Utah in April: Goblin Valley, Red Rock and the Land Cruiser Museum

Oct 2

Utah • Red Rock Country • April 2021

Utah in April:Goblins and Red Rock

A week in the striped FJ Cruiser: the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum, slickrock trails, Goblin Valley’s hoodoos and a lot of Boone on a lot of rocks.

Red Rock — Slickrock — Hoodoos — Land Cruiser Museum — Boone on Every Rock — Never Lift — Red Rock — Slickrock — Hoodoos —

Spring Break From Montana

In April, Montana is still mud and snow. Utah is red rock and sunshine. So in April 2021, I loaded up the FJ Cruiser, by then wearing its orange and red retro stripes, put Boone in the passenger seat and headed south.

View through an FJ Cruiser windshield of a highway running through red rock cliffs on a spring road trip through Utah — The view improves fast.

View through an FJ Cruiser window of red cliffs and mesas beside a highway on a spring road trip through Utah — Red rock, both windows.

First Stop: The Land Cruiser Heritage Museum

If you drive a Toyota and you’re passing through Salt Lake City, go. Autoblog describes the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum as Greg Miller’s personal collection: more than 100 Land Cruisers from 14 countries, including rare models that never came to the U.S. and the first Land Cruiser sold here. It opened in 2015.

White Toyota FJ40-style Land Cruiser on display in the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum in Salt Lake City — A clean 40 on display.

Bright yellow Land Cruiser fire-rescue truck on display in the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum — Yes, a Land Cruiser fire truck.

Slickrock and Sand

Then the dirt. Red sandstone ledges, sandy washes, canyon walls and juniper flats. The FJ climbed everything I pointed it at, and Boone supervised from the top of every rock.

Striped FJ Cruiser climbing a red rock ledge under a blue sky on a spring road trip through Utah — Up the ledge.

Striped FJ Cruiser with a rear tire bag in a sandstone wash below cliffs on a spring road trip through Utah — Down the wash.

FJ Cruiser driving a rocky canyon trail between red rock walls under dramatic clouds on a spring road trip through Utah — Canyon trail.

Striped FJ Cruiser parked in a narrow canyon below red rock walls on a spring road trip through Utah — Walls closing in.

Striped FJ Cruiser driving below tall sandstone towers on a spring road trip through Utah — Under the towers.

FJ Cruiser on a sandy trail with junipers and puffy clouds on a spring road trip through Utah — Juniper and sand.

Goblin Valley

Goblin Valley State Park sits on the edge of the San Rafael Swell, about 12 miles north of Hanksville, and it’s full of thousands of mushroom-shaped sandstone hoodoos. It became a state park in 1964. If it looks like another planet, that’s because Hollywood used it as one in Galaxy Quest.

Look all you want, climb carefully and don’t knock anything over. In 2013, two men were charged with felonies for toppling a hoodoo here.