Why Not Walk to Arizona?

There is a place called "The Wave" just over the Utah border into Arizona that I read about in Reader's Digest a long time ago. Only 20 people are admitted into the entirety of the parks listed above per day with only two options for getting permits: Gamble on a 4-month advanced purchase lottery OR drive all the way down to Kanab to camp out at the BLM office and elbow your way past two smelly hikers to get the last available day-of, walk-up slots.  The first time I went there the lottery system was just a dream.  Instead the option was to glue yourself to the park website three months in advance and not blink at midnight when the open slots were posted. After three months of lost sleep and clicking "refresh" on the millisecond, an available slot appeared and I grabbed up the five remaining permits for the far-off month of February.

State Parks Road Trip Week

In April a group of Utah tourism/outdoor enthusiasts took a 72-hour road trip,  visiting all 43 Utah state parks along the way.

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After their trip, Governor Herbert declared August 1-7 to be Utah State Parks Road Trip Week.  The goal of both efforts is to get all Utahns out into at least one state park in 2011.  This week I want to get you excited for a few of my favorite state parks, but first I'm going to let you in on way to do it for free.

State Park Passes are available to check through Utah's public libraries; I cannot think of a single reason to pass up this opportunity for free outdoor exploring!  Based on my own experience at the Orem Public Library, this is what I know:

~Skip the search on the electronic card catalog and go straight to your librarian to get on the list. The pass seems to be creatively labeled and it took my librarian several word combinations before she could find it.

~You're going to be on a long waiting list. I was #19 on the hold list.  My library only has 1 pass and it checks out for 7 days.  But don't lose hope!  They work year-round-so, no, you probably won't get one to use this week, but the parks will be equally enjoyable later in the year-Just don't put off getting on the list or it could be Christmas before you get out there.

~Research now or later.  No need to panic if you're not familiar with all 43 Utah state parks.  The pass comes with a booklet describing each one.  And since you do get it for 7 days, you'll have a chance to group a few together and visit more than one.

Directions and Information:

It's not any harder than the flyer or information I've given above.  Go to your library, get on the wait list, check it out, and go! 

List of participating libraries

 I can't wait to hear how it works for you!