Outside Online
advertisement
  • Home
  • Travel
  • Gear
  • Bodywork
  • Culture
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
  • Photos
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
Subscribe to Outside Magazine


You Are Here:   Home  >>   Travel   >>  Windows on the Wild

Adventure Adviser

Today's Question
Where in the United States can I stay overnight in a tree? answer

Can you suggest a great African safari? answer

What's a good itinerary for an adventurous family in the Grand Canyon? answer

Travel Resources
  • Best Trips 2008
  • Best Trips 2007
  • Best Trips 2006
  • Best Trips 2005
  • Best Trips 2004
  • Best Towns 2008
  • Best Towns 2007
  • Best Towns 2006
  • Best Towns 2005
  • Best Towns 2004
  • Plan Your Trip
  • Adventure Lodges
Travel Guides
  • The World
  • The United States
  • Canada
  • Caribbean
  • Mexico
  • Central America
  • South America
  • Europe
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Australia & South Pacific

Online Favorites

  • "Into Thin Air"
  • Best Adventure Books
  • The O Files: Unsolved Mysteries
  • Dream Towns
  • Dream Jobs

Special Issues

  • Family Road Trips
  • Interactive Colorado
  • Literary All-Stars
  • Adventure Lodges
  • Oceanic Endeavors
  • Adventure Goddesses

Photo Galleries

  • Malia Jones
  • Amanda Beard
  • Julia Mancuso
  • Women Who Rock
  • Kelly Slater
  • Olympic Cities
  • Exposure: Sara Carlson
  • See All Galleries
share this article del.icio.us DIGG Facebook StumbleUpon

Outside Magazine April 2002

Destinations: Wilderness Lodges
Windows on the Wild
Camelot Adventure Lodge
By Philip D. Armour


Intro | New York | Wyoming | British Columbia | Alaska | Maine | Utah | Montana | Colorado | Quebec | The Selkirk Mountains

King of the desert: Camelot Adventure Lodge

YOU'RE ONLY SIX MILES from Moab as the crow flies, but traveling to Camelot from town on a 12.5-mile dirt road through a mad jumble of slot canyons, mesas, and buttes is excruciatingly slow and difficult, making you feel like a character out of a Paul Bowles novel. This suits owners Terry and Marcee Moore just fine. Formerly managers of a lodge in Alaska, they wanted a Lower 48 spot that replicated Alaska's feeling of utter remoteness, except with warmer weather. Bare but for sunlight, shadows, and Anazasi petroglyphs, the sculpted stone surrounding the lodge inspires guests with a variety of visions: "It's a vulture pulling a covered wagon." "No, it's three hillbillies in a bathtub."

AT THE LODGE The solar-powered, 3,000-square-foot lodge, which opened in 1999, sits on 49 private acres just 200 yards from the Colorado River. The post-and-beam, pitch-roofed building has five guest rooms, each with a private bathroom, shower, and entrance from the deck. The views are modest, but there's a reason: The small windows are meant to minimize solar exposure in the blistering summer. One big space encompasses the living and dining rooms, with welcoming couches and recliners. Through an archway, Marcee rules the kitchen, serving up salt-crusted prime rib and pasta with homemade pesto. For the morning frittatas, she collects fresh eggs.

GO
435-260-1783 >> www.camelotlodge.com

$95 per person per night, including three meals. A two-hour camel trek costs $70 per person. If you have a four-wheel drive, you can drive between Moab and the lodge. Or Terry can give you a ride ($40, round-trip).
THE SPORTS Leave the river's thin ribbon of willows, grass, and tamarisk, and hike formiles in any direction up washes, over sandstone shelves, and down slot canyons. Or survey the desert like a sheik from a camel's back. Terry, a former Hollywood trainer, has tamed five dromedaries for guests to ride. If you'D rather carry your own weight, mountain bike the Amasa Back Loop, 23 miles of road and singletrack starting from the lodge. Bring your own bike or rent one in Moab. The lodge can also arrange single- or multiday raft trips on Class III-IV+ sections of the Colorado.

BACKCOUNTRY FORAY Step off the porch, shoulder a backpack, and head for Dripping Springs Canyon, about four miles from the lodge. Set up a base camp in this parabolic canyon and explore the caves that radiate into Catacomb Rock, hike the myriad unnamed drainages, and taste fresh water from a spring on the canyon's eastern slope. The lodge also arranges three-day camel treks out to Chicken Corners, a skinny, vertigo-inducing ledge nine miles south of the lodge along a trail leading up to the mesa.


Next Page: Triple Creek Ranch

Intro | New York | Wyoming | British Columbia | Alaska | Maine | Utah | Montana | Colorado | Quebec | The Selkirk Mountains

Find Rates
find flightsfind hotelsfind cars
From City name or airport code
To City name or airport code
Leave
calendar
Return
calendar
Find Rates

A new window will open for each site. Please disable popup blockers.
OrbitzTravelocity
ExpediaCheapTickets
HotwireKayak
SidestepPriceline
CostJet

Where City name or airport code
Check in
calendar
Check out
calendar
Guests


Rooms
Find Rates

A new window will open for each site. Please disable popup blockers.
OrbitzHotels.com
TravelocityExpedia
CheapTicketsHotwire
KayakSidestep
Priceline
Pick-up City
airport code
Pick-up date
calendar
Time
Drop-off City
airport code
Drop-off date
calendar
Time
Find Rates

A new window will open for each site. Please disable popup blockers.
orbitz.comcheaptickets.com
hotwire.compriceline.com
search

advertisement




Subscribe to Outside Magazine!

special featrues

Gear Spotlight: Adventure Electronics
Our esteemed Gear Guy hones in the FAQs of the digital world in this exclusive archive.
The Green Issue
Earth Day may fall in April, but global awareness should be a 365-day concern. Let us help you stay focused.




Vacation Packages

More Travel Deals
  • Save 50% on packages to thousands of destinations
  • Thanksgiving flights from $166
  • Last Minute Deals for travel this weekend or next
  • Ski destinations packages from $181
Sign up for our Travel Deals Newsletter


More From Outside Online

Outside August 2008

  • Best Towns
  • Jeff Lowe
  • Burma Cyclone
  • Triathlon Training

Special Issues

  • 2008 Summer Buyer's Guide
  • 2008 Winter Buyer's Guide
  • Outside Blog
  • Unsolved Mysteries

Outside July 2008

  • Andy Roddick
  • Fitness Special
  • Summer Road Trips
  • Canadian Adventures

Online Exclusives

  • Spooky Spots and Terrible Tales
  • Literary All-Stars
  • Oceanic Endeavors
  • Adventure Goddesses

Outside June 2008

  • Malia Jones
  • Weekend Escapes
  • Satellite Radio
  • Joe Papp

Online Favorites

  • Outside Gear Blog
  • Gear Guy
  • Fitness Q&A
  • Adventure Adviser

Outside May 2008

  • Anderson Cooper
  • Best Jobs 2008
  • Surf Genius
  • Russell Brice

Outside Classics

  • Into Thin Air
  • The Whale Hunters
  • Raising the Dead
  • The Long Way Home


Vacation Ideas from The Away Network

Outside's Best Towns 2008

  • Crested Butte, CO
  • New Orleans, LA
  • Portsmouth, NH
  • Washington, DC
  • Rest of the Best

Gay-Friendly Vacation Guides

  • Asia
  • Europe
  • South America
  • United States
  • All Vacation Destinations

Best Fall Foliage

  • Black Hills National Forest
  • Glacier National Park
  • Great Smoky Mountains
  • Monongahela National Forest
  • Shenandoah National Park

Trip-Planning Tools

  • Cheap Flights 101
  • Cheap Hotels 101
  • Compare Rates
  • Travel Insurance Tips
  • Vacation Rentals Index

Top Scenic Drives

  • California's Deserts
  • Mountain Tours
  • Upstate New York
  • Weekend Road Trips
  • See All Drives

GORP's Fall Outdoor Guides

  • Where to Camp
  • Where to Fish
  • Where to Hike
  • Where to Mountain Bike
  • All Fall Guides

GORPTravel Trips

  • Active Resorts
  • Horses & Riding
  • Nature Observation
  • Culinary Tours
  • Volunteer Vacations

Fall Travel Guides

  • Active Travel
  • Cultural Travel
  • Outdoor Travel
  • Romantic Travel
  • All Monthly Travel Guides



  • Home |
  • Travel |
  • Gear |
  • Bodywork |
  • Culture |
  • Videos |
  • Podcasts |
  • Photos |
  • Archives |
  • Feedback |
  • RSS Feeds |
  • Subscribe to Outside Magazine |
  • Join/Login




  • About Outside |
  • Advertise |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Subscription Services |
  • Sponsorship Policy |
  • Outside Info |
  • Site Map |
  • Press Room

  • Outside Magazine Media Kit |
  • Photo Department |
  • Privacy Policy |
  • Contact Us |
  • Contributor's Guidelines

Partner Sites:
  • Away.com |
  • GORP.com |
  • Orbitz |
  • Cheaptickets |
  • ebookers |
  • HotelClub.com |
  • RatesToGo.com |
  • asia-hotels.com |
  • Outside's Go


©1994-2008 Mariah Media Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of material from any pages without written permission is strictly prohibited.