One Day in Moab. What trails to hit up

Next Spring my wife and I are doing a 2 week road trip from Minnesota to Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. Mostly we are going to National Parks with a little bit of off-roading mixed in. I already have trails picked out in Colorado (if open) and in Sedona.
I plan for 1 full day in Moab just for off-roading and I kinda want to do TotW but don't want to risk killing my truck halfway through our trip.

What are some other trails that are must see/beautiful, difficulty level 5 or lower?

I definitely plan on going back again and hopefully making just Moab into an every other year trip, depending on how much my wife likes it.

My truck has 1.5" lift, 32" RT tires, with engine, trans, and gas skids (aluminum but better than nothing,) sliders, and steel bumpers. And I have done level 3-4 trails, with a preference of scenery over technical wheeling.


Also on a side note, is an exhaust reroute and transfer skid worth it or not really needed on lower level trails out there?

 

White Rim as it’s limited especially for camping. Can get away with 32” tires and no exhaust reroute there as nothing is too hard. If the scene is what you’re chasing for, then you’re good to go.

If you’re really limited on time then just do easy trails like Chicken Corners. Still great views.

if you’re going from Colorado then do Rimrocker to Moab.

 

When we were in Moab 2 years ago we mostly did difficult stuff.
A good short easy trail is Long Canyon.
This book is a great guide for trails.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=guide+to...trail,aps,145&ref=nb_sb_ss_mvt-t9-ranker_4_10

 

I have a full complete day open for off-roading so sun up to sun down, but White Rim seems a bit long. Maybe in a future trip when we can camp it.
Chicken Corners looks pretty cool as it follows the river.
When coming into Moab from Colorado we are going to stop at Arches.

I have no aversion to long trails, just don't want to risk snapping something in the driveline or breaking a rim going over big ledges.
I definitely will buy a guide, probably will buy ones for Colorado and Arizona too.

 

I’m so glad you asked this question. I’m doing a cross country trip in the fall and I’ll only have 2 full days in Moab. I’ve been trying to figure out which 2 or 3 trails to hit for the bear scenery.

 

It's crazy how many trails are down there, up here in Minnesota you pretty much get 2 options and each can easily be done in half a day.

 

Yeah I opened up OnX and was immediately overwhelmed when looking in that area lol. I’ve been trying to make a decision based on OnX and then watching YouTube videos of the various trails. I’m also looking for easy to medium trails that have the classic mars scenery.

 

Make sure to not wash your truck till you get home, it’s fun turning your driveway red.

 

Up here in Minnesota we have the Iron Range where your vehicle turns red from the iron in the dirt.
So every year when I travel up there I am used to the red mess after when washing the vehicle and my bicycles.

 

I would second Hurah pass to Chicken corners. I’ve only ever dirt biked it but it’s a nice drive with only a couple tricky sections. Fins n Things may be another good option, although I have no personal experience on this trail. I wouldn’t worry too much about exhaust reroute or trans skid as there’s not a whole lot to get hung up on in Moab.

Also many of the trails in CO don’t open till late June or even July at higher elevations.

 

Yeah I figured in CO I probably won't get to off road but I didn't feel like going to Arizona in the summer was worth it to get the chance to off-road in Colorado.

 

Plenty of nice on road drives in Colorado as well. Not sure where you’ll be but look into Independence Pass, Cottonwood pass, Monarch Pass, the Million Dollar Highway are all fun and should be open.

 

Our trip is Minneapolis to Denver to Moab to Zion to Vegas to Sedona to Bluff UT to ?Colorado Springs? to Minneapolis.
Vegas is the only place we have to get to at a certain time because family is flying in to celebrate our 40th birthday there. The rest of the trip is just going to be hotel hopping with no hard schedule, I have about 18 days allotted for the trip.

On the way from Bluff to CO I was thinking of taking Gold Camp Rd to go from Cripple Creek to Colorado Springs

 

If you're only there for one day, I'd do Islands in the Sky.
You can do it in a long day, if you get your permit at 9AM when they open should be out by 6-7PM.
Done it twice, the scenery is beautiful, trail is moderate with only a cpl hard lines.

Rimrocker Trail between Moab to Colorado is also worth considering, however it's a day and a half/2 day trail depending what time you start, we started around 11 AM and finished around 11 AM the second day, overnighting in the mountains.

 

Take a look at Alstrom Point. As views go, it’s really hard to beat. And it’s a moderate trail going out.

 

Not sure what you're expecting and I know it's off-topic for the thread, but FYI: Gold Camp Road is a fairly normal dirt road. Most of it is actually an old railroad right-of-way. There are pretty spots but you can drive the entire thing in a Camry as long as it's dry.

"As long as it's dry" is a huge variable, though. Depending on how early in the year you're here, it could also be covered in snow/ice. The road is only maintained in winter up to the Teller County line. Even the maintained part can be treacherous at times--the descent into Colorado Springs via Old Stage Road (the road changes names as you approach the city and leave the railroad grade) has some steep spots, and they can be slick depending on recent snowfall and freeze/thaw conditions.

Detouring to FS 376 and FS 379 makes the drive more interesting, but they might be impassible at higher elevations until mid summer.

Shelf Road between Cripple Creek and Canon City is more "off roady" than Gold Camp. There are things to do around Canon City/Florence and from there it's just a scenic hour-ish drive to Colorado Springs on pavement.

Colorado has an official trail map website/app called COTrex that's worth looking at: https://trails.colorado.gov/

 

Rimrocker will definitely be on a future trip when we bring camping gear.

I know Gold Camp is a just a rough dirt road, I was pretty much just looking for something more adventurous/scenic to take to get to Colorado Springs.
I want to keep most of the harder off roading in Utah and Arizona.