UTAH BACKCOUNTRY DISCOVERY ROUTE (BDR) | Episode 1

[@robertscranton8293]

Your photography is astounding.

[@mountainlanders]

That’s very kind of you to say, thank you! Glad you are enjoying the videos

[@rubenfranko6600]

I don’t know why but that music makes more relaxing and curious at the same time. Nice big truck, liked your 👍🏼videos.

[@mountainlanders]

Thanks so much!

[@christianschulz5489]

Great format for the video!

[@kcprince805]

Looks amazing! Plz plz do a walk around of your Excursion build that thing is awesome.

[@mountainlanders]

Thanks a ton! Been thinking a lot about doing a walk around. I always hesitate to do a video because I’m always improving the rig. But I need to break down and just do a video about it!

[@christiansaywhat4492]

That truck is tough

[@onasledoverland]

Beautifully done. Seriously, great video. Drone footage is very smooth. ❤ The BDRs are my goals for the next couple of years. This video so draws me in. Thanks. I'm subscribing 👍

[@mountainlanders]

Thanks for the kind words! We definitely have intentions of doing more of the BDR trails! Do you have one one mind?

[@sandracampbell5590]

Can’t wait for part 2

[@James-mt3gi]

That was awesome! Thanks for takin' us along. I'd like to get out there myself some day from the east coast. ✌

[@mountainlanders]

Glad you came along!! Lots of public land out west to explore on.

[@rodhester2166]

once you go, you will continue to make it again and again.. I go out every other year..

[@gold-digger6579]

Super video! What did you do about gas? Go through any towns?

[@mountainlanders]

Thanks!! Luckily the Excursion has a 44 gallon fuel tank so we never had any fuel issues. The BDR is also designed to provide fuel at strategic intervals, going through towns at the right times

[@gold-digger6579]

@@mountainlanders thanks for your reply! I’m subscribed and loving these! Utah is so beautiful.

[@mountainlanders]

@@gold-digger6579 Utah is an amazing place. Thanks for subscribing and enjoy the BDR series!!

[@weatherornotsubaru]

I haven't watched all your videos of Utah BDR yet, but I have a bunch of questions. We plan on doing this trip in October this year. Of all the sections, which one was the toughest? Are there any tough areas that can be bypassed? Any that require going through water? About how long did each section take you to complete? How many miles did you travel each day? Trying to plan gas/water/supplies. Any must see locations along the way? Also, did you have any trouble finding spots to campa alongside the road? I'm taking my family of 6 along the whole Utah BDR route, giving us about 7'ish days to do it, but not sure that's realistic. I think it's over 700 miles? Can it be done in 7 days or should I add a couple extra? Thanks so much!

[@mountainlanders]

- Of all the sections, I'd say #3 was the most difficult. That's where we ran into our only 'impassable' section and had to backtrack 5 or so miles to a bypass. There was also a couple depressions/ravines the road went through that may have caused us trouble if we were in a smaller vehicle. - We didn't do the 'Expert Only' sections, I think there are 3 of them spread throughout the BDR. We skipped those. Honestly, the trail system isn't hard, we were in 2WD 95% of the time. - There's definitely some stream crossings but none that worried us any. You'll see plenty of water crossings in my videos, but vast majority are less than 6" deep. Even the deepest we faced was maybe a foot deep, no big deal. - We started early and quit around dark and it worked out to about a section per day. We traveled 110-180 trail miles / day. But we were also filming which slows things down considerably. - Onion Creek on Section 2 is amazing, criss crossing through the water is beautiful. Moki Dugway of Section 1 was breathtaking. Mirror Lake (Section 4 I think?) was super pretty. Monte Cristo range in Section 6 as well as Bear Lake itself, all very pretty. - Some sections were super easy to find campsites, others not as easy. Using some type of mobile app for your phone or ipad is really helpful to know what is public land and therefore usable (BLM, Forest Service, etc.) and what is private. I use Gaia and love it. A lot of people us OnX and love it as well. - This isn't super helpful, but as far as timing the only thing I can say is have the goal to do a section a day but hopefully have the ability to be flexible. I don't think it's out of the question to do it in 7 days, you may have to rush through some things but i do think it is doable. Hope that is helpful! -Kaden

[@mountainlanders]

Another thought or two: I don't think October is a bad month to do it in, but I'd be prepared for cold weather. We did section 2 in May and we froze our butts off in the mountains east of Moab. Also on Section 5/6 we got snowed on when we did it in late October of 2022 (20th and 21st) and apparently later groups found it nearly impassable.

[@weatherornotsubaru]

​@@mountainlanders Thank you SO very much for all the info! it's going to help us out a lot. And yeah, we'll be prepared for colder weather. Our last trip out was last weekend doing Section 2 of the WA BDR (plus some exploring) and I think we averaged 9mph due to the rough terrain. From your Utah BDR videos (I've watched them all!) it looks like the roads allow for speeds higher than 10mph. :) So being able to do 100 miles in a day is encouraging. I'm saving all the notes you provided and my Wife and I will discuss the details. We also us GaiaGPS for our main map, might add something like OnX or one of the others apps that have more details road/trail info for this trip. Anyway, thanks again for the info!

[@mountainlanders]

@@weatherornotsubaru Best of luck! Let us know how it goes, hopefully you'll put out some videos we can enjoy

[@jacobjeffs3504]

Hey! Do you have to change the route at all or can the whole route be done safely alone? I mean did you change it from the bdr map on their website so you wouldn’t get stranded

[@mountainlanders]

This first leg of the trip was late May and it was still too early to do some of the high elevation stuff around the LaSal's. So we did have to do some of the winter workarounds. We also elected not to attempt the Expert section at Lockhart Basin alone. But in general the trail is pretty straightforward. When Episode 3 is released you'll see a major obstacle that we had to backtrack and go around!

[@jacobjeffs3504]

@@mountainlanders thank you! I really want to do this but I only have one vehicle to take along…don’t know a lot of people that are into it. Just don’t wanna get in a pickle

[@weatherornotsubaru]

@@jacobjeffs3504You asked a great question! I commented above with some additional questions too. We plan on doing this route (south to north) using the official BDR route, but avoiding the expert/alt routes, doing it this October (2023). We'll be doing it solo unless we can find someone else crazy enough to join us. :)

[@Largerthanlifeadventures]

Video footage is great and sweet rig but otherwise boring as can be,

[@mountainlanders]

Sorry, the budget for the film didn’t include enough for explosions or launching flaming cars into a canyon. Maybe next time though!

[@maritimemoto_ig]

Nice to hear you give credit to the BDR team that develops these routes, they are indeed created by a group of motorcycle enthusiasts, for motorcycle enthusiasts. And though they don’t charge for the route files, they do accept donations to keep the organization operating. The dual sport and adventure bike community knows this. It would be nice to hear the overlanding community discuss make donations as an appreciation for all the hard work they are getting to enjoy.

[@mountainlanders]

I didn’t realize they relied so much on donations, I’ll be sure to mention that going forward. Definitely appreciate their efforts on getting the routes setup!