Thanks for the great reports!

Shrubs

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Joined
Aug 26, 2019
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Hey, new guy here from Colorado. I love doing just about anything outside in the desert or the mountains. I stumbled upon this forum while researching for an upcoming trip to the Maze, which this site helped inspire! I really like the tone and outstanding content folks have been putting out here. I hope to contribute accordingly. Hit me up if you have any questions about fun stuff in Colorado.

-Shrubs
 
Glasterpiece,

A good friend of mine and I are taking our two boys (7 & 8) out into the Maze next week, starting Tuesday. I think it's going to blow their minds (and mine). I had plans for 5 nights, but we had to cut it back to 3 due to work constraints my friend has at his brewery back in CO. We are staying at the Maze Overlook the first night, hoping to get down to the Harvest Scene, then on to the Dollhouse for two nights. It will be more driving each day than I had hoped for, but nothing I haven't done before.

I've done White Rim with this crew a few times, starting when they were still in diapers, but the Maze looks like way more fun! I'm still picking up ideas for sights and areas to explore while we're there from TRs on this site (thanks Udink, IntrepidXJ and others!). Let me know if you guys have any other suggestions for cool stuff we should check out down there. I have a feeling this will be the first of many trips out there. Hopefully we'll have some good content to put up here when we're done. I've got a couple other trips planned around CO in Sept and Oct, too.

Cheers again to the folks on this forum the inspiring TRs, photos, and info. I'm glad I found it.

-Shrubs
 
Glasterpiece,

A good friend of mine and I are taking our two boys (7 & 8) out into the Maze next week, starting Tuesday. I think it's going to blow their minds (and mine). I had plans for 5 nights, but we had to cut it back to 3 due to work constraints my friend has at his brewery back in CO. We are staying at the Maze Overlook the first night, hoping to get down to the Harvest Scene, then on to the Dollhouse for two nights. It will be more driving each day than I had hoped for, but nothing I haven't done before.

I've done White Rim with this crew a few times, starting when they were still in diapers, but the Maze looks like way more fun! I'm still picking up ideas for sights and areas to explore while we're there from TRs on this site (thanks Udink, IntrepidXJ and others!). Let me know if you guys have any other suggestions for cool stuff we should check out down there. I have a feeling this will be the first of many trips out there. Hopefully we'll have some good content to put up here when we're done. I've got a couple other trips planned around CO in Sept and Oct, too.

Cheers again to the folks on this forum the inspiring TRs, photos, and info. I'm glad I found it.

-Shrubs

Maze Overlook to Doll House is a busy day. I know of an interesting place that is a 20 minute walk from Standing Rock if you're interested. It used to be an official campsite before 1982 but the road is closed now. It's tall enough to stand upright. Not sure why it posted so many pics. There are only two. Spent a few rainy nights in there. Let me know if you want cave.JPGcave.JPG directions.cave.JPGCave1.JPG
 
Maze Overlook to Doll House is a busy day. I know of an interesting place that is a 20 minute walk from Standing Rock if you're interested. It used to be an official campsite before 1982 but the road is closed now. It's tall enough to stand upright. Not sure why it posted so many pics. There are only two. Spent a few rainy nights in there. Let me know if you want View attachment 81120View attachment 81120 directions.View attachment 81120View attachment 81121
It must've been you who posted something about this here several years ago. I just wanted to let you know that I visited the place in November 2017, and while it's not as striking as many of the points of interest in the Maze, I enjoyed visiting the alcove. There were some faint pictograph smudges inside, as well as a lot of soot from campfires. I also saw a couple of pretty rocks on the ground nearby. While there, I could imagine Kent Frost with a group of tourists sheltered inside and a couple of old Jeeps parked in front. Thanks for your earlier post!

IMG_5990.JPG
 
Glad you got to visit. Indeed it's not as striking as other places but it worked out great for a few rainy times back when it was still a campsite and you could still have fires. The road used to be a straight shot to the Doll House. One mile shorter than the present route. Sometime before April 1982 they closed that road. I know it was open in 1979.

It lacks the great views that are seen from nearby camps like The Wall, Standing Rock and Chimney rock.
 
G & U,

I'm reading an interview with Kent Frost I found on the NPS Canyonlands site through Udink as we type. Pretty cool to imagine being one of the first people in there in modern times.

Yes, I imagine we will all be a bit saddle sore by the time we get to the Dollhouse, but was intent on getting down there for a couple nights. I had originally planned another camp in between, but cut that out because of our time constraints. Luckily my friend brews a good remedy for that sort of thing. I've actually found the trails around Moab to be a lot less grueling than a lot of the very rocky roads in CO. I guess we'll see!

This alcove might be a good diversion toward the end of the drive. I can probably find it based on what you've said so far, but maybe shoot me a message to point me in the right direction?

I'm thinking a hike down to the spanish bottom granaries with a swim in river one day will be good, and maybe out past beehive arch to the river overlook the other. We'll see how the boys hold up. I wish I had more time down there and some more time to armchair scout with google earth for this trip, but hopefully I can talk someone into doing this again!

Oh yeah, and what map(s) do you guys like for the area? I've found a couple of useful ones from the NPS, am planning to grab the NatGeo one, and will download a couple of things to run offline on my phone, but maybe I'm missing something.

Cheers,
Shrubs
 
The cave I mentioned is N 37 57 57.2 W109 43 1.1

You would park at Standing Rock and then walk on the road toward the Doll House. You will see an old road cut off on the right. It may have signage that says it is closed. You will eventually come out on a large white outcropping. Cross it and stay to the left and you will find where the old road came off of the rock. Just keep following the road and use the above coordinates and you should be fine.
 
Be careful swimming in the river. There's a rapid maybe 1/2 mile downstream. Brown Betty I believe. It's a pretty hike.
 
Be advised that the NatGeo map leads you to believe that you can see the confluence of the Green and Colorado from the trail as indicated on the map. While we haven’t made that hike we’ve been advised by three separate people that you have to hike further to actually see the confluence. Ask the rangers at Hans Flat for more details.

For the hike to the harvest panel you might want to take a handline for the kids.

Lastly, there are some good pictos not far from Doll House. I learned of them from one of the park rangers. Bear Panel.

Good luck! And be sure to post a trip report.
 
Well, we survived! Been busy since we got back so I haven't had much time to pull anything together, but will work on it. We diverted from our original plan quite a bit, mainly due to the underforecasted heat. We didn't get nearly as much done as I would have liked, but such is the Maze with kids. It was a great exploratory trip and has my wheels turning for the next time I can get out there. Thanks to everyone for the input, it was definitely helpful. More detailed report to follow in the coming weeks. I'm prepping for a backpacking trip to the Maroon Bells, an intro backpacking trip for my 6 year old in the Vazquez Peaks Wilderness, maybe a truck camping weekend with the 3 year old, and elk/deer hunting over the next month, so TRs might be a bit slow coming out.
 
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