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Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Utah or Bust: Goblin Valley



When we decided to make our big trip to Utah last fall, our research included asking people for suggestions of their favorite places in Utah (this is when I really love social media). 


One of Daniel's friends from college told us not to miss Goblin Valley State Park


To be honest, if we had not received this suggestions, this park would not have been on our radar at all. We are so glad we asked for suggestions and were able to fit this stop into our itinerary. 

I read somewhere that in Utah many State Parks would be designated as National Parks if they were located in any other state, but since Utah already boasts five National Parks it is a lot harder to get the National Park status. I think that Goblin Valley is one of those places.


If we had any aspirations about this trip and what boondocking might look like, Goblin Valley and the surrounding area exceeded those expectations. It was really a special place for us, perhaps the most loved on this particular trip!


After visiting Arches National Park, we went back to our camp at Upper Bend and readied our rig for the drive to Goblin Valley. Once again we did not have reservations for a campsite.


To be honest, a lot of our trip was following a loose route and winging it. This is my preferred way to live. This is not Daniel's preferred way to do things.


After struggling to find a camp site in Moab the previous night, we knew we might be racing the clock again. We had called ahead and knew there were only a few walk-in sites left for the evening at Goblin Valley State Park. 


Knowing we might not get a spot, we decided to take a gamble and drove on without a reservation. Anywhere else this probably wouldn't have mattered, but Goblin Valley was two hours from anywhere. It is lonely desert with only one official campground: the state park.


We arrived just before the ranger station closed and discovered that we were too late, all the sites were full. We contemplated what to do and Daniel went to ask the ranger more questions.


We knew we could camp on BLM land for free and the ranger confirmed that the park was surrounded by BLM land. 


We could essentially park anywhere we could pull off the road safely. However, the ranger straight up told Daniel that we shouldn't attempt to take our camper off road here.


Daniel may have taken the ranger's comment as a challenge.


We drove away from the state park and Daniel saw what looked like a small dirt road on our right. Where he saw a road, I saw desert.


I asked him if he was sure he could get us back on the road. He said that worst case he could back us out. I tried not to think about the time he got my parent's minivan stuck on a beach in Ontario when he decided to drive down the beach when we were first dating...


He got us unstuck at the beach and I was just going to trust he could get us unstuck again, if necessary. We also had insurance for if we got stuck, but I don't know if this would fit within our insurance coverage.


We followed the dirt path and as luck would have it, we ended up in a tiny little canyon with enough space to turn around facing the road. The canyon walls blocked the wind and also blocked the view of our camp site from the road. It was, in fact, perfect.


Initially the wind was really blowing and I had to resort to cooking our dinner in the hot camper because of all the sand. If memory serves me, Daniel couldn't get our generator going and we ate our meal in the hot camper.


But after we ate, the wind died down and we were able to explore. This ended up being our favorite camp site of the entire trip! Minus the fact that Daniel said that if it started raining in the middle of the night, we would have to leave immediately or risk getting the camper and SUV stuck. Thankfully that didn't happen.


The area of Goblin Valley is certified as an International Dark Sky Park, and the stars were something else. There was absolutely no light pollution and it was next to impossible to find the constellations we are used to seeing, there were just so many stars in the sky! I could have stayed up all night staring into space.


The next morning after breakfast, we all enjoyed exploring this little unknown piece of land. It was such an unexpected treat! Though, we were more strict than usual with the kids. We didn't want anyone getting hurt so far from help, or a hospital.


After packing up camp, we headed back to the state park to explore the goblins of Goblin Valley. Exploring this park was amazing. The kids could climb on all of the formations and run to their hearts delight. And Sophie was allowed to come with us and explore as well since it was a state park.


After each new goblin, there were more interesting ones to see and climb on.


The goblins are stunted hoodoos like what you see at Bryce Canyon, but locally they are called “goblins." 



There are six miles of trails at Goblin Valley. We opted to go down into the valley (it is divided into three sections) and we just roamed it all to our hearts content. I think we were mostly in Valley 1 and 2.


We were there in the heat of the day and lasted a little under two hours before we made the kids head back to the car to fully hydrate and eat some lunch.


Our next stop would be Capitol Reef National Park on our way to Bryce Canyon National Park – it would be another evening of racing the clock to quickly see Capitol Reef and then trying to find a place to camp. We were crossing our fingers that everything would work out. My next posts will be about our experiences at Capitol Reef and finding a place to camp in Dixie National Forest.


Utah Road Trip Instagram Diaries: Day 9
This was probably everyone's favorite day of the trip. Boondocking on public lands in a little canyon near Goblin Valley was by far the best camping spot we found (and it was FREE). Exploring Goblin Valley with the kids and driving on through Capitol Reef which was the gateway to the Grand Escalante. We had so many good days on our trip, but this was one of, if not the best.



Trip Stats 
Camping Locations:
Wallydocking in Guymon, OK (FREE)
Family Base Camp in Alamosa, Colo. 
Mesa Verde RV Resort in Mancos, Colo.
Sand Flats Recreation Area outside of Moab, Utah
Upper Big Bed Overflow on the Colorado River outside of Moab, Utah (FREE)
Boondocking on BLM land outside of Goblin Valley State Park, Utah (FREE)
States Covered: 
TN > GA > AL > MS > TN > MS > TN > AR > OK > NM > CO > UT
Significant Stops: 
Black Mesa in OK (highest point)
Wilson Arch in UT
Goblin Valley State Park in UT
Daily Miles Traveled: 
227 miles ⎮ 445 miles ⎮ 403 miles ⎮ 325 miles ⎮ 191 miles ⎮ 125 miles ⎮ 14 miles ⎮ 106 miles
TOTAL Miles Traveled: 1,716 miles
Days on the Road: 9


Previous Trip Posts:
Utah or Bust: Mesa Verde 
Utah or Bust: Moab Part 1 (Sand Flats Recreation Area and Mountain Biking the West Rim of the Porcupine Trail) 
Utah or Bust: Moab Part 2 (Arches National Park)

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