The Potash Road includes the paved Utah Hwy. 279 (West of Moab, Utah) to the Potash Mine main facility by the Colorado River. Then the private mine dirt road continues South West where the BLM rough dirt road goes upward through the Colorado River overlook; then up to the Canyonlands National Park. The Potash Road officially ends at the junction of The Shaffer Trail and the White Rim Trail in the National Park. I drove down the steep canyon of the Colorado river then past the Potash Mine land. The dirt road got progressively worse. I drove up past a cattle guard where the BLM land started. About 100 meters into BLM land the BLM sign informed me that there was no legal camping past that sign. So this narrow pie shaped strip was to be ... read more

After getting my gasoline and other supplies in Moab, Utah I drove back NE up the Colorado River canyon on Utah Hwy 128. I turned East on the Castle Valley road and passed Castle rock. When I got to the Manti La Sal National Forest the dirt road led to Colorado, just a few miles away. I took the right turn up the (extinct) volcanic La Sal Mountains. Since my last visit there in 2017 that road is paved up the La Sal Mts. and on to the South side of Moab. I drove up the La Sal Mts. (about 15 miles) watching the trees get progressively larger as I gained altitude. I drove up through the shrubs to the junipers and scrub oaks. I turned left (East) on the narrow dirt trail up to the ... read more

I had a long day in Colorado and wanted to camp on the Colorado River in Utah. Westbound on Interstate Hwy 70, the first exit on the North Side of the highway in Utah is a very nice large viewing area. Cuz of the wildfires in California the haze over Utah (and Arizona) was thick and nice pics were hard to come by. I did not stop at the view area on this trip, but wish to show the pics from my 2017 visit. This view area has restrooms and wheelchair accessible walking trails for nice views. I feel that this would be a legal place to sleep for the night. I drove to the next interstate exit for the old Westwater settlement area dirt road on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) area leading to the ... read more

I drove West from Monarch Pass on US Hwy 50 and saw a warning sign (on Colorado Interstate and US Highways) warning people of the statewide fire hazards and not to burn. Getting near Gunnison, Colorado I saw a neat old church. In Gunnison I got gasoline, food, other supplies that I needed for camping in the back-country. I turned North on State Hwy 135 for Crested Butte. (At Crested Butte all supplies are fairly expensive.) There are still no signs for county road 12 (left turn) until you leave the City of Crested Butte, and it is hard to find. Gunnison County Road 12 quickly enters the Gunnison National Forest. This road is now paved (unfortunately) up through Kebler Pass at about 10,000 feet elevation. The dirt trail there on the ridge at the pass ... read more

It was mid afternoon when I drove North on Interstate Hwy 25 from Trinidad to Pueblo, Colorado. I turned West on US Hwy 50 to find an emergency legal camp in the mountains cuz I had no chance of making it to my primary camp in the Gunnison N Forest, West of the Continental Divide. Somewhere near Canon City, Colorado I made a stop on the Arkansas River for a short photo shoot and to enjoy the flowing river. Somewhere on the Arkansas River I must have passed near a trading post from George Simpson established in the mid 1800s...now long gone. After dark, still on US Hwy 50, I saw a sign for Forest Service access in the San Isabel National Forest (on the East side of Monarch Pass on the Continental Divide) where I ... read more