Bogley

[Tucker]

Porcupine Rim

We rode this trail in 2001 and had a blast. For a bunch of Ohio boys the scenery was one of its best features but Porcupine Rim has it all—rugged Jeep trails, incredible rock formations, and, near the end of the loop, a fast single-track descent to the Colorado River. We had two vehicles so we could leave one at the trailhead and retrieve it later. You can hire a shuttle in town or if your feeling really fit pedal east on Sand Flats Road past the Slickrock Trail, gradually climbing 2,000 feet in a 10-mile ascent to the trailhead.

The ride begins next to two spring-fed stock tanks, where you'll find a trailhead register and a sign indicating 14.4 miles to Highway 128 and 20.8 miles to Moab. From the trailhead you climb about 1000’ feet to the High Anxiety Viewpoint at mile 3.6. Here you can pose on a rock ledge extending off the rim with Castle Valley 1,500 feet below. The La Sal Mountains are to the east and the Colorado River Gorge winds by to the northwest.

When you leave the veiwpoint the fun begins—a 10-mile, 3,000-foot descent to the Colorado River and Highway 128. We encountered some deep sand here and there but it was ridable. At mile 11.2, the trail turns to single-track as it skirts the head of Jackass Canyon, and then begins the final 1,000 feet. I’ll admit I walked some of this stretch…the drop off the side freaked me out a little. We had to climb up off the trail once to let 2 dudes on dirt bikes come up. Not sure if that was legal but I wasn’t going to say any thing. There are spectacular views of the river gorge on this last stretch of the trail.

From the end of the trail we turned left on Highway 128 and rode back to Moab. It took us most of the day to do this trail but we stopped to look at the scenery and whatever a lot. We had an 18 yr old with us who did it in 2 hours and was waiting in the motel for us old guys…where’s the fun in that? :ne_nau:

Here is link to use with Google Earth…. you can follow the trail along the rim. It gets a little confusing but you can see it entering Jackass Canyon then follow it along the cliff above the Colorado.


http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=244657


Here are a few pics from our trip:

[Sombeech]

Cool, thanks for the report, Tucker! This is now in the Trip Report Index

I'll have to check that out next time in Moab. Looks like it has really cool views.