Southwest MO to Moab (I-70 blitz)

[ashaw]

Hey everyone looking for suggestions for our Moab trip in mid Sept. I have Porc. Rim and Slickrock on my radar and we've allowed 5 days for riding and are considering hitting up Fruita or Grand Junction CO for a day or 2 on our way back east.

3 of us, very fit are traveling together. I think we all agree flowy with a little techy makes for a winning combo. We are all flatlanders however and anything high altitude with significant climbing is extremely low on the wish list.

Any must ride recommendations would be immensely appreciated.

[abegold]

If you haven't ridden slickrock (sandstone) I'd suggest starting at Bartlett Wash. Great trail to get the feel of the surface. Then ride Sovereign Trail.
Fruita has flowy Kessel Trail with more trails all around it.

[ashaw]

Kessel looks great....thanks for the suggestions.

[jay80424]

Fruita must do in my book are,
on the bookcliffs side: prime cut, joes ridge, and chutes and ladders. Kesser Run is great, but it's really short. I wouldn't really consider it a ride.
Mack Side: Troy built loop, handcuffs, horsethief bench.

In moab, 2nd bartlett wash, and the soverign system. Also Amasa Back to Jacksons. I wouldn't really consider much of the riding in Moab "flowy". More of a "technical with a high price for failure" type riding, but definatelly worth the experience.

And its definetelly worth the shuttle to ride do the whole enchallada. But do your homework on that. it's a big ride, make sure you and your bike can handle it. http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/enchilada.htm Call the coyoye shuttle in Moab.
http://coyoteshuttle.com/home/

tscheezy here has some excellent videos of the moab area. Check them out.

[smmokan]

If you ride the Bookcliffs area in Fruita, make sure you do a lap down Zippity-Do-Da... best trail out there. IMO it's MUCH better than Chutes and Ladders.

You know, unless you don't like things like this:

[JDubKC]

If you ride the Bookcliffs area in Fruita, make sure you do a lap down Zippity-Do-Da... best trail out there. IMO it's MUCH better than Chutes and Ladders.

You know, unless you don't like things like this:

That Pic is AWesome!! But rides like that look boring. Give me the forests, rocks and roots all day long. If it can be ridden on a road bike its not for me.

[ride_today714]

Many of the suggestions above are great. If I may add some thoughts to make the most of your time: in Moab, Porky Rim is a must. Get a hold of a shuttle service for the ride. Porcupine Shuttle has served my friends and I well in the past, but there are plenty to choose from. The 'primo' version is The Whole Enchilada mentioned above, however that involves a grunt climb to Burro Pass to start things out up to 11000ft elevation (shuttle vehicle drops you above 10000ft though). You can enjoy much of the W.E. by having the shuttle drop you at Hazzard County instead which cuts out the initial climb. In any case, at least start at 'UPS', which leads to 'LPS' and then Porcupine proper. UPS/LPS is some of the best singletrack in Utah IMHO. Bartlett Wash is a great slick rock playground where you make your own line, but if time is short and you head to Slick Rock Trail instead the biggest challenge will be making the climbs-lower your tire pressure a bit and get ready to 'kiss your front wheel' and you will make most if not all of them (based on your original post). Also, consider a shuttle to one of the newer trail systems in Moab: The Magnificent 7 trails. Great set of trails, but the way out is either out on anti-climatic Gemini Bridges Rd or a heck of climb up Golden Spike jeep trail to a Poison Spider or Portal Trail-if you chose to finish on one of these read up-not for the faint of heart! Amasa Back is a great out and back which climbs up ~1500ft in 5miles but then the descent is awesome. The Jackson Trail version is Very technical, FYI.

My 2cents on Fruita: at 18Rd climb Prime Cut to Joe's Ridge-Kessel Run. If you found that a blast, climb Prime Cut again and hit Zippity Do Da, At the Kokopelli Trails, Horse Thief Bench has nice flow (aside from the drop in 'staircase'-youtube HTB 'Drop in' to see the select few clean this section) as does Mary's to Steve's Loop. The 3rd trail head in the area is just down the road in Grand Junction-the Lunch Loop/Tabeguache (Taba-wash) area. If you do one ride there, I recommend seeking out Holy Cross trail. Very well designed technical trail. Happy Trails

[JDubKC]

That Pic is AWesome!! But rides like that look boring. Give me the forests, rocks and roots all day long. If it can be ridden on a road bike its not for me.

LOL I lost 5 Rep points because of this post... sorry to hurt your little egos based off my preference. Carry On.

[JDubKC]

Sill love the pic though...

[kkunitak]

Hey everyone looking for suggestions for our Moab trip in mid Sept. I have Porc. Rim and Slickrock on my radar and we've allowed 5 days for riding and are considering hitting up Fruita or Grand Junction CO for a day or 2 on our way back east.

3 of us, very fit are traveling together. I think we all agree flowy with a little techy makes for a winning combo. We are all flatlanders however and anything high altitude with significant climbing is extremely low on the wish list.

Any must ride recommendations would be immensely appreciated.

Just curious when you guys are going? I'm planning on a similar trip around Sep 22 or so, leaving from MO and actually driving all the way to San Diego, where I'm moving. I've ridden Porcupine Rim before but never did the Burro Pass/Whole Ench. shuttle...

kkunitak

[ashaw]

We are leaving Monday Sept. 12 and planning to drive the ~17hrs. straight thru.

Thanks so much for all the helpful tips guys, they're greatly appreciated. I'm actually thinking we may try to hit up Keystone for a day or two. Anybody been there recently?

[zebrahum]

That Pic is AWesome!! But rides like that look boring. Give me the forests, rocks and roots all day long. If it can be ridden on a road bike its not for me.

I challenge you to ride that trail and not have a smile on your face. Tech gnar is where I prefer to be as well, but that is a fun trail.