..Still bustin Leebo's chops..
:
..I will be in my Ranger and although I get great gas mileage (and it works out to the 4.0L Rangers range), I only have a 16 gal. tank. With the chance of possibly some severe weather, I would love to find a map of the areas that just had "Services" on it such as fuel...
Ted: AFAIK Moab will be the nearest. However, you should be fine, really. The route will be a ~120 mile "loop" going clockwise from Moab, then West along the CO river, turning North along the Green, and then (presumably) returning East via Mineral Bottom Road to US191, and then straight South to Moab again. Even if you only get 10mpg you should have a decent margin of safety there. I will be carrying 5 gallons like I did at DVNP (though I'll put it on the roof rack this time so my truck doesn't smell like gas fumes) and if we all carry at least one can we should be fine.
EDITED TO ADD: Someone said there was a gas station where UT313 hits US191. Looking on Google Maps I don't see a gas station but I do see a commercial campsite, and they often have fuel at such campsites (although usually at highway robbery prices.) We will hit UT313 coming out of Mineral Bottom road unless we decide to take Gemini Bridges back (it's a nice drive and a very mild 4wd trail) but in any case the junction of US191/UT313 is only about 10 miles from Moab anyway.
To be honest, I think we might have more fuel "issues" once we get away from Moab, depending on the route we take. Lockhart Basin is ~40 miles IIRC and by the time it gets to pavement it's well away from most settlements. Having not been in that area I don't know where the gas is. The map shows developed campsites at the visitor center and Squaw Flat but doesn't indicate whether there is gas there (Google Maps shows a "Canyonlands Resort" with a small airport. Given that there's an airport there, there might be a gas station for cars as well.)
The NPS web site says this about Canyonlands:
Food, gas, lodging and similar services are not available in Canyonlands. These are available nearby towns of like Green River, Hanksville, Moab and Monticello. Visit the Grand County Travel Council for more information.
If we want to head South from the Needles down Elephant Hill or Beef Basin we're going to have to do some fuel planning, I think. We may even have to consider side trips to Monticello or Blanding to gas up.
I
believe there is gas at the Hite Marina off of UT95 (actually I'd be shocked if there wasn't - those big houseboats don't have sails on them!) but I don't know the specifics or the hours of operation (though by late April everything should be open for the season.) There is also an RV park at Fry Canyon, Southeast of Hite Marina off of UT95 and I presume they would sell gas there as well.
Further South and West I'm pretty sure there is a gas station at the Cal Black airfield off of UT 276 near Hole In The Rock trail, at least there was in 1999 when I was there last. There may also be a gas station further to the East but I'm not certain about that.
Final planning note: We should definitely plan on ending up at least one night in Valley of the Gods. We can come down UT261 over Moki Dugway after checking out the Goosenecks, and either camp on top of the plateau (near Goosenecks) or at the base of the Plateau at Valley of the Gods.
As I said before, once we get to Mexican Hat, we're on the Rez and have to camp in developed campsites.