Utah Camping on Slickrock and Sand Tips

Utah Camping on slickrock parts of Western Colorado can be particularly tricky for tent campers. Because of the lack of good firm soil to put a conventional tent stack into and usual gusty winds in the afternoon, tents and sunshades can and do become airborne or roll away. It can really stink to come back from a day of hiking or boating to find your camp has rolled off into a gulch or lake.

I, having experienced much distress from this, and would like to share with you some of the ideas that I have come up with.

On sand it helps to bring with you round or square pieces of 3/8" plywood of approximately 18 or 20 inches in width with an eye bolt in the middle to tie to and bury these about 12" deep at your normal stake points. I also have used flat rocks or sticks buried in the sand.

On slick rock I bring along my rechargeable drill and put in 1/4"x 2 3/4" KwikTap concrete anchor screws. These have a 5/16 hex head and are easily removed after you take down your camp.

First I setup my tent, then I drill a 3/16 pilot hole with a masonry bit longer than the screw where each stake goes and screw them in with the drill and 5/16 hex driver on the drill motor. I use a washer under the head and wrap wire though the tent ring and then around the screw shank twice so that it will not pull off below the washer.

These screws will not let go even in very high winds and blow away your shade canopy which is a necessity in the summer months. Always remove your screws after you are done to prevent injury to other people who will use the same area later. The small holes left will fill with sand and disappear.

For Utah camping or Lake Powell always look up and make sure you are not camping in a flash flood zone. Slickrock will not absorb much and can funnel most water down gulches and low spots. Look at the contour of the hills above before pitching your camp.

Always look for tents that say for high wind use for in open areas like slickrock where there are no trees to break the wind. Dome style tents are best in these conditions. Sometimes I will just take the canopy off the top of my tent or sunshade when leaving for the day in case it gets too windy while I'm gone to prevent damage like bent poles and tears.

Usually I try and camp on slickrock just to keep sand from getting in our food and tent. You can really appreciate this after having eaten sand laced food or slept in a bed full of sand.

One thing about camping in this type of landscape, always be on the lookout for scorpions and rattlesnakes and bring a snake bite kit.

When camping in Utah and Colorado it has become necessary to bring a portable toilet or use disposable solid waste bags to transport human waste out when you leave. I have noticed a great improvement at Lake Powell and other camping areas along the Colorado river from these new rules. The bags are easier to use and transport but can get pretty rank.

There are clean out stations at different points along the main channel at Powell just for portable toilets and when used with the appropriate chemicals to cut odors they are not bad at all.

Utah camping is one of my families favorite vacation destinations,especially boat camping on lake Powell.

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