and 5 night which is the limit of our water supply and black tank capacity. Honey Hill makes a great base camp for exploring Charleston or the wildlife management areas to the north.