Moon Four Corners by Kathleen Bryant

Author:Kathleen Bryant
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781612382609
Publisher: Avalon Travel
Published: 2012-07-24T00:00:00+00:00

Recreation

You’re well advised to get a local guidebook, or at least a map, before venturing out into the countryside around Moab. Don’t underestimate this landscape—the trails can be highly difficult in spots—and always bring enough food and water in case things don’t go according to plan in the backcountry. Good map choices available all around town include three published by Latitude 40 (http://latitude40maps.com)—Moab East, Moab West, and Classic Moab—and two by Trails Illustrated/National Geographic (www.natgeomaps.com), Moab North and Moab South.

Mountain Biking Trails

Moab has enough mountain bike trails to fill a series of guidebooks; these are just a sampling. The granddaddy of all mountain bike routes, the Slickrock Trail actually began as a motorcycle path. Mountain bikers have since taken over, with more than 100,000 riders per year attempting the 12-mile loop up, down, and around the petrified sand dunes northeast of town. This is a difficult trail, with sand traps, sheer drop-offs, few rest spots, and nothing but bare rock if you fall. It’s also some of the most fun you can have on two wheels—the pedaling equivalent of interval training on a roller coaster, with great views to boot. If this is your first time, try the two-mile practice loop first. (Bartlett Wash northwest of town is another good slickrock area, albeit smaller, that sees much less traffic.)

To reach the Slickrock trailhead from Main Street, head east on 100 South Street; then follow the signs to Tusher Street and Sand Flats Road. You’ll have to pay a fee ($10 per car or $2 per bike) to enter the Sand Flats Recreation Area (435/259-2444), which is about two miles southeast of downtown Moab. Keep going 6.4 miles past the Slickrock Trail parking lot to reach the trailhead for the Porcupine Rim Trail, an exhausting but exhilarating ride that climbs 1,000 feet up into the La Sal Mountains before peaking at a stunning view of Castle Valley from the southern rim. From there it’s almost 3,000 feet downhill to SR 128 and back to town. A shuttle to the trailhead is a good idea for the 15-mile ride.

Another relentless climb awaits at the Moab Rim, but thankfully this one is shorter: almost 1,000 vertical feet in less than a mile. (One biking guidebook says that this “may well be the toughest mile in the world.”) The top of the climb, 1.6 miles from the trailhead along Kane Creek Boulevard, is reward enough, but you can also continue another six technical miles to Hidden Valley and a downhill bike portage to rejoin U.S. 191 south of Moab. Across the canyon is the Poison Spider Mesa Trail, overlooking the Colorado above SR 279. A more moderate ride, this one starts near the dinosaur track and climbs 1,000 feet to the top of the mesa. Drink in the view—all the way to Arches National Park—before deciding if you’re up for the Portal Trail, where you are highly advised to dismount and walk your bike down a narrow trail (with a sheer drop to one side) to avoid a potentially deadly fall.

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