Quote:
Originally Posted by Street Wolf
What are all of the 'must see' and 'must do' things around the Moab area? Just general neat places to visit and all the easy/moderate trails to run while there?
Looking for as much information as I can gather before possibly going out there.
|
To me Arches NP is the #1 thing to visit if you haven't been to the Moab area before. Exquisite sandstone formations from arches to hoodoos to cliffs to towers. Amazing place. Many great hikes to various arches such as Delicate Arch and my favorite park hike to Tower Arch in the Klondike Bluffs which is a 5 mile roundtrip of great beauty from just off the Salt Valley Road. Not much 4w in Arches NP but the main one is the Tower Arch 4w trail off of the Salt Valley Road. This takes you to within 1/4 mile of Tower Arch in the Klondike Bluffs area with a then short hike to the arch itself. Then wheeling back the way you came you will come to a 4w junction which will take you to Eye of the Whale Arch if you turn right (SE) in about 8 miles of fun sandy hills and washes. This 4w trail then hits the Willow Flats Road where you can turn east back into the main part of Arches NP. Be sure to take all of the paved roads in Arches as all lead to great places. The second best thing after Arches is to visit Canyonlands NP. Take the Potash Road/Hy279 west out of the north Moab area and drive for miles along the Colorado River. You will go by the interesting Potash Plan itself. Keep going on the now gravel trail and go until you can take the Shafer 4w Trail up into Canyonlands NP. Numerous towering great desert viewpoints in Canyonlands NP. You should also drive south of Moab to the Needles District of Canyonlands NP and wheel the beautiful Elephant Hill 4w trail system. Lots of great Needles area hikes as well.
As for moderate 4w trails in the Moab area, I recommend Hell's Revenge which has lots of bypasses around most of the tough spots, Fins and Things, and Porcupine Rim. All of these are just east of Moab in the Sand Flats Recreation area. Also I recommend Top of the World which is 30 miles east of Moab near the Dewey Bridge area off of Hy 128. The paved drive out to the Dewey area is a very scenic drive along the Colorado River past places like Fischer Towers, Professor Valley, and the scenic Onion Creek Road.
I also recommend wheeling into the area NW of Moab to places like Determination Towers, Monitor Butte, Merrimac Butte, and Courthouse Pasture via the Tusher Canyon 4w trail. Near there are fun places like the Tusher Tunnel, Hidden Valley, Barlett Wash, and Courthouse Rock. Gemini Bridges is fun and also there is the Bull Canyon 4w trail that takes you down below the Gemini Bridges. If you want another very fun 4w trail also try the Poison Spider trail. I have wheeled that alone but it is best to wheel that with other trucks. The Moab area takes years to explore and I for one have only scratched the surface. Lots of good road biking and mountain biking as well all over.
Moab Area Information
