New to Utah & New to backpacking

[Nushean]

Greetings

I am pretty new to Utah and want to go on a backpacking trip in Southern Utah with some of my friends who are coming to visit me from Portland. I have only been on one overnight backpacking to Mt. Adams last september which was amazing, but right after I moved here to Utah! Any recommendations of where to go the month of October, for a weekend trip? It could also be in the Uintahs or somewhere else just looking for some suggestions.

Since I am new here and my friends can come visit me all the time, I would like to expierence more outdoors here in Utah as well as backpacking more etc. What are some suggestions you may have to meeting people who wouldnt mind having a beginner tag along or some that are safe enough to go alone?

Any hike recomendations also......short day hikes besides Milcreek canyon? Since I am already positng might as well ask.

Well thats all for now.

Cheers!

 

[Nick]

Welcome to BCP, @Nushean!

October is a fabulous time of year to head south. It's hit or miss in areas like the Uintas - mostly miss. The only downside are the long nights so I personally tend to prefer car camping in the fall over backpacking. More fun to be had when you can have a campfire and a cooler nearby.

For backpacking, the Escalante region is my favorite place on the plateau. You could spend the rest of your life exploring it so just pick anything. That time of year the lower canyons are a better bet. Coyote Gulch type of stuff.

For car camping, hiking and exploring, the San Rafael Swell is an awesome place to go.

As far as meeting people, best bet is to let people on places like BCP get to know you a bit via your posts. There's a lot of meet ups that happen but most want to get a pretty good feel of people before heading out.

Welcome to Utah! You're sitting on a goldmine of outdoor recreation.

 

[TannerT]

Welcome @Nushean !
I echo everything Nick has said. Escalante is such a wonderful and plentiful area to explore. Our last visit there we met a man from Oregon who said he was just coming out of the backcountry after two weeks. After talking for a little longer he confessed that ever since a friend of his convinced him to tag-a-long to Escalante back in the early seventies that he'd spent every years two week vacation in Escalante exploring and adventuring. Now I didn't go to math school but that's a long time. Needless to say Escalante in the fall is a great time to do something.
Good luck and I hope all your friends enjoy their time here in this little state we call "Adventure."
Salud!

 

[Laura]

If you want to blow everyone's mind and not do something too hard take them to the Great Gallery in Horseshoe Canyon. It'll be gorgeous in October, not to mention it's part of the route Aron Ralston took after he cut off his arm so there's the human interest factor. The drive to get there is classic Southern Utah, with wide open plateaus and monoliths in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Nick]

If you want to blow everyone's mind and not do something too hard take them to the Great Gallery in Horseshoe Canyon. It'll be gorgeous in October, not to mention it's part of the route Aron Ralston took after he cut off his arm so there's the human interest factor. The drive to get there is classic Southern Utah, with wide open plateaus and monoliths in the middle of nowhere.

Lots of other goodies in that area too!
http://backcountrypost.com/forum/threads/moonshine-wash-keg-knoll.1603/


Anyone know when the leaves peak in Horseshoe? @IntrepidXJ @Udink @pixie1339 ?

 

[IntrepidXJ]

I don't know when they usually peak in Horseshoe, but they were nice at the end of October a few years back when I was there.

 

[pixie1339]

Yep, end of October is usually when the peak color hits that area. Horseshoe is amazing! You also can't go wrong with Capitol Reef or the Needles in the fall. If you're looking for some nice fall color closer to the valley the Desolation Lake trail up Big Cottonwood is gorgeous in the fall. Lots of aspens up there! Early October is the time to hit that trail.