Utah Off-Road Trails

This off-camber rock thrill ride has nonstop obstacles and precarious situations. Right out of the gate, drivers are treated to a glimpse of what this trail will provide. Although not technically challenging, Razorback will test drivers' skills as they are forced into tippy situations to avoid dragging vehicle body parts on the sharp projections. If off-camber is not your thing, you will want to avoid this short but fun ride.

Part of the famed "Kokopelli Route," the Yellow Jacket Canyon section darts between Dome Plateau Upland and Owl Draw, crossing several challenging obstacles. The southwest end of the trail, near Yellow Jacket Canyon, is mainly a sandy trail with great views of the La Sal Mountains. As you work your way northeast, you will encounter several slickrock ledges ranging from 1-2 feet in height, with optional climbs as tall as 3-4 feet. The trail becomes mainly white slickrock through the middle section and traverses a steep, rocky, and ledgy hill climb before leveling out and passing through a low-lying clay area prone to mud pits during wet conditions. The trail traverses one more rocky hill climb with ledges 14" tall before leveling out on its way to Owl Draw. The only viable dispersed campsites are located near Owl Draw, where you can only find a few spots good for 2-3 vehicles.

This trail is best suited for modified vehicles with lifts and larger tires. Long-wheelbase vehicles will find this trail exceptionally challenging due to breakover angles along the ledgy hill climbs.

Blackburn Wash Road is the southern gateway trail to the vast San Rafael Desert and so much more. Butch Cassidy's hide-out was hidden deep in these canyons. The trail crosses a barren desert with beautiful views of rugged canyons within the Dirty Devil Wilderness area. The trail is a mix of graded gravel and sections of blowing soft sand. For the most part, it's a well-maintained gravel road, but ruts and washboards can be rough on suspension. The route can be completed in high clearance camper vans and trucks with camper tops. While the camping was limited to a few spectacular spots, they'll likely be unoccupied because of the remoteness.

Smooth Knoll Road starts south of Loa, Utah, and goes through parts of Fish Lake and Dixie National Forests before its terminus at FR153, which heads into Escalante. It is hard-packed dirt the entire way and traverses several high meadows and easy mountain passes. Just about any vehicle can tackle this trail, but there is severe washboarding around a few of the passes. You will find numerous camping areas along the entire length of the route. Near the southern end of FR154 is Posey Lake Campground, which is a great place to spend a few days! Posey Lake has a couple of reservable group sites, but most of the individual sites are first come, first serve. The best part about this road is if you need to travel from Loa to Escalante, you can take the normal route (Highway 12 and 24), which is about 90 miles and takes over an hour and a half, or this route, which takes 50 minutes.

Tippetts Valley is located within the heart of the Dixie National Forest in southern Utah. The route easily travels through wide-open meadows and a large section of old-growth Ponderosa Pines. Some of the trees in the area are over 300 years old and mature to heights above 150 feet tall. One of these old giants is along the edge of the trail at Waypoint 07. On this route, you'll have your choice of trails to connect with. Dry Camp Valley, at Waypoint 08, is a difficult 4x4 trail that leads to Duck Creek Village. Tippetts Valley is often used to bypass the difficult section along Red Desert Road. If you have low clearance or don't want any challenges, then this is an easy way around that rough section on Red Desert Road. The remote camping within the pine and aspen trees is a very relaxing experience. Be sure to keep your eyes out for the abundant wildlife found in the area. Elk, deer, turkey, and all the big predator birds can be spotted within this region.

The Fallen Acess is a rocky and challenging connector road between Sand Dune Way and East Fenceline Road. This trail intersects and crosses many popular trails within the Sand Mountain OVH area but is primarily used to access "The Chute" obstacle at the top of Double Sammy and the beginning of The Fallen trail. From the west, the trail starts as an easy trek through soft sand with occasional protruding slickrock and slowly transitions to wavy slabs of petrified dunes. After passing Double Sammy and Papa Smurf, the trail slows to constant crawl speeds and increases in difficulty substantially as you negotiate constant undulating rock, steep drops, and minor off-camber situations. Good suspension articulation, skid plates, and rocker protection are certainly needed for this trail. The trail can be run in either direction and is the same difficulty either way. This trail best suits experienced drivers in modified vehicles with larger tires.

About Sand Mountain

Sand Mountain is an extremely unique parcel of public land. Designated as an Open OHV Area, riders are free to make their own trails. Due to this, many of the long-established named trail routes have several variations that can take easier or more challenging routes through the intended trail. The GPX track for this trail helps you navigate the area, but various lines, bypasses, and additional obstacles may exist along the way. Riders are encouraged to stay on existing trails and not unnecessarily drive over or destroy vegetation.

Fees

Riding on Sand Mountain is entirely free. However, there are multiple entry/exit points for the area, including "the tunnel," which connects Sand Hollow State Park to the open OHV area. Any entry into the boundaries of Sand Hollow State Park requires a Utah State Park Pass.

Requirements

When operating on Sand Mountain, users must attach an orange or red safety flag to the vehicle, rising at least 8 feet off the ground.

The Dixie National Forest in southern Utah has been a hotbed for volcanic activity for millions of years. The region is littered with massive patches of the jagged black rocks that have been slowly overgrown with aspen and conifer trees. If you're looking to get away for a long weekend on forested trails where the nights are cool, then this region of the Dixie National Forest has an abundance of trails to explore and plenty of other family activities as well. There are lakes for fishing, caves to explore, and an awesome hike to Cascade Falls. This area is sure to have everything needed to keep a family busy for a week. The Henrie Knoll trail is a short out and back route that travels to the top of a knoll, 700 feet above the surrounding area. The summit offers stunning panoramas of the Markagunt Plateau and other nearby knolls. The view at the top is a great location for a lunch break while enjoying the fall colors.

This short, 1.6-mile dead-end spur travels along the southwest end of Dome Plateau to a rim nearly 2,000 feet above Professor Valley. For over a half mile, you will ride the edge of the rim with astonishing panoramic views of the La Sal Mountains, Parriott Mesa, Castleton Tower, the Priest and Nuns rock formations, as well as the Colorado River. The drive is fairly easy in a high clearance 4WD vehicle, but users can expect to encounter 6-8" rocks and ledges along the way, tight brush that is likely to scratch your paint, and one loose hillclimb that might require low range. The trail ends at a small roundabout that can accommodate four to six vehicles and offers plenty of level, open ground for camping on top of patches of slickrock. This trail is suitable for any high clearance vehicle, but not recommended for large groups due to the small size of the ending turnaround.

Wedged between two iconic Moab trails and skirting the edge of the Behind The Rocks Wilderness Study Area, Hunter Canyon somehow maintains a low profile while serving as the perfect encore to its neighboring routes. It lures you in with a few optional challenges, but just as you get comfortable and drop your guard, the canyon flips the script, throwing down a tight gauntlet of steep climbs, large boulders, and stacked ledges. It’s shorter and easier than its legendary northern neighbor, but make no mistake: Hunter Canyon is a rock-crawling trail that knows how to throw down.

Tibbet Canyon, located on the Kaiporowtz Plateau, is a beautiful canyon that runs from Nipple Butte to Smoky Hollow. There are several unique rock formations visible throughout the drive, no matter which direction you run it. Obstacles generally consist of bumpy wash crossings, which can increase in size with every storm. Any vehicle with high ground clearance will be able to handle this trail in normal conditions, but if there is any moisture present, 4WD is likely required. The only campsite found along the trail is at its eastern end, where it intersects Smoky Hollow. It is a large and exposed site with plenty of ground for 6-8 vehicles to spread out.

Four Mile Bench spurs off Cottonwood Canyon Road, running 14 miles into the remote Kaparowitz Plateau. The trail climbs steeply along shelf roads up the face of the plateau. It also crosses Wahweep Wash, Blue Wash, and Tommy Smith Creek. These drainages are ordinarily dry but prone to flash flooding and washouts after heavy rains. Four Mile Bench ends at an intersection with Death Ridge Road, 313, marked as impassable by full-size vehicles.

The western end of Four Mile Bench passes Grosvenor Arch. The massive sandstone arch is actually two arches. They tower 150 feet above the desert, with the larger arch measuring 100 feet wide. There is a parking area with a vault toilet for those visiting this imposing natural wonder.

East of the arch, two small campsites sit on the south side of the road. One is a single-vehicle site very close to the trail, while the other is a lollipop site further off the trail. Neither are desirable campsites. Better camping options are available along Cottonwood Canyon Road.

Many refer to this as Thelma and Louise Point due to the 1991 film "Thelma and Louise." Much of the film was shot above at Dead Horse Point and looking down into this location. The road is comprised of dirt with golfball to baseball-sized rocks, and any vehicle can handle it. Follow the track to ensure you stay on the actual road, as you will see many vehicles driving up the edges, which would be considered "off the trail." Camping is prohibited.

The Little Baullie Mesa trail connects the Hotel Rock Jeep Safari trail to Elk Mountain Road in the Manti La-Sal National Forest via Milk Ranch Point. It offers scenic views of Comb Ridge and the area around the head of Arch Canyon. Multiple side spurs access overlooks of Comb Wash and the rim of Arch Canyon, as well as the interior of Little Baullie Mesa. This trail can be used as a connector in a long overland route through Bears Ears National Monument from Arch Canyon and Hotel Rock over Elk Ridge to the Beef Basin area and the Elephant Hill trail.

The trail starts at a turn-off to the right from the Hotel Rock trail just before reaching Hotel Rock. There is one significant optional rock ledge obstacle near the beginning of the trail, where it climbs to the terrace above Hotel Rock. This obstacle can be bypassed by taking an alternate route. A side spur splits off to the east just below this obstacle which leads to an overlook of Comb Wash. A short spur at the top of this obstacle leads to an overlook of Hotel Rock.

The rest of the road across the upper level of Little Baullie Mesa consists of a mostly moderate, lightly used dirt track until reaching the final climb to the top of Milk Ranch Point, which is rocky and rutted. The road on top of Milk Ranch Point is a graded dirt road until the junction with Elk Mountain Road. Near the beginning of the climb up Milk Ranch Point is a hiking trailhead to Lewis Lodge, one of the more famous Ancestral Puebloan ruins in the area. Camping is allowed along the trail, though no established campsites exist.

The Mosdell Trail is a scenic and challenging route through the Hog Canyon trail system, which connects to the network of trails accessed from the Crocodile Staging Area in Johnson Canyon. Much of it follows a ridge line at the top of Mosdell Hill, with panoramic views of the surrounding area. It also serves as the main access route to most of the trails in the Hog Canyon area.

The first part of the trail is sandy and easy, with connections to the Hog Point Loop and Pinnacles trails. It then descends a steep sandy hill into Tom's Canyon to a junction at the beginning of the extreme rated Tom's Canyon trail. Turn left to stay on the Mosdell Trail and follow it up a wash, then up a steep rocky hill to another junction with the Tom's Canyon trail. From here, the Mosdell Trail turns left again and passes over a cattle guard before beginning the difficult climb up Mosdell Hill, which involves a series of challenging rock ledge obstacles along a narrow ridge line. The trail levels out after reaching the top of the ridge, where it connects to the eastern end of the Pinnacles trail. Past this point, it is mostly easy as it follows the ridge to an intersection with Mansard Trail, which leads out to the Crocodile Staging Area or deeper into the trail network around Cutler Point.

There are no established campsites along this trail.

Old Escalante Road is called Main Canyon Road by the Dixie National Forest. Beginning just east of Escalante off Scenic Highway 12, Old Escalante follows Birch Creek through a patchwork of private and public lands before climbing into the Escalante Mountains and descending Escalante Canyon alongside Sweetwater Creek to Widtsoe Junction on Johnson Valley Road. The well-maintained road has steep switchbacks and wide shelf road sections where it seems you can see forever if you are brave enough to look down. Confiers and aspen line the trail at the higher elevations. Colorful cliffs tower above the trail to the north. The western end has whimsical toadstool rock formations.

Spacious campsites on the western slopes of the mountain have felt ground, fire rings, shade, and enough space for even RVs. There is a 16-day camping limit.

Rods Valley Road is a nice mild trail winding its way through the south end of the San Rafael Swell in Central Utah. This trail provides easy access to a number of trails in the area as well as a good route to take you from the south end, up to I70 and the north end of the Swell.

The Upper Porcupine Rim trail is an extremely scenic forest road that is also part of the Kokopelli Trail. It connects Sand Flats Road and the La Sal Loop Road, following the upper portion of Porcupine Rim with spectacular views of the La Sal Mountains and Castle Valley. It is best driven east to west, so the views along the rim are on the driver's side. It is also heavily used by bikes to access the Upper Porcupine Singletrack (UPS) trail, which is part of the Whole Enchilada bike trail.

The hardest part of the road is near the beginning, where it climbs steeply up to the rim from the intersection with Sand Flats Road. This section is heavily rutted dirt interspersed with short sections of slickrock, which would likely be impassable in wet conditions as it looks like it can get extremely muddy. Once on top of the mesa, the trail levels out and becomes smoother, passing through a wide-open flat meadow, which would be great for camping. About halfway into the trail, it reaches the rim of the mesa at an overlook with amazing views of Castle Valley to the west and Green Mountain and Mount Waas to the east. From here, the road follows along the rim for about a mile and a half before turning inland and intersecting the La Sal Loop Road next to the Jimmy Keen trailhead.

Though there are no obvious established campsites along this road, dispersed camping is allowed per the MVUM, and the meadow just before reaching the rim would make for a gorgeous location for camping. There are also multiple established campsites along Sand Flats Road near the beginning of this trail.