Moab Trip & Colorado/Idaho - What & Where (1 Viewer)

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LandCruzrNY

LandCruzrNY

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Planning a trip out west for the end of June. Starting in the Denver area and hoping to do black bear road, unless someone has a better suggestion to have some challenge and see the mountains in Colorado.

Next I want to go to Moab/Canyonlands/arches area for 2 nights and 2 days. Any suggestions on the trails to take if it's a once in a lifetime trip? Hoping to go camping, but will it be too hot? Trail capable rig with lift, 35's, winch and recovery gear.

Next, Idaho, planning on going to Horse Heaven area, then over and up to Missoula. Any better suggestions?

What do I need to bring for spares? All new axles, brakes, and all PM done. Any suggestions on water? Extra fuel?

Looking for suggestions on where to go, and what I'll need to bring.
 
Fun trails in Moab that are not super technical, but still have some pucker factor: Hell's Revenge, Fins & Things--both are in the same area and can be run the same day.
 
My suggestion is to spend more time in Southern Utah. There is SO much to do!
-White Rim Trail
-Elephant Hill (still open?)
-The Needles
-The Maze
-Capitol Reef
-Goblin Valley
-Hole in the Rock Road (So many options along here!)
-Calf Creek Falls
-Hell's backbone
-Devil's racetrack
-9 Mile Canyon
-Dead Horse Point
-Poison Spider Mesa

Some of these are destinations, but ALL have amazing scenery and good to great off-road routes to get there. That didn't even get into the Eastern part of the State and didn't cover 1/10th of the options. Just bring some gas cans and your own water. And don't be stupid.

@Crawdad, do you still have the picture of that guide book I showed you? I'm not home and don't remember the title.

Also:
Utah Byways: 65 of Utah's Best Backcountry Drives Utah Byways: 65 of Utah's Best Backcountry Drives: Tony Huegel: 9780899974248: Amazon.com: Books (full of Land Cruisers, can't go wrong.)
 
MDarius said:
My suggestion is to spend more time in Southern Utah. There is SO much to do!
-White Rim Trail
-Elephant Hill (still open?)
-The Needles
-The Maze
-Capitol Reef
-Goblin Valley
-Hole in the Rock Road (So many options along here!)
-Calf Creek Falls
-Hell's backbone
-Devil's racetrack
-9 Mile Canyon
-Dead Horse Point
-Poison Spider Mesa

Some of these are destinations, but ALL have amazing scenery and good to great off-road routes to get there. That didn't even get into the Eastern part of the State and didn't cover 1/10th of the options. Just bring some gas cans and your own water. And don't be stupid.

@Crawdad, do you still have the picture of that guide book I showed you? I'm not home and don't remember the title.

Also:
Utah Byways: 65 of Utah's Best Backcountry Drives Utah Byways: 65 of Utah's Best Backcountry Drives: Tony Huegel: 9780899974248: Amazon.com: Books (full of Land Cruisers, can't go wrong.)
Click to expand...

Isn't that a bit much to squeeze into two days? :)

I would do Hell's Revenge on one day (maybe add all or parts of Fins'n Things if time permits, same area as Hell's), and White Rim on the second day.
 
THIS IS MY POINT!! WHO NEEDS IDAHO AND MISSOULA?? What's even in Missoula?? 2 days isn't enough to do justice to just one of those trails (in most cases).

By the way, I think I just bought the LAST of Massey's "4wd trails: Utah Southeast" available for under $100.
 
My stepdad biked the White Rim Trail (all 100 miles of it) in one day--we started at 0dark30 and I trailed him in a rental jeep. Great scenery, but the wheeling was pretty blah. Would definitely be better on a mountain bike (and like 3 days so you don't have to have someone constantly monitoring your health )
 
What about the Telluride/Ouray pass?
 
They usually have to plow the trails around Ouray and Telluride or they would never open. Check trail conditions before you go and they will tell you if they are open or when they will be open. I would recommend any trail in that area you won't be disappointed anywhere you go in Ouray. All the trails are easy to moderate. The hardest trail there is Poughkeepsie Gulch and it's just one obstacle that is hard. Black Bear Pass is only considered hard because you have to be crazy to drive down the switch backs.

Top of Engineer pass July 3rd 2015

IMG_6067.jpg


Near the top of Imogene pass July 3rd 2014

IMG_3895.jpg
 
I live in Colorado and my dad and my self do a big trip to hit most of the passes every year. We do Blackbear, Imogine, Tincup, Rabit Ears, Pearl Pass, Mosquito Pass and a couple others every year. We usually take it slow and just do one a day (FJ40). In my opinion it seems that every year more people are out on the trails. Be prepared to be stopping and backing up for groups of ATVs. It's beautiful country and super fun but you just have to come in with the right expectation. I am pretty sure Imogine Black Bear and Pearl will not be open at the end of June. We always go at the end of July however and the problem is it rains most afternoons. I would personally probably stick more to Utah and Idaho. Then if you can plan another trip for the end of July or beginning of August when there are not as many people and all the snow is gone.
 
A very, very useful guide to trails and their status...

TrailDamage.com

The best way to do a trip like this is to exploit the passes is to use each as a way to next one. For instance, come in from Denver via South Park, using Mosquito Pass to get to Leadville. Go south and turn up Chalk Creek just past Buena Vista and head for Hancock or Tin Cup Pass. Hancock will hook you up to take the easy drive up to the Alpine Tunnel (Google for more info), then to Gunnison, down to Lake City, taking either Engineer or Cinnamon Pass over to Animas Forks. From there, you have several options, including going down to Silverton for a visit (great trains at mid-day and lots of people, but nearly no one before and after mid-day) then up to Black Bear, Ophir, or Imogene to get over to Telluride vicinity...then on to Utah.

But not really possible to do all those until mid-July, depending on snowpack. Mosquito Pass gets opened the third weekend in July for the Get Your Ass Over the Pass burro,etc race if you want a date when all are fairly certain to be open.
 
Last edited:
Ophir is plowed first.San Juan co.(Silverton) usually gets up top in May.San Miguel co.(Telluride) around Memorial Day or beginning of June.
 
Bring a portable CB radio. The trails in Moab can be difficult to navigate if you don't know them. With a CB, other drivers can help guide you over the difficult areas.

X2 stay in the 4 corners area !! Takes too much of you time to drive north.
 
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