Agreed! We've been to the area a few times but had not spend much more than a few hours there. This time we had almost a whole week and there was STILL so much we didn't do!
Yes, such a fantastic area that we keep coming back to. All of these photos were phone photos. I did have an actual camera but I'm still no to photography and those need to be edited a bit yet.Very nice! I agree that one photo is wonderful.. Ive spent some good time out there and it's such beautiful country. Did he take the photos with a phone? Glad you all had an amazing road trip and the little MAV made it just that much more enjoyable
It is MARVELOUS - I love what you did with the contrast. I'll need to do something similar to the full-size photo. Thank you for the inspiration!Hope you don't mind, but I spiced up that photo for you a bit. Really pops an brings the sky out a bit. Hope you like it
Definitely - and we appreciate all that you Rangers do as well!
And boy was there a lot of red dust everything. The truck needed a substantial wash once we got back.
Thank you!
Who got to drive was definitely something we argued about. He didn't like being stuck in the back seat but neither did I! It ended up being about even, maybe favoring him overall by a few hours. I get to drive the truck all the time so maybe I can give him that for this one trip.Great journal and pictures! Thanks for taking us there! Happy you like your Maverick- did you let your husband drive some?
That's one of the reasons I got a Mav too! I don't think a hybrid would struggle with anything that we did for this trip. We ran into minimal sand and no mud. If it were raining that might have been a different story for us but I try to avoid those situations anyway.
Yes! It's a fantastic road trip vehicle in general and we can't wait to do a longer road trip again. In the meantime we'll settle for some of Wisconsin's very nice state parks. I'll have to share some photos of those when we go.Last year we hit multiple national parks on a cross country trip with our two Goldens and our Mav. It's the perfect National Parks vehicle!
The lifetime senior pass is such a great day. I bought my dad one the day he turned 62 and he's gotten more than enough use of of it over the last few years.That’s awesome. We bought our senior lifetime pass several years ago when it was really cheap. Not counting National monuments we’ve now been to 28 national parks.
I don't think AWD kicked in too much. I used hill descent a few times but I didn't engage any special driving modes or anything.
50 years?! Congrats and thank you for taking care of our parks! 40 NPs is also very impressive!
Your journey looks a big more rugged than mine! Where is that - definitely looks somewhere in Utah, maybe around the San Rafael Swell area? That's an area I want to explore more - any recommendations?Getting the Mav dirty and testing the off road chops-
Agreed - it looks like a lot of us have taken our Mavs a bunch of cool places!
Thanks for reading and glad you enjoyed!
Yes in the swell- I have spent ten years exploring in the area- So much to see I still haven't done it all yet - Here are a few more
These are awesome! Thank you so much for sharing! If I wasn't convinced before that I needed to explore that area more, your photos sure won me over!Yes in the swell- I have spent ten years exploring in the area- So much to see I still haven't done it all yet - Here are a few more
Are you guys also doing the passport stamps at the national parks? We started a few years ago and it has led us to explore locations we never thought of before
I've done quite a few off-road trails in the FWD Hybrid. What I do is throw 2 old (stiff) rubber floor mats in the bed and a little camping shovel. If in a sketchy place I dig out any obstructions to the front wheels and toss the floor mat under the front tires...it has so for gotten me out of spinning wheel trouble...but looking ahead of the trail to avoid "real" problem areas helps most and I'm always looking for a place to turn around in case it is needed.
Agreed! We've been to the area a few times but had not spend much more than a few hours there. This time we had almost a whole week and there was STILL so much we didn't do!
Yes, such a fantastic area that we keep coming back to. All of these photos were phone photos. I did have an actual camera but I'm still no to photography and those need to be edited a bit yet.
[Your most welcome
It is MARVELOUS - I love what you did with the contrast. I'll need to do something similar to the full-size photo. Thank you for the inspiration!
Definitely - and we appreciate all that you Rangers do as well!
And boy was there a lot of red dust everything. The truck needed a substantial wash once we got back.
Thank you!
Who got to drive was definitely something we argued about. He didn't like being stuck in the back seat but neither did I! It ended up being about even, maybe favoring him overall by a few hours. I get to drive the truck all the time so maybe I can give him that for this one trip.
That looks like so much fun! Thanks for sharing!I'm finally getting around to posting on this. My husband, a friend, and I were in the Capitol Reef National Park (south central Utah) over Memorial Day week. The plan was to do a few scenic drives and lots of hiking. We're in Wisconsin so we road tripped it out in my Mav.
Firstly, the Mav is a pretty comfortable road trip vehicle. Nice to drive, very comfortable, and having the bed for all our stuff was perfect. (We were in a cabin so no camping gear - definitely more than enough space in the bed). One thing of note, the back seat was a little tight for taller/larger folks (considering we had some bags in the bag seat) but definitely manageable. Overall, very pleased.
As for the trip, the photos are from two scenic drives while we were out there. The Maverick did excellent for both!
The first drive was Cathedral Valley, which we did on Memorial Day since it was going to be much less crowded than doing activities in the main areas of Capitol Reef. The Cathedral Valley loop actually starts just east of the park on Hwy 24 and heads northwest back into the park before looping again towards the southeast and back onto 24.
95% of the road for Cathedral Valley was pretty easy going. Light bumps and rocks but very manageable. The other 5% was dicey going over some bigger rocks or, most commonly, rough terrain when going in and out of washes. I have the Fx4 package and there were a couple of instances where I was very glad I had skid plates. Additionally, a little more clearance on the Maverick would have been great for this but overall it handled it just fine, when driving carefully.
This was taken just off Hwy 24 by the western entrance of the park.
A shot by the Bentonite hills.
My absolute favorite photo of the entire trip that my husband took. The color, composition - everything is perfect. This is the road going through the Bentonite hills. I'm in front of the truck and our friend is at the rear. It would make a great advertising image and I think Ford could sell a lot of trucks with it!
The Maverick by the gypsum sinkhole (not pictured but it was VERY cool) off the Cathedral Valley loop.
Towards the end of the Cathedral Valley loop.
The other major drive was "Looping the Fold" where you drive around Capitol Reef (also called the Waterpocket Fold, hence the name of the drive). This drive was much easier since it's partly on pavement and partly on a dirt road. Beyond some wash boarding in a couple of areas, the dirt road was easy. In non-rainy conditions, any car could do this just fine. Despite the ease of the drive, we only saw 4 other cars the entire day!
This was a very scenic drive that also started east of the park and follows Notom-Bullfrog road south. One could take this all the way to the Bullfrog Marina on Lake Powell, but our turn off was the Burr Trail Switchbacks, which was built on an old cattle route. The switchbacks are the only way to get up the fold.
Once on top of the fold, we took the 3 mile drive to the Strike Valley Overlook, which was totally worth it. This optional sidetrip would not be suitable for just any car as this was a rough road - very rutted and rocky. Taking it slow - the Maverick handled this beautifully as well.
As we continued the drive, the paved road came back when entering into the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument (another fantastic place to visit) and the road heads down into Long's Canyon. The Burr Trail eventually went to Boulder on Hwy 12.
Hwy 12 between Escalante in Boulder is an incredible drive. Knowing that, we took our friend to The Hogback on Hwy 12, which is a fantastic section of the highway where both sides of the road completely drop off for small stretch. It's fun to drive and the views are amazing. From there, we headed up back to Torrey, the town outside Capitol Reef.
The Mav with all the wild flowers off Notom road and a section of the fold in the background.
The parking area for the Strike Valley Overlook.
My Maverick on The Hogback off Hwy 12.
Overall the trip was great, the Mav did great, and we can't wait to go on another one!
That's awesome, Andy! And that's a beautiful Maverick!Last year we hit multiple national parks on a cross country trip with our two Goldens and our Mav. It's the perfect National Parks vehicle!
That looks like so much fun! Glad to see you're enjoying your Maverick!Getting the Mav dirty and testing the off road chops-
That's awesome to hear!! I was planning on getting some recovery boards, I will add the shovel. What do you think about a hitch mounted winch just in case lol
