Help me pick some trails in Moab, UT?

[Mjasi3]

I believe it's just Canyonlands that has a no pet policy on all off road and hiking trails. And Arches NP on the hiking trails.

Thank you. We won’t be hiking, on the arches

Sponsored

 

[Kach Vartan]

My recommendations having just gone a few weeks ago (mostly easy trails):

Day 1- Bronco Offroadeo (think it was an offshoot of Dome Plateau/Kokopelli trail)
Day 2 - Tower Arch and 10-Mile Valley in Arches National Park (good way to get some easy trail riding while in the national park)
Day 3 - Fins n Things (so much fun and most technical of all the trails I ran) and Long Ranch Road (great evening drive with a cool “arch” to drive through)
Day 4 - Gemini Bridges and Potash/Shafer Trail (both fairly easy and the views are amazing; Shafer can be a bit intimidating if you’re afraid of heights)
Day 5— Blue Hills Road, Ruby Ridge Trail (this was a “high speed” dirt road out of town to connect to the I-70 on my way back to L.A.)

A good mix of everything I think for a relative novice. Wish I could have stayed a couple of more days but my wife had had enough…

 

[Ironiguana]

Tower Arch trail is good for beginners and is a good way to get away from the crowds in Arches NP.

 

[jzweedyk]

Get the Wells 4X4 Moab off road book. It will give you a lot of trails, their difficulty, where they are and what you will encounter. https://www.amazon.com/guide-backro...=1745859586&sprefix=wells+moab,aps,203&sr=8-1

 

[Mjasi3]

Get the Wells 4X4 Moab off road book. It will give you a lot of trails, their difficulty, where they are and what you will encounter. https://www.amazon.com/guide-backroads-trails-FunTreks-Guidebooks/dp/1934838292/ref=sr_1_1?crid=YY6PVDZM4NI2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kr8Uy-jKnDPozjx_iphhkOrKFk1HqQvB7S5J3uV-Ar79Kq-9BZD4Rf50-t5iVdW-LNrB9WCOjpVMK56za9C5CUNgSq2kS2vxIsq5Lv_qes8jglSQIxz6wdEe7jtNUsRbqY7d2WJGfNMdBXN_8A2B4HRRKZ9y-zb1Lapf5EV3WVQ.xVK10KWZkvHjBpmG0U3_uGrHlhZXzFZZSkEh6nC7Fx4&dib_tag=se&keywords=charles+wells+moab+trail+book&qid=1745859586&sprefix=wells+moab,aps,203&sr=8-1

highly recommended. im using that also right now. along with onx.

 

[timhood]

Hey folks,

Bought my Bronco in the winter, so I had plenty of time to break her in before heading offroad, hah.

Next week I am headed to Moab, UT for 3 days, including a day of the Off-Roadeo. I'm looking for some good off-road trails in and around Moab and Arches (not just dirt roads) that are beginner friendly/low technical. It'll be just me and my partner with basic gear and a mechanically stock 2DR manual Badlands so won't be doing anything that will get us too far from help if we find ourselves in trouble.

Great suggestions, particularly from @contented. I've done Willow Springs/Eye of the Whale and found it to be easy. Our friends in a Pathfinder accompanied us. Potash Road to Shafer trail is about the same difficulty, which is to say only a few spots that you have to bother to pay attention to, and nothing a stock Badlands couldn't do without a second thought. Along Potash/Shafer, you can check out "Elvis Rock," you can take a short hike/climb to get up-close and personal with dinosaur tracks and petroglyphs, and you can also stop and do a pretty easy hike to Corona Arch. The Potash ponds should be a nice color at this time. "Utah's Caribbean"

As others mentioned, the Shafer switchbacks climb the canyon wall into Canyonlands, which can be scary for those with issues with heights, but the road is 1 1/2 to 2 lanes wide, so you're never that close to the edge. If you go all the way up, you should at least continue to Mesa arch and check that out.

If you like the scenery in that area, you can catch alternate views from Dead Horse Point State Park (admission fee required) and Chicken Corners, which is on the opposite side. Leaving Dead Horse, I took a Road called Big Flat to another road called Big Flat to another road called Big Flat (!!) to get to the Rim Overlook, which offers a different view. Afterword, I realized we probably could have taken the Big Flat road or Big Flat Reservoir road off of Island in the Sky road for an easier way to get there. I would rate that area a little more difficult than the other roads due to some slightly bigger ledges and such, but all within your vehicle's capabilities. Coming from Island in the Sky road, you would bypass most of that. There's also Marlboro Point there, the infamous view used in cigarette advertisements. This would be especially spectacular in late afternoon.

Chicken Corners provides views from the opposite side of the canyon as Dead Horse Point. It has some ledges that need to be managed (meaning you just need to evaluate and choose a good line), but nearly all of them have bypasses people have made. The "worst" part will be when you have to navigate a short left-hand curve around a rock outcropping where the trail is just one lane wide and there's a drop-off on one side. There's room enough that you aren't that close to the edge, but your passenger may think differently! Passengers can always "nope" out and walk it. I was just there this weekend and that section was also really lumpy with some deep holes and mounds (not sure why), but it was not an issue. Hurrah Pass is also accessible from the same road that leads to Chicken Corners, and is easier.

Onion Creek trail is a pretty easy trail (mostly graded road with some rough grade/deterioration) with viewpoints of Fisher Towers and other natural views. This time of year, the green will contrast nicely with the red in the rocks. If you are really adventurous, you could take enough connecting trails to eventually loop all the way around clockwise and end up reconnecting to Highway 191 south of Moab, but that might be best saved for another time.

 

[Bikeric]

I would also recommend Onion Creek. I did that trail by accident on my way to Top Of The World (bad GPS) but I don't regret it at all. Super easy, but really scenic. Take a cooler with lunch and have a picnic out there.
I also enjoyed Ken's Lake and Faux Falls and whatever that trail to the cave was behind there. Nothing technical, just scenic.
I've done Hells Revenge, Fins&Things, TotW as well, but you don't sound like you want to take any chances in your rig just yet. Fins&Things would be the easiest of the trails I just mentioned.

 

[MilesTeg]

If this is your first time doing this kind of thing, I’d suggest Willow Springs 3/3, Eye of the whale 3/3, Tower Arch 3/3. These are all connected and will get you into Arches NP the back way and you’ll exit through the main park entrance. Long Canyon 3/3 is another nice trail and some great views. From Long Canyon take Gemini Bridges 2/2 back out to the main road into Moab. Another would be Potash Road 3/3 (site of Thelma and Louse Point) and continuing on, if your not afraid of heights, take Shaffer Trail 2/2 up the hill and into Canyonlands NP And back to Moab. Another w/ great scenery would be Onion Creek 2/2.

Don’t get in over your head. Start out slow and then, as you build your skill and confidence, try Fins and Things 4/6. The numbers are TrailsOffroad’s rating system on a scale of 1 - 10.

Enjoy your bronco.

Tower Arch
Edited yet again to add a view from top of Long Canyon.

Lot's of great ideas here. Thank you so much! Schafer Trail looks particularly fun!

 

[MilesTeg]

Get the Wells 4X4 Moab off road book. It will give you a lot of trails, their difficulty, where they are and what you will encounter. https://www.amazon.com/guide-backroads-trails-FunTreks-Guidebooks/dp/1934838292/ref=sr_1_1?crid=YY6PVDZM4NI2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kr8Uy-jKnDPozjx_iphhkOrKFk1HqQvB7S5J3uV-Ar79Kq-9BZD4Rf50-t5iVdW-LNrB9WCOjpVMK56za9C5CUNgSq2kS2vxIsq5Lv_qes8jglSQIxz6wdEe7jtNUsRbqY7d2WJGfNMdBXN_8A2B4HRRKZ9y-zb1Lapf5EV3WVQ.xVK10KWZkvHjBpmG0U3_uGrHlhZXzFZZSkEh6nC7Fx4&dib_tag=se&keywords=charles+wells+moab+trail+book&qid=1745859586&sprefix=wells+moab,aps,203&sr=8-1

Thanks. I've been to Moab a couples times and I love it. Now with the kind of vehicle to make it super fun, it will likely be a frequent destination so this guide will be great reading. Thanks!

 

[MilesTeg]

I've done Hells Revenge, Fins&Things, TotW as well, but you don't sound like you want to take any chances in your rig just yet. Fins&Things would be the easiest of the trails I just mentioned.

Thanks. Yeah, neither I nor my Bronco are ready for those kinds of trails yet. Still need to learn! Hoping I get a good start with the Off-Roadeo.

I plan to do more technical stuff, but I'm a 6 hour drive away so can't really take any chances with my vehicle. Probably going to trailer my Bronco there in the future when I do.

 

[MilesTeg]

Thanks everyone, all your contributions are very appreciated!

 

[timhood]

Thanks everyone, all your contributions are very appreciated!

Another plug for the FunTreks book. One great thing about it is that it covers over 90 trails in Central/Eastern Central Utah: Moab, Canyonlands, San Rafael Swell area, and the trails are sorted by area, by name, and by difficulty, so once you do say, Willow Springs Road (which is 6th easiest of all the listed trails), you can assess how comfortable you felt with that ("That was a piece of cake!") and then look at Gemini Bridges (12th) or you might decide you can move past the easy (green) trails and start some medium (blue) trails. The book also does a great job of describing the type of setup you should expect to need to conquer the trail.

Since we both have a non-Sas 2-door Badlands, I can safely say that Top of the World is probably the top of the difficulty list for our vehicles, without doing extra modifications. Maybe Golden Spike, if you travel with someone else. The good news is, that leaves all but 10 trails in the book open for exploration, so that should keep you busy for a while.

Sponsored