Jeep - Offroading, Travel Blog

Moab – 2 More Badges!

We had not originally planned to stop in Moab this trip, but we thought it would be a shame if we would not have at least checked it out for a few days since we passing through it on our way to Seattle anyway.  There are rumors that advocacy groups are trying to shut down off-road vehicle use in the area and that also drove us to consider Moab before those changes might happen.

Temperatures were over 100 degrees every day, in some cases also topping off over 110 too.  We could have done more trails while we were here, but that temperature was just oppressive and we hid in the RV for some of it.  This area is beautiful, and the trails are amazing, we will be back.  The area was in extreme fire danger and there was a fire visible from our campground that was started by an unattended campfire.

From our campground, you could see the Pack Creek Fire (2021 Utah Fires) burning. How much you could see and how bad the smoke impacted us depended on the winds daily. Some of the trails in the area were closed due to their use in supporting the fire fighting efforts. We could see and hear the fire helicopters running from the nearby make-shift airbase at a local construction site.

 

We stayed about 5 minutes south of the city of Moab at St. Danes Cabins and Campground. Apparently, the campground is a recent addition to the property. Other than not being at all level, this is a perfect home base for the area.

 

Seems like every Youtuber will recommend Milt’s Stop and Eat as a must-go-to location in Moab. We are proud to report that after two visits to the shop we do concur with everyone, you must eat here! The Avocado BLT (shown) and the patty melt were great complements with their classic malts.

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Hell’s Revenge

Hell’s Revenge is probably the most known and visited of the off-highway vehicle (OHV) trails.  Many of the rental and off-road excursion companies sell tours from here. Since we were off-roading alone and it was approaching 100 degrees we bypassed Hell’s Gate, Mickey’s Hot Tub, the Escalator, and Tip-Over Challenge. The trail itself is not overly difficult, once you get over the adrenaline-filled first 500 feet where you climb over a slick rock fin immediately off the trailhead.  Much of the trail is just taking the path well-traveled without many technicalities to it. We did take the “long way out” and not the shortcut to the main trailhead.

From Hell’s Revenge trail at the most Northwest point, looking over the Colorado River and the Negro Bill Canyon.

 

We decided to not take the shortcut out to the main trailhead, we used the less used exit trail that leads over the top alongside the City of Moab and exits outside of the park below the cell phone tower.

 

The orientation Barb in the Jeep in comparison to Jason standing gives a good example of some of the extremes on Hell’s Revenge.

Fins and Things

We return to the park on day 2 early to beat the heat to hit the “Fins and Things” trail, another Jeep Badge of Honor trail.  Comparing this trail to Hell’s Revenge we found “Fins and Things” to be more of a technically challenging off-road trail.  Unfortunately, once we got back to the main road we decided to head back to the RV due to a migraine that set in and the sun warming up the day for another hot one.

Barb is admiring the view from the top of one of the “fins” on the “Fins and Things” trail outside of Moab.

 

We pause to enjoy the view over from the slick rock fins, looking North from the trail.

 

The view of the fins from the “Fins and Things” trail.

Arches National Park

The campground owners recommended getting into the Arches National Park early, so we decided to do a “sunrise trip” to Arches on our departure day.  We were into the park at 5 AM in the darkness and out of the park by 8 AM having seen a beautiful sunrise.

We had stopped in at the Moab Information Center and were led to believe that delicate arches viewing areas were ADA accessible and that was not true.  You can access the lower view area with a mobility scooter but not the upper arch as there are a set of steps halfway to the viewing area.  So we moved on, to balance rock and enjoyed the sunrise there.  We also swung through the “Windows Section” loop to view from the panorama point and the windows arches as many of the sights are visible from the road.

Sunrise over Arches National Park (from the parking area near Balanced Rock.)

Balanced rock glowing in the light at sunrise at Arches National Park.

In our next post, we continue north out of Moab to Provo and the Salt Lake City area of Utah.

2 thoughts on “Moab – 2 More Badges!”

  1. I too have been to Moab. It was lovely and if I remember after 30 some years, we hit the river.

    Glad you had a good time.

  2. Pingback: Salt Lake City – Where’s the Lake? – Our Next Chapter

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