Offroad, overland, and rock crawling opportunities are abundant in the Moab, Utah area, with 100s of open roads and trails that range from easy to extreme. The area spans over 103,000 square miles and includes lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, The Manti-La Sal National Forest, Utah State Trust Land, Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, and the Sand Flats Recreation Area.
While the most well-known trails, such as Hell’s Revenge, Fins and Things, Poison Spyder, The White Rim Trail, and the Rimrocker, are typically the main attractions, the area is home to plenty of hidden gems worth exploring.
While visiting and riding the trails, enjoy Arches and Canyonlands National Parks to round out your trip. Plan accordingly because Arches now has a timed entry system from April through November, where you need a permit to enter. It is also important to know that summers can have extreme heat with monsoons, and even though it is a high-plain desert, it can snow in the winter months.
Dispersed camping is limited and only available in designated areas. Each Trails Offroad trail guide lists the various camping opportunities, including BLM’s designated campsites. BLM also manages several campgrounds with vault toilets and picnic tables. Within Moab, you can find various lodging and dining opportunities and repair and maintenance services for your vehicle.
Browse the trail guides below to find what best suits you.
Are you looking for a trail close to Moab that provides an iconic Moab experience and is a Jeep Badge of Honor Trail? Then start the motor and head to Sand Flats Recreation Area for Fins and Things! This particular trail packs a tremendous amount of fun and grand views of the La Sal Mountains in the background while driving on the mysterious-looking "Fins and Things." "Fins" are the Navajo Sandstone slickrock formations northeast of Moab, and the "things" are what remain as the fins erode. The fins started as wind-blown dunes over 200 million years ago that got cemented into sandstone, and they are now going full circle back to sand blowing in the wind. The term "slickrock" emerged when early western settlers crossed this sandstone in wagons with wood wheels on steel rims. Those steel rims definitely didn't have the traction we have today with rubber tires. As a matter of fact, they found it rather "slick." Imagine facing down a 40-degree slope on wood and steel wheels! Fins and Things is the penultimate trail for proving just how grippy slickrock really is. You'll probably have a pretty tight grip on your seat cushion as well.
Welcome to Hell's Revenge, the world's most famous slickrock trail. Slickrock is petrified sand. The slickrock moniker dates back to when horse-drawn wagons would try to cross the seemingly easily traversed undulating sandstone. Metal horseshoes and steel-rimmed wagon wheels found no grip on the sandstone. Thus, it was called slickrock. Modern tires love the course sandstone. Moab's Hell's Revenge is considered a must-do for many wheelers. It's also in most folks' top 5 Jeep Badge of Honor Trails. When picturing Moab, the slickrock rollercoaster, fins, steep climbs, insane traction, and the two rubber tracks cresting over the hills off into the distance of Hell's Revenge is what comes to mind. If eavesdropping on conversations at any Moab watering hole, you'll hear names like Hell's Gate, The Hot Tubs, Car Wash, Micky's Hot Tub, The Escalator, and Tip Over Challenge mentioned reverently and constantly at the heart of any good Moab story. They are all on Hell's Revenge.
The Rimrocker Trail is a route of connected trails that allows you to enjoy 160 miles of off-pavement travel while experiencing the many different stunning landscapes that connect Montrose, Colorado to Moab, Utah. The trail is an especially vibrant destination to travel through the aspens during their fall color changes as well as stopping for the fantastic views at the overlooks. Towards the west end of the trail, the Manti-La Sal National Forest provides beautiful scenery and wildlife as well as gorgeous views of the La Sal Mountains. As you approach Moab, the landscape quickly turns from forest into desert as it transitions to some shelf roads built of the signature Moab red sand. Rimrocker travels through some historic areas of Colorado, highlighting the areas that reflect the mining days of the early 20th century. One area, in particular, is the old, abandoned company town of Uravan. Uravan is a contraction of Uranium and Vanadium. The town was a company town established by U. S. Vanadium Corporation in 1936 to extract the rich vanadium ore in the region. As a byproduct of vanadium extraction, small amounts of uranium were also produced. You will notice a green hue to many of the rocks as you travel through this region. The green hue is an indication of the presence of uranium ore. This trail is an overlander's dream trail offering multi-day camping opportunities, scenic vistas, impressive flora/fauna (absolutely massive swaths of Aspen stands), and a multitude of ever-changing biomes and landscapes. This trail is definitely one to take your time on, soak up the glorious sights and sounds, and make some new incredible memories. Whether you are brand new to overlanding or a seasoned wheeler, this trail has something for everybody. Don't forget the camera!
Whenever you see the photo of an offroad-ready rig on a sandstone slab jutting out over a glorious-looking red valley, that's this trail. That is right, Top of the World is a famous trail! It is most famous for its challenge and iconic views, let alone being a Jeep Badge of Honor Trail. The inspirational view from the top is going to automatically increase your bucket list to include Onion Creek, which you will have a birdseye view of as you nest on the perch above. The challenging drive to the top, its 360° view, and the unique photo opportunity make Top of the World a story you will tell for years to come.
This is a short, looping side trail off the Upper Hunter Rim trail, which goes out to a spectacular overlook on a rocky point along the rim of Hunter Canyon, looking across to the stunning rock fins of the Behind the Rocks Wilderness Study Area. Aside from that rocky point, the rest of the trail is easy sand. While there are no established campsites with fire rings along this trail, there are a couple of sheltered flat areas at the base of sandstone pinnacles that would make good campsites.
This is a scenic, moderate alternative route to the middle section of the Behind the Rocks trail, which follows the upper rim of Hunter Canyon. It offers excellent views across the canyon into the Behind the Rocks Wilderness Study area and great dispersed campsites.
The route starts just after climbing out of the wash with the "High Dive" obstacle on the Behind the Rocks trail, with a right turn on a lesser-used track that winds around to the north to the rim of Hunter Canyon. From there, it follows the canyon rim for a while before dead-ending at a spectacular viewpoint/campsite on a point sandwiched between the canyon rim and a tall slickrock fin. Doubling back from there and turning right, you pass through a flat area at the base of more slickrock fins with additional dispersed camping opportunities. Turn right again to follow an easy sandy track that parallels the Behind the Rocks trail across a state trust land parcel, skirting the base of some sandstone cliffs before ultimately rejoining the Behind the Rocks trail just before Hummer Hill.
This route receives significantly less traffic than the main Behind the Rocks trail, and is much easier, with only a few moderate rock-ledge obstacles. It can be an easier bypass to the Vertical Ledges obstacle at Waypoint 16 of Behind the Rocks. Multiple dispersed campsites can be found near the trail's northernmost point, though the one at the main viewpoint is very exposed to wind. More sheltered campsites can be found amid the tangle of short spur trails further back from the rim.
This short 3+ mile side route takes you to within a .5 mile hike of the Green River and Colorado River Confluence Overlook. It's an exceptional viewpoint of the two rivers that separate the three districts of Canyonlands. The trail is mostly smooth dirt with a few short sections of Slickrock that protrude just enough to keep this trail interesting. There are no named obstacles, but a narrow section with a Slickrock fin will require the correct line as it offers no bypass. A picnic table and pit toilet are in the parking area at the trail's end, which makes for a nice lunch stop.
D1700 is a short, straight-through spur road off Long Canyon that leads past a gas well and back to Long Canyon. The road is an easy, hardpacked two-track offering great views of the La Sal Mountains. Camping is not allowed for the first half mile along the western end, but no pre-established campsites exist along the remainder of the road. This trail is suitable for any vehicle with decent ground clearance.
The Upper Porcupine Rim trail is an extremely scenic forest road that is also part of the Kokopelli Trail. It connects Sand Flats Road and the La Sal Loop Road, following the upper portion of Porcupine Rim with spectacular views of the La Sal Mountains and Castle Valley. It is best driven east to west, so the views along the rim are on the driver's side. It is also heavily used by bikes to access the Upper Porcupine Singletrack (UPS) trail, which is part of the Whole Enchilada bike trail.
The hardest part of the road is near the beginning, where it climbs steeply up to the rim from the intersection with Sand Flats Road. This section is heavily rutted dirt interspersed with short sections of slickrock, which would likely be impassable in wet conditions as it looks like it can get extremely muddy. Once on top of the mesa, the trail levels out and becomes smoother, passing through a wide-open flat meadow, which would be great for camping. About halfway into the trail, it reaches the rim of the mesa at an overlook with amazing views of Castle Valley to the west and Green Mountain and Mount Waas to the east. From here, the road follows along the rim for about a mile and a half before turning inland and intersecting the La Sal Loop Road next to the Jimmy Keen trailhead.
Though there are no obvious established campsites along this road, dispersed camping is allowed per the MVUM, and the meadow just before reaching the rim would make for a gorgeous location for camping. There are also multiple established campsites along Sand Flats Road near the beginning of this trail.
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