Riding In Moab?

[number82]

Any suggestions on where to ride in the Moab area? I'm heading out to Utah the end of September to do some mountain bike riding and I'm thinking of taking my Montesa.

Are you allowed to ride a trials bike on the slickrock trail?

What other areas are available?

thanks in advance

[dhead44]

Hey #82,

Moab is a great place for the trials bike! You can ride the slickrock trail with motorcycles. Contrary to what most mountain bikers think, the trail was actually laid out by motorcyclists, for motorcycles in 1969. You'll get a few dirty looks, but most bikers are pretty cool and very interested in our bikes. I think they are a bit jealous watching how easy the hills are when you have an engine

There is a pretty cool OHV area designated for use by 4x4's and other motorized vehicles called Area BFE. I think the local club has put on some events there in the past.

Check out the website http://areabfe.com/

A lot of the jeep trails are pretty good rides, too. We try to pick out the more difficult rated trails. Gas can sometimes be an issue with the trials bikes, so we always carry some extra fuel and try to ride the shorter trails. Some favorites are Seven Mile Rim, Moab Rim, Poison Spider Mesa, and the many near Gold Bar Rim area.

http://www.4x4now.com/mu4wd.htm

See ya,

Dana

[trialsrfun]

Yes you can definitely ride the Slickrock Trail on a motorcycle, the trail starts just a few miles out of Moab and is fantastic. Trials & Trail bikes can be hired locally but if you have your own go for it. There is a lot more to the area than just the one trail enjoy.

TRF

[number82]

Thanks for the input.

Do I need a spark arrestor for any of these areas?

[dansalton]

If you're going to be in Moab with a trials bike, seriously think about doing the 5 Miles of Hell trail. http://www.utahtrials.com/5moh/5moh.html and here's another http://myweb.cableone.net/bcanderson/5moh.htm Do a google search on "5MOH"... lots of stories and info. It's not in Moab (at least an hour drive away) but I've tried to ride it on my regular dirt-bike and bailed, so want to try it on a trials bike some day. I know there's plenty of people who can and have ridden the 5MOH on their full-size dirt bikes... and they are my hero's.

Also, closer to Moab, think about spending a couple of hours playing around at Klondike Bluff. It's not as famous as the Slickrock trail, but still lots of slick rock to ride on and not as many mt bikers giving you the fish eye.

And don't worry about the spark arrestor. Unless things have changed in the last couple of years, the only rangers you'll ever see will be if you ride in the national parks (either Arches or Canyons, both open to riding but only on marked trails) and even those rangers didn't even look at any of the bikes people were riding last time I was there.

Dan

[number82]

Dan, thanks for the reply.

5moh is on my list. I hope to find others riding it while I'm out there...so I can tag along.

[sportsawyer]

A spark arrestor is required for BLM or FS lands. About all the areas/trails mentioned involve BLM lands, so you'll need a spark arrestor.

In the Moab area, Pritchet Canyon is well suited to trials bikes. You can do it as an up & back and get into some good obstacles shortly after leaving the trailhead. It's about 5 miles to the top of "Yellow Hill" from the bottom, so it's easy to ride this segment and back with trials bike range, and still have fuel for riding various lines on the bigger obstacles. There's a strip of private land you'll need to cross at the bottom of Pritchet Canyon, and the landowner charges $2 (or there-abouts) to cross his land.

As mentioned, 5MOH is a great trail for trials bikes. I've done it on both enduro and trials bikes, and it's lot's more fun on a trials bike... almost like it was made for trials bikes.