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Moab Trail Conditions

54K views 311 replies 115 participants last post by  alexbn921 
#1 ·
Any word on recent trail conditions. Bar m trails or other singletrack? Whats rideable?
 
#99 ·
The work took place between 3/31 and 4/6.
New paint on rocks to show trail, rocks moved, trail widened, rockwork ramps, and several large boulders have had portions chipped off and removed to make more room on the trail.
It is significantly easier to ride clean now than it was in the past.
 
#101 ·
Ran in to the trail crew today.
TrailMix, so it's sanctioned trail work.
The crew has worked on the entirety of the last section of Porcupine singletrack now.
It is now significantly easier, smoother, wider.
Rock ramps everywhere, lots of boulders chiseled or moved.
Crew member said that the work is being done in order to keep people on the trail and to stop the trail braiding and alternate lines from springing up around the formerly tech sections.
The work is pretty in places, but the majority of what used to be tech and challenging for many riders is now much easier for all riders.
Crew member said that they left the hard sections in place and didn't alter the harder tech lines, but I did not find that to be the case.
Some people will likely love the new trail, others will certainly be bummed.
 
#106 ·
It's more than that though. There's a dumb it down trend in Moab I've noticed over the past few years that has nothing to do with leaving hard lines while providing easier options. The Notch/Snotch is a good example. Even with another trail option all together, trail crews felt the need to dumb down the Notch?
 
#108 ·
blah, this sucks...I've always looked forward to the technical finish, there are plenty of easy trails in Moab, stop messing with the classics

So when we start riding around the easy sections to find harder stuff are they going to build a technical trail?

why not just line the technical sections with logs and boulders to keep people on the trail...if you cant ride it get off your bike and walk!!
 
#113 · (Edited)
Looking like i might be in moab may 4th/5th to ride. Will i be able to ride the whole enchilada? Is there a page that lists current trail conditions/status? I found tons of pages with general trail info/descriptions, but nothing regarding current conditions. I'm guessing the top isn't rideable until late summer. Even our "high" trails around here, at ~7,000' elevation are often not rideable until july or august. I'm hoping though! *fingers crossed*

Assuming it's not all open, how high will I be able to start?
 
#120 ·
A quick note to all those who are terrified that they will absolutely slay the singletrack that Trail Mix worked on - You Won't. It's still challenging, in fact it looks as though they avoided the test pieces all together in favor of working on braided areas. I did notice two or three spots that were easier to ride but they were secondary features that weren't too difficult to begin with. Some of the sandy, grunty little ups have been reinforced to stop erosion. Noticable, but again, not the hardest spots to clean in the first place. The wash is still the wash, I couldn't detect any changes. Ride it tomorrow and be just as proud as if you rode it last year, it's still a neat trick.

In all, I would rate the work as A: Well Done (when I even noticed it) and B: Definitely keeps the rugged spirit and technical challenge of the trail intact.
 
#123 ·
No Hazard or Burro Soon

For anyone still nursing ideas of an early run down Hazard, or an earlier than normal opening of Burro, the following map will be a downer. SE Utah's mountains are now the highest percent above normal snowpack of any place in the entire western US.

Sure is great for the desert, though. Hero dirt abounds.
 

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#124 ·
I'm back from my trip. Had a great time despite cool and showery weather during most of the visit. Not really wanting to start a ride in a thunder storm and rain meant pretty late starts on at least a couple of mornings. Didn't get as much riding in as i hoped but did get to witness some pretty neat weather.

While hiking in ***** Bill Canyon, a thunder storm let loose a deluge of skittle sized hail and then rain for 10 minutes or so. That led to a bunch of temporary waterfalls and streams cascading down the canyon walls and through the canyon floor to the main creek. The trail was flooded in many spots and we ended up hiking barefoot. It was a lot of fun.
 
#125 ·
It is really cool when the waterfalls pop up. Imagine your 10 minte shower lasting several hours - that is when people get into real trouble in the canyons. You can find some video of flash floods in the canyons on YouTube - you can't outrun them, and if you are in a place where you can't climb to safety = bad. The other weirdness that catches people who aren't familiar with the canyons is that some of the canyons are miles long, and you can get flooded even if it isn't raining where you are...I know a very experienced outdoorsman who had that happen - he knew better, but he didn't think there was any risk. He parked his truck in a bad spot for convenience while he hiked, and a few hours later it was up to the doors in a raging torrent full of rocks and trees, even though he didn't even get rained on.

Know the risks out there...
 
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