MOAB area info

[goatboy]

There is a group of us XJers (4 or 5) that will be at Moab on the 27th of this month. We found out that we have 3 maybe 4 extra days after leaving the Moab area and are looking for some cool stuff to do. We were looking at the White Rim trail or something along that line. 2+ days with some camping out in bfe. After doing a little reading on the white rim I m worried that we are going to be unchallnged at any point in time. We (the xjers) are all locked front and rear ranging from 4.5" and 32's to 8.5" and 35's.


If anybody can help do a short term plan, or let me know that the white rim will NOT be boaring. We are doing most of the hard core stuff in Moab and taking easier for the last half of the trip.


OR...if anybody wants to "hook up" with a couple 'o St. Louisans and lead us around email me or post here...

Thanks GOATboy

 

[Handlebars]

You will not be bored with the White Rim Trail... if you like beautuful scenery, isolation and an utter lack of humanity. I spent about 5 minutes of the entire 100 mile trip in low range, so if you are also seeking some rockcrawling to go with your scenery, this is not your trail.

A great way to spend some time camping in BFE while doing a lot of moderate 'wheeling would be to take Kane Creek canyon out of Moab, connect to the Lockhart Basin Trail via Hurrah Pass, make a side trip to Chicken Corners off of Lockhart Basin, then continue on Lockhart to it's other end at highway 211, which is just outside the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. There you can 'wheel the moderate Elephant Hill, Salt Creek and Lavender Canyon trails. The last 2 trails are day use only, but Elephant Hill gives you access to a bunch of backcountry campsites amongst the Grabens in Needles District.

This is a really beautiful trip which a Cherokee is perfectly suited as an exploring/camping vehicle. You will drive about 150 miles through some of the more remote parts of this area, of which maybe 130 will be dirt roads and 4x4 trails. I also doubt you will see another person on any of the trails that time of the year. I saw about 10 people the whole route when I did that trip on the way to the 2002 Fall Fling. Plan on taking 3 days to explore all of these trails and be prepared for backcountry camping the entire time, including bringing your own water. You will be rewarded with solitude and awesome scenery.

All of these trails are listed in the Charles Wells book on Moab trails, with that and the Latitude 40 maps, "Moab West" and "Moab East", along with the National Geographic map of the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park you should be able to find interesting stuff to do for a month or so. All of those publications are available in Moab, of you could mail order them.

 

[goatboy]

If we choose to run these trails, are we going to need any kind of permits or regestration?

 

[WI88XJ]

Those are some beautiful pics, Handlebars. I made the first one wallpaper for my 'puter.

Steve

 

[xjblue]

If we choose to run these trails, are we going to need any kind of permits or regestration?

Park Entry Fee, purchase one for Canyonlands and it should be good for both Needles and Island in the Sky(white rim) districts for a week unless it's changed since my last time. You need a permit to camp overnight on the White Rim or Elephant Hill and some Needles trails may require a permit just to drive?, make reservations now. The parks website has all that info http://www.nps.gov/cany/. Lockhart Basin is free of course so if you can't get reservations.....
The White Rim is worth it and there is enough cliffside wheelin to induce vertigo and keep it from being all boring especially when the weather is bad!!

 

[Handlebars]

You will definately need reservations to camp on the White Rim. There are about 10 campsites the whole legnth of the trail, you are assigned a specific site before you leave. You can do a day trip of the trail without a permit, but start early! I would suggest driving the trail in a clockwise direction, starting at the Shafer Trail. There are lots of nice campsites along the shore of the Green River about 100 miles later, just after you exit Canyonlands N.P. and before you go up the switchbacks at Mineral Bottom. That is BLM land and it is free, and only a mile farther than the Laybrinth Camp I paid to stay at when I did the trail.

You will also definately need a permit to drive the Salt Creek and Lavender Canyon trails. Access to both of those are restricted by gates, you are given the combination to the lock when you get your $5 per vehicle permit for the trail at the Needles District ranger station. This same ranger station will also give you a permit for the backcountry campsites in the Needles area, it is $15 per group, if you choose to stay there. There is no permit required to drive the Elephant Hill trail, but you do have to pay the park entrance fee to get there. Yes, that is a lot of nickle-n-dime fees but this is some of the most beautiful landscape in America! It is also in a rare, 4x4-friendly National Park.

Lockhart Basin, Chicken Corners and Kane Creek are all on state lands, camp anywhere you like for free. Find a previously used campsite, they want the use concentrated in this delicate desert landscape. Look in my sig for more Moab pics if you like.