Trails around Moab, UT

Aw yes - my mistake. Couple sweet Tundras you guys are rolling in.

I’ve Google mapped the route to Ruidoso to contemplate whether it’s worth it to drive out for install rather than shipping. Little over 6 hours each way…

 

I would say it's definitely worth the trip we have some good wheeling, @STravis is really quick on doing the installs and he has a good powder coat guy. I'm pulling my rear diff and front clamshell and heading to Prescott late next week to get 5.29 gears and elockers installed, so I may not be the best voice of reason....

 

It sounds like a great couple days - I need to make it happen. Hopefully I can get my shit together soon so I can maybe get this done before next summer.

You’d be crazy not to come out and see Zuk - gears and locker will be on my list after the rear bumper upgrade is complete. You getting REM polished so you can go straight to the trail?

 

Couple hours if you head straight back out of Arches NP on the highway. The trail itself is only around an hour with a stock Tundra. You will want to purchase a pass before you leave Moab cell service. I'm sure if a ranger saw you cross into the park without a pass, he would nail you. The NP boundary is marked on the trail.

Plan atleast half a day if you want to see anything in arches. The hike to Delicate Arch is worth it, but dangerously hot in the summer.

One plus of this trail is you get to skip the main gate lines and the timed entry stuff. This is only relevant if you care to check out Arches NP.

 

I drove Long Canyon a few weeks ago as well. Took a bit over an hour. Grabbed a cool picture towards the top of the trail. Rough road, but passable if you are real careful with a stock truck. The top of the trail is the toughest to pass. The highway out and around back to Moab probably takes longer than the trail itself.

 

I’m guessing we will hit Double Arch and then just take the main road back to the gate.

My youngest is in 4th grade this school year so we should be able to use the free pass to get in.

https://everykidoutdoors.gov/index.htm

 

You could take Long Canyon to the highway 313 then take Gemini Bridges back to highway 191.

I didn't do the 313 side of Gemini Bridges. I hear that is the easy side. I drove the 191 side of the route and it was hard on my stock truck. Just an absolute beating on the suspension.

The only place in my adventures I scraped anything was Willow Springs near the NP boundary. I drug a step bar on the slickrock.

My summary:
Long Canyon - would do again with stock truck
Gemini 191 side - would only do with something built
Willow Springs to Arches - Would do with a couple inch lift and bigger tires.

Edit: all three of these trails required me to go real slow and pick careful lines. I probably had no business on Gemini Bridges east side. Long canyon requires some careful lines towards the top and a 4 lo crawl. If the trail deteriorates at all, my stock rig won't be going again.

 

If you have kids, 100% recommend Sand Dune Arch. It's in a full shade slot canyon. It was my kids favorite by a mile. 2 minute walk from the parking lot.

 

Kids will be 10, 11, and 15. They like adventure but certainly not up for long hikes in the heat.

 

THAT is seriously cool.

 

Moab (like much of Utah) is a pretty amazing place. Now that I've been, instead of flying in next time I wanna' take the trailer and boondock. Have my own truck to go explore a bit more. (Like drive Long Canyon and get a picture of my truck under ^^^ that rock!)

The wheeling is awesome, but there's lots of other stuff to do too! Hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and it's astounding how many places there are where you can just walk up and stand on the edge of a 1,000 foot cliff! (I'm from CA, where there's railings and barriers on everything to protect us from ourselves 'cuz people are stupid)

Oh, if you start thinking your Tundra is too big for the trails, maybe try this bad boy.

 

Love this! I'm gonna have to copy it!

 

So that's a stop on our UTV tour that our guide took us to, that "Cliff" we're hanging from is actually a boulder about 3' tall that sits on a downward slope of slick rock overlooking a bend in the river.

He has anyone that wants to get on there for the pic, there's a couple little caves in the rock he points out, and then back to mobbing the trail.

FYI, if anyone wants to beat on someone else's rig rather than your own, I highly recommend the outfit we used.

https://epic4x4adventures.com/

The guide was awesome, and they've set their rigs up to be safe and capable. Beefed up cage, harnesses, super sticky bigger tires, radios so he can talk you through obstacles, and they want you to use the rigs like they're meant to be used. Top notch outfit. We picked a "Mild" trail (Not gonna' lie, there's sections where I was like "Holy shit, we're goin' up THAT?!") but they offer tours on more challenging trails too. Poison Spider for example.

 

2,000 foot selfie

 

The approach

 

Isn't Hell's Revenge where part of that Dirt Every Day show took the stock 2015 TRD Pro Tundra through?

Went and looked it up. It was. I'm sure just about everyone has already seen this, but here's the link.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3u3j0l

 

Don’t recall ever seeing that - something to watch tonight.

 

OP - As a former Moabite, I can tell you your list looks pretty good! If it's not snowed-out, a trip through the La Sals could be fun, too.

I ran into this guy on Hells. If he can do it, you can do it, haha. Just stay away from Escalator and Hells Gate (unless you're feeling brave). Tip Over challenge might be a small challenge but with the long wheelbase of the Tundra, it may not be too bad.


May want to avoid Poison Spider - there's a water fall obstacle a couple of miles in that might be a little nasty but you can always turn around (you'd have to turn around near Where Eagles Dare anyway, as past that leads into Gold Bar then Golden Spike). However, on top of the mesa are some cool turn outs that lead to the rim, overlooking Potash Road. Cool picnic spot.

I worked on that rig! Built by Joe Riley. That dude has built some sick rigs.

 

I really want to take a shot up Hells Gate… anyone want to come spot me?

 

Only do it if you trust the spotter. Recently saw a guy spot a rig onto its side. Then he started to look around to see if someone would help him spot. Fuckin idiot!

All in all it’s not that bad. Straddling and staying level is the key. The Escalator on the other hand was scary.

 

Honestly I dunno what my weird fascination is with being on the edge of stuff like that... It's a little disturbing sometimes.

That thing is BEEFY!

 

Holy crap... I just watched a YouTube video of that. Yeah, that's gnarly

 

Yeah, I did it in my Tundra.

 

Hell yeah.

Any sketchy moments? Is the Tundra's wheelbase an issue?

 

The first waterfall is easy. As you climb to the bottom of the second waterfall there's a pool of water. I initially just tried to keep going straight and ended up teetering backwards to the rear driver side, that was freaky. My spotter had me back up and then get my passenger front to climb the passenger side wall. Front lockers helped me climb up. No issues with wheelbase because the radius of the waterfalls were nicely rounded - I was on 37s back then too. I had a video of it but can't find it.

 

Nothing like a good spotter!!

Sometimes the physics and wheel placement can be a bit counter-intuitive to what people with limited wheeling experience (Me, not you) want to do.

 

For sure. A lot of times when there's a wall of rocks and the trail is off cambered that wants to slide the cab down into the wall, people naturally want to turn away from the wall. I turn into the wall so that my tire can climb up a little bit of it, which ends up being enough to tilt the cab away from the wall. Doesn't always work but little body damage is better than a lot of body damage

 

I did hells revenge in rented Rubicon on 35s 10 years ago. We must have bypassed the escalator. I think the rental company has a list of obstacles we were not supposed to do in their jeep.

 

Shorter wheelbase on the Escalator have been known to flip.

 

I’ve been watching a bunch of hells revenge videos on YouTube including yours @Cruzer - definitely staying off escalator and out of the tubs but I’m determined to go through hells gate. Training up my wife on spotting… I’ve convinced myself there is only the spot almost at the top where a set of eyes outside would be super helpful.