100Acre
Samsquinch the Terrible Magic Bean Manipulator
Lifetime Member
Club Contributor
Utah is an amazing state that at one point in the day you can be in desert conditions and within a few hours you can be well up above the timberline and in semi glacial snowfields in the middle of summer. Have any of you guys or girls ever driven the whole UTBDR or just sections of the BDR? I drove most of it back in 2015. There were some sections that I just could not do in my F150 with truck camper and pulling a trailer. Some areas had just gotten some spring showers and those cliff roads were a bit freaky driving in the Utah Dragon Snot mud. Boy what an adventure that was! The BDR's were drawn up mainly for motorcycle use but because most of the trails are on National Forest roads, anyone can drive their 4 x 4 trucks jeeps etc on them. There are parts that are basically inaccessable like I mentioned above but the BDR maps clearly show the detour points which are themselves on NF roads. I think there were only 2-3 spots you had to drive around due to narrow single track trails and a width limited old bridge or two, plus all the detours were no more than a few miles out of the way. All in all, every BDR I've ever driven has been a most phenomenal experience! Each state's map shows the whole trail and breaks it up into sections and on the back each section is broken down into Elevations, where you can find water, backcountry fuel, lodging and other amenities. If you can only do parts of it at a time, that's fine too. I've known a few folks who go back each year to different parts of the trail to eventually complete the whole thing. Much like many hikers do on the Appalachian Trail. On average and if you're driving at a leisurely pace most state's BDR's can be driven in 5-7 days. I have heard of folks doing the whole trail in just 3-4 days but that's rushing it. Some trails can be iffy and near treacherous at times due to weather conditions so it's recommended that you drive it with other vehicles. Idaho's BDR stops at many hot springs along the route and it's over 1,000 miles long. I'd like to revisit the UTBDR sometime in my Pioneer. Feel the exhilaration!
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