Short version: This spring the boy and I are going to fly somewhere out west, rent a Jeep, drive around for 2-3 days, fly home. Looking for adventure, middle of nowhere-ness, and a chance to put him behind the wheel in a very safe very out of the way place. Moab and the surrounding desert is the obvious option, but is there anywhere else like Arizona or Colorado or.....someplace that should be on our radar?
Long version: My kids get one on one trips with either my wife or I at 12, 14, 16 and 18. The first three are limited to the continental US, the last one is more open. They have to plan the trip and be aware of what all the costs and logistics of travel are. How to check in for flights, check in to hotels, rent cars, that sort of thing. This is half to give us one on one time (which is hard with four kids) and half to give them travel experience.
My son really likes cars and really likes adventure. We've narrowed his upcoming 12 year old trip down to a fly and drive off-road adventure of some sort. He doesn't know yet, but part of the plan is to give him some amount of time behind the wheel in very safe easy out of the way places. Think flat dirtroads in the middle of the desert. There is a very mature Jeep rental industry around Moab and a lot of desert other than the slick rock that you see pictures of. However there are also the old ghost town trails in Arizona and some really interesting looking stuff in Colorado as well. The easy button is Moab, but we're open to ideas. The trip will probably be April/May of next year.
Just tossing in the option of ghost town trails in/around Death Valley, because I've read about people doing it. Although obviously that comes with some big environmental danger factors.
you're thinking too small.. You should rent a dakar team:
http://www.rentmedakar.com/en/
Or
http://www.bajaracingadventures.com/
Or
http://www.wideopenbaja.com/
We visited Death Valley in November and the temperatures were nice, I imagine if you go early enough in the springtime they are fine. The scenery is varied and stunning. We wished we had rented something 4wd so we could expore more.
"There are more than 300 miles of paved roads, 300 miles of improved dirt roads and several hundred miles of unmaintained 4x4 roads in Death Valley National Park."
http://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm
I hadn't thought of Death Valley, that's a good idea.
Colorado. Specifically, the Ouray area.
Red rock slickrock is fun for a while, but the fun of visiting ghost towns and the high altitude scenery is better. There's more variety. The Alpine Loop would be a good chance for your son to do some wheeling without it being too extreme. Imogene Pass is fantastic and you go through the Tomboy Mine. For bonus points, read Tomboy Bride first. April/May is too early to get over Imogene, though - it'll probably still be snowed in.
If you do come out this way, drop me a line. I can get you to some dinosaur bones in Moab or talk you through some of my favorite trails up in the high country.
beanco
New Reader
9/18/15 10:08 a.m.
Watch out for Easter Jeep Safari in Moab. Think Spring Break in Florida, only with jeeps!!!
Crested Butte Colorado is amazing, quite, friendly,bike trails,hiking you name it. Watch weather - we were there in August and found snow!My neighbor lived there and gave me all her old maps of trails and fire roads. Never would of seen most of area without them.
In reply to beanco:
I knew about Easter Jeep Safari and we were going to stay away from that. We're a bit limited to non-summer months and thought that the cool high stuff in Colorado might still be snowed in.
In reply to Keith Tanner:
We're pretty limited to middle (maybe the end) of May as the latest we can do this. We wandered throguh North East Utah and Southern Wyoming this summer and absolutely loved it. It seems like there is a LOT more to see.
Joshua Tree National Park has some dirt roads and off road trails, and despite being close-ish to LA, has a very middle of nowhere feel to it.
For my honeymoon we rented a jeep in Vegas and drove up to the Zion/Bryce area. Fire roads in the national forest got us some cool views of the north rim of of the grand canyon and my wife absolutely loved the trip through Escalante park with the top down.
That all said, I lived in Beatty, NV for several years as a kid and there is a particular trail going from west of Rhyolite to up by Scottys castle that passes two or three isolated ghost towns and a cool double impact crater that I remember us doing several times as a kid and I want to do again in a bad way.
We're still skiing in Colorado in April 
You could certainly bounce around the Grand Junction area, but the mountains will probably still be pretty snowy. If "non-summer" is a requirement and you do want to hit the high country, consider September.
If you are thinking of Moab (spring is a great time to go, BTW) or Colorado for off-roading, grab the appropriate Wells book ahead of time as well as the Latitude 40 maps. Makes for some great planning reading.
http://www.amazon.com/Charles-A.-Wells/e/B001JOZTQ6
http://www.latitude40maps.com/
Thanks for the heads up on the maps. I'll check them out.
Don't tell the rental places a 12-year old will be driving, obviously. A couple more considerations: lots of ATV rental places these days, everything from singles to side-by-sides. Also, in Gateway, Colorado (not that far from Moab, and lower than our mountains, which will almost certainly be snowed in in May) you can rent time in a Baja-style closed course race truck. They also have a nice car museum and great, nearly deserted paved driving roads.
As Keith said, if you want to avoid summer, September is outstanding in the Ouray - Silverton - Telluride area, fewer tourists, great scenery and ghost towns, and most of the trails are pretty easy by Moab standards with lots of rental places. If you come to our area, shoot me a message for some ideas. And you're only two hours from the intergalactic offices of Flyin' Miata and a good Kart rental track.
