If You Want To Disappear…Go Here
If you want to get away — like really get away — I’ve got the perfect spot for you.
It doesn’t make many bucket lists or “Top 10s”. It doesn’t attract many tourists, so it doesn’t benefit from their curiosity and vices. There are no Margaritavilles blasting Jimmy Buffett or 24-page Cheesecake Factory menus. It’s a dry, dusty hellscape for most, and a haven for some.
It’s Utah.
The ~3 million people that call Utah home are tough creatures. Most are deeply tanned — weathered by the high desert sun. Others seek asylum farther north, surrendering to the harsh winters of Salt Lake and the surrounding areas.
Utah wasn’t on my radar until 3 short months ago. I made a post to a travel Facebook group asking what I should see while driving through Utah, and my map suddenly had 27 red pins on it, which was more than the other 8 states combined.
I learned that Utah had more public land than private, which meant that I could camp just about anywhere under stars. I also learned that it was mostly free, so long as I cleaned up after myself and moved every 14 days.
It’s almost too good to be true. We’re spoiled to have so many drastically different, alien landscapes clustered next to one another. We’re reminded of just how cool and crazy this little ball is. Mrs. Frizzle would be shaking in her shoes to show it to us.
The hard part is getting out there. It was a 30-hour drive for me and it would be longer for others, so it’s not the easiest place to get to. There’s a couple of airports, but if you fly, you’ll have to book hotels, which are incredibly sparse.
It’s one of the most popular places for road warriors for that reason.
Any vehicle you can live and sleep in will make your experience 10x better. You won’t have to worry about reservations because none are needed when you can simply pull off the road and climb into bed.
I guess I should mention that there are 5 major national parks in Utah, and they are some of the most beautiful I’ve seen. But when you’re tired of the crowds, just drive out of the park and down the road and you’ll be in a place that’s just as beautiful and interesting.
I spent 2 weeks in southern Utah, and I feel like I just scratched the surface. I’ll be back to explore the salt flats and hang with the hipsters in Salt Lake — I hear they have some kind of film festival up there.
Until then, I’ll blow these pictures up as large as I can get them and hang them on my walls so that I can have a little of Utah at home.
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