Backpacking suggestions? 1 night

Stephanie

Member
Joined
May 8, 2014
Messages
26
Hey everyone!

Me and a friend are looking for a short, overnight backpacking trip to get away from the city this weekend. We live in Salt Lake City and are willing to drive up to 4 hours away to go somewhere. Any suggestions?
Also, my friend was thinking Pleasant Creek?? but we cant find anything online about whether or not you can camp there. Does anyone know?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! :)
 

WasatchWill

Ready For More
.
Joined
Jul 23, 2013
Messages
1,655
Hey everyone!

Me and a friend are looking for a short, overnight backpacking trip to get away from the city this weekend. We live in Salt Lake City and are willing to drive up to 4 hours away to go somewhere. Any suggestions?
Also, my friend was thinking Pleasant Creek?? but we cant find anything online about whether or not you can camp there. Does anyone know?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! :)

Pleasant Creek in Capitol Reef? Yeah, you can camp along it with a backcountry permit from the Visitor Center, but on a weekend, you'd probably have a decent amount of day hikers going through there with all the visitors the park gets this time of year. It's a pretty short canyon and it'd probably be difficult to secure a nice secluded spot unless you're willing to scramble way up above the canyon. Other options down that way include Upper Muley Twist or Spring Canyon. Either one would require the same kind of permit from the Visitor Center. For Spring Canyon, if you wanted to keep it short and not worry about a shuttle, you could do an out an back via Chimney Canyon and camp not far up in Upper Spring Canyon. Lots of options abound around Escalante as well. Or...if you want to keep it closer to home, you could come down to Utah County and there is a fantastic little loop that connects Grove Creek with Battle Creek above Pleasant Grove that would be pretty free of snow. Heaps of nice camp sites abound around the Grove Creek Indian Spring area and Chris Flat and lot of waterfalls to see along both Grove Creek and Battle Creek. Here's a TR from taking my daughter up on that loop a couple years ago: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/daddy-daughter-grove-creek-battle-creek-loop.4810/

Edit: One more option I just thought of...you could also go up to Ogden and go up Taylor Canyon, over Malans Peak (a low peak at about 6k feet) and then camp up in Malans Basin. That was one of my favorite hikes as a teen living in Roy. You also have Waterfall Canyon right there from the same trailhead with a big waterfall that is worth the short hike as a secondary day hike. Like Grove Creek and Chris Flat, it's lower elevation, and what little snow it would have gotten this week will all be melted out by the sunny weekend.
 
Last edited:

IntrepidXJ

ADVENTR
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
Messages
3,466
Pleasant Creek in Capitol Reef? Yeah, you can camp along it with a backcountry permit from the Visitor Center, but on a weekend, you'd probably have a decent amount of day hikers going through there with all the visitors the park gets this time of year. It's a pretty short canyon and it'd probably be difficult to secure a nice secluded spot unless you're willing to scramble way up above the canyon.

I was just in Pleasant Creek last Saturday afternoon on what seemed like a pretty busy weekend in the Park. When we arrived at the trailhead there was no one else there. We had lunch there and then spent a few hours in the canyon. We did see two other groups while we were there, but both of them went to the rock art panel and then turned around. We saw a nice campsite a little further down on on the other side of the canyon from that point that no one else seemed to go past and I don't think would be too busy, even on a weekend.
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
M Suggestions for a 10 day backpacking trip in early June Trip Planning 8
JBPHXAZ Suggestions for 4-5 days Backpacking in the Southwest Trip Planning 2
D Need suggestions for a backpacking trip with a base camp Trip Planning 10
Eugene Suggestions for mid-Nov backpacking trip Trip Planning 2
JBPHXAZ Canyonlands Needles Backpacking Suggestions Trip Planning 8
fossana CO Plateau backpacking suggestions for spring run-off season Trip Planning 14
Jazzy Joe Looking for Escalante Area Short Backpacking Suggestions Early Spring Trip Planning 21
Eugene Backpacking suggestions for May 2019 Trip Planning 18
r3biker Suggestions for 5-day backpacking in Utah Trip Planning 10
tomcat32 Late May suggestions for 100ish mile backpacking trip Trip Planning 1
BryanG Sawtooth Backpacking Suggestions Trip Planning 6
cjhaines Southern Utah Backpacking Suggestions Trip Planning 4
Jimmy BANFF/Jasper/Yoho Backpacking Suggestions Trip Planning 18
DrNed Southern Utah Backpacking Suggestions Trip Planning 17
J ISO Partner / Group for Winter Backpacking Trip / Suggestions Trip Planning 0
blueeyes East Idaho backpacking suggestions Trip Planning 11
Eric O Uintas backpacking suggestions wanted Trip Planning 0
R backpacking trip suggestions Trip Planning 1
C Backpacking suggestions Trip Planning 4
Mike Jones Week Long backpacking, Zion or Grand Canyon? Need Suggestions Trip Planning 27
Nick Backpacking Cedar Mesa - Suggestions? Trip Planning 11
E Weeklong+ backpacking recs in Yellowstone NP? Trip Planning 9
mikejones3 New Backpacking / Hiking Weight Calculator App Gear 0
R Backpacking in the Pacific Northwest Trip Planning 7
NorthwestWanderer Backpacking Grand Teton National Park : Fossil Pass,Fox Creek Pass,Indian Lake,Alaska Basin,Hurricane Pass,Ice Floe Lake,& Snowdrift Lake Backpacking 19
Mikjik86 Backpacking The Wind River Range - Wyoming, September 2022 Trip Reports 3
norwegianxplorer 6 days Backpacking Norway in the Fall (Part 2) Backpacking 4
V four day backpacking trip in southern Utah starting this weekend Trip Planning 4
norwegianxplorer 6 days backpacking Jotunheimen in the fall Trip Reports 4
Desertratgal Backpacking/Packrafting Needles and Maze Districts of Canyonlands Trip Planning 3
BJett Amazing Appalachians - Backpacking/Packrafting the AT and Nantahala River Backpacking 5
kwc Backpacking on the Northville Placid Trail (NPT) Backpacking 13
norwegianxplorer 7 days backpacking Breheimen/Glacier Home National Park in Norway Backpacking 2
SeanIsADesertRat Old guys backpacking in Dark Canyon Backpacking 17
norwegianxplorer Backpacking the Lofoten archipelago in arctic Norway Backpacking 6
Mikjik86 4 Days Backpacking Grand Teton Wilderness/Teton Crest Trail - Wyoming, July, 2021 Backpacking 0
T Southern Utah Backpacking ideas for MLK Weekend? Trip Planning 21
norwegianxplorer Backpacking SAREK NATIONAL PARK, Arctic Sweden, Camping Above RAPADALEN delta. Backpacking 7
TrailScot Canyonlands NP Needles backpacking permit in winter General Discussion 5
ghsmith76 Looking for best multi-day Backpacking Trips near Livingston, MT Trip Planning 6
norwegianxplorer Finding Hidden Glacier, 9 days backpacking Jotunheimen National Park Pt3, Norway. Trip Reports 0
norwegianxplorer Highest Mountain in Norway, Galdhøpiggen, the start of a 9 day backpacking trip in Jotunheimen national park Backpacking 0
montanaclimber Americans: where was your favorite international backpacking trip? Trip Planning 25
norwegianxplorer 5 days Backpacking Rondane National Park, Norway Backpacking 3
norwegianxplorer Backpacking Norway, Femundsmarka National Park Pt 3, Grand Scandinavian Hiking & Backpacking Tour Ep4 Backpacking 0
norwegianxplorer Backpacking Rogen Nature Reserve, Sweden & Femundsmarka National Park, Norway Pt2 Backpacking 2
norwegianxplorer 10 days Backpacking Femundsmarka National Park and Rogen Nature Reserve, Norway and Sweden Backpacking 8
norwegianxplorer Backpacking Scandinavia, Norway & Sweden June-September Backpacking 4
andyjaggy A couple of Backpacking Trip Report Videos Backpacking 0
NorthwestWanderer Backpacking Idaho's Cecil D. Andrus-White Clouds Wilderness : O'Calkens Lake & Bighorn Basin Backpacking 2

Similar threads

Don't like ads? Become a BCP Supporting Member and kiss them all goodbye. Click here for more info.

Top