What are your favorite spots to hike and camp in December?

Ellen

Ellen

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Joined
Sep 26, 2022
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Hello all! I have some time off December 15-24. What are y’all’s favorite areas for hiking and/or back country camping in the winter? Looking into Zion but open to anything!
 
Zion's a great choice for winter. Last winter during a particularly cold snap I spent time time in the Muddy Mountains in Nevada, they were lovely and quite a bit warmer than anywhere in Utah.
 
but realistically, basically anywhere in S Utah is great for winter hiking as long as it's sunny and there's not too much snow on the ground, which is usually the case. snowy backroads can be a problem so I usually try to have a plan involving hiking from pavement if there's much snow. but I don't do much camping in winter, the nights are just too cold and long.
 
regehr said:
Zion's a great choice for winter. Last winter during a particularly cold snap I spent time time in the Muddy Mountains in Nevada, they were lovely and quite a bit warmer than anywhere in Utah.
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Seconded. Anywhere in the low country surrounding Vegas is great. Did a very enjoyable off-trail backpack near Lake Mead in the dregs of winter last year; it was plenty warm.
 
Have done some stuff around Escalante in December......Had a near death experience on the very first trip where we went down one of the dirt roads and it quickly turned into the most scary horrific mud imaginable. Our vehicle slid down a steep downhill part of the road and by some miracle we did not go over the edge to our deaths. We spent the whole day at the bottom of that steep hill wondering how we would get out. 6+ inch deep mud and no other humans for a long way. We had camping gear, water and food and 3/4 tank of gas and having driven down from Vancouver, Canada we had a set of chains. Being around Xmas the mud ended up freezing solid and I managed to get the chains on near midnight (After being there since 2PM) and we drove out with those ever so wonderful chains wrapped around our wheels.

Lesson learned and now we do not go down those dirt roads in Utah if it is wet, threatens to rain or if there is snow on the road (as it often warms up during the day and that melted snow turns those roads to nightmare mud).........

Be careful and have fun.
 
Canyonlands Needles District. Temps can be in the teens at night, but it's quite pleasant in the daytime.
 
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