The Barracks Trail

Awesome trail definitely going to return, be careful in the water crossings if you go off the main trail too much you may get stuck like I did…

Kick ass trail and needed all our skills in heavy laden Rubicon's with 2.5/3.0 lifts. To avoid the UP Sandhill that many say is impassable during summer, we traveled this trail South to North. However, to be clear even South to North has a number of sandy hills. Much of the trail has narrow , curvy tracks and deep sand. We aired way down and speed is your friend to keep from sinking. Incredible scenery as you wind your way thru a number of small canyons and up and down hills. We are experienced off-roaders and used every skill needed to navigate. One Rubicon had a roof tent and clearing branches added extra challenge. #26 going up was awesome, 21 pitch and longer that it looks. Also not sure where on the trail it was but another shorter steep wall that if you land on the top rock -you can pause and then switch from low to high to continue on in a deep sand hill. Had a ball! And always enjoy a little water crossing!

What a great trail. Took it in my mostly stock FJ Cruiser. Because of the giant sand hill and some of the reviews I'd read, we drove it from the South to the North. This way, the giant hill is all downward. There's still plenty of challenge though and the views are incredible. The waypoints marked "Rocky" (25 and 26) are fairly steep and require a little bit of tire placing judgment. We got stock in the sand at the top of 25 but were able to dig out fairly easily. Everything else was pretty straightforward moderate sand driving. The water crossings (other than maybe the first 1 or 2 Northernmost) were basically dry and even though the trail gets pretty hard to follow at times, you can tell that many people skipped some of the crossings and simply drove up the creek bed. All in all, the views were fantastic and the trail was exciting. I will be making another visit in the future.

Very fun trail and super scenic!!! We did it south to north to keep it simple. Trail can be tight, bumpy and sandy but it is so worth it. Air down, have some good clearance and 4x4, but you won’t need lockers to do this trail. We did it in an ‘01 TJ on 33” tires with 3.5 inch lift and a JL Rubicon 3” lift and 35” tires. No problems.

Lots of water crossing all shallow. Beautiful rock formations on each side of trail. Tried twice to make it up the big hill with no success. Just not enough traction in dry sand.

I’ve run this trail many times both in my Jeep YJ and Ranger. During dry conditions like my most recent two runs the sand hill is extremely difficult if not impossible to climb, so I run the trail from the coral pink side. This way you are downhill for the sand hill. Even under the driest conditions going downhill on the sand hill presents only a minor problem. My last run in June had extremely low water conditions. In some spots the river had almost dried up. The deepest spots were maybe 6” deep. In the winter I’ve run this trail in snow, Ice and 18+ inches of water. During winter runs the sand holds a lot of moisture and is much easier to climb. There are a few rock area to climb but they are generally no problem for any 4x4 I’ve had out there with me. Finally, the scenery on this trail is just spectacular…I’m local to this trail and this is absolutely one of my favourites. One final point, you can access the barracks trail from elephant cove staging area to the south but that route in is typically much rougher condition than the route from the coral pink side.

Did an overnight trip here. Camped in the opening at the base of the very steep hill at waypoint 24. I have run this previously in my TJ and spent several hours stuck on that same hill. The trail is alot of fun with the water crossings and great scenery. Its a pleasure to run.

This trail has been on my bucket list for many years. Let's just say it didn't disappoint. We also ran this trail in reverse. We did it for two reasons, one we wanted to do the open sections early, in cooler temps. Two, we didn't want to contend with the steep sand hill but still complete the entire route. I'm not a fan of running my Jeep hard in the sand. The water was really low, never more then a few inches deep. Be sure to stop at Waypoint 02 to check out the Belly of the Dragon cave. It's worth the short walk.

Trail was great! Loved it! Did it in a stock JL rubicon.

This trail was amazing, one of my favorite of all time. The views were so nice and the water crossings were really cool. We had to air down to 13 psi and really drop the hammer to get up that sand hill. Getting up the hill was a challenge but well worth it. We met some pretty cool local people out on their Rzr's cruising the trial. We recommend hiking the "Belly of the Beast" at the start of the trail.

this trail is wonderful. I did the run in reverse from coral pink side. it is a long ride but not long enough. I left my trailer at 12:30 and pulled back at 6:30. I did stop several times for lunch and photos. you could probably make the run faster but take my word for it, you are going to want to take your time. I felt sad when it was over. this was my first time on this trail. I was a little nervous about getting lost, the steep sandhill and the water level being to high. everything however turned out great. the trees where mostly just starting to bud. I would say in about 2 weeks it will be very green.

This was such a fun trail. Getting the chance to get my Bison "wet" for the first time and with so many different chances was a pure blast. Such a beautiful area. And yes, the sand hill was crazy and because I had not aired down - was not an option. Tried the first and failed. We really only had the time to do the first half but I'm certainly going to return and do it the reverse direction as everyone suggests. It is a great ride just doing everything up to the sand hill if that is your preference.

Super fun and sometimes a little sketchy trail. We took the trail backwards so we could go down the sand mountain instead of up. We got stuck only a few times until we put rig into 4low. We were driving a slightly lifted Mercedes ML329 and it seems to go perfectly.

Did this trail in reverse with stock Toyota Tundra. Had a great time. Gorgeous and fun but Tundra is a bit too long for several of the spot and will have to replace my trailer electrical plugs that got mashed into the ground in the back. Wouldn't recommend for this reason if you are that long. Tires were aired down to 28. Would have loved to go lower but am new to this and wasn't sure how low I could go. Going down the steep sandy hill (21) was fine. Tried going up it just to see if we could--and we couldn't. Lots of ATV traffic on trail with some coming around corners at you pretty fast. Was deer hunt this weekend so maybe that is not typical. Somehow we lucked out and snagged the second overlook camping spot (35). Stayed there overnight and it was great. Dark sky. Great view of the milky way. The later river crossings (which we hit first) were a bit challenging--at least for the direction we were going--with steep exits. For river crossing 22 (point 23) there is a side trail that goes around the steep exit (for us) or entry if you go in the direction specified. Glad we took that. We put down a board to help us exit river crossing 19 (point 20) --that worked though it broke the board. At point 30 we took 28A (as recommended). Trail was too narrow and added some new pin stripes. We could have easily taken 28 instead and I think that would have been better.

Started from Mt. Carmel end. Could not climb the larger sandy hill, too loose and deep. Ford Ranger 4x4 with rear locker, 32 inch tires aired way down, got stopped just before trying to turn right for the firmer section. Did not want to tear it up any more than it is, or get completely stuck, so backed down. Better rigs could still make it I imagine.

Two of us left the Winter 4X4 Jamboree in nearby Hurricane, Utah and ventured over to this amazing trail. From the waypoints shown on this trail, we completed this trip in reverse. We were greeted with water crossings, mountains, cows, water crossings, private ranches, amazing scenery, and more water crossings. The water was pretty shallow throughout the day with the deepest crossing at about axle deep (about 16").

This is absolutely one of my favorite trails I have done recently. There were two vehicles on an overnight trip. The first part of the trail with all of the creek crossings was really cool. I wish there had been a bit more water, but there was still enough to splash around in. The sand hill was extremely intimidating. With the other driver being a little less experienced, we decided that I would drive her jeep up the hill. She had bald street tires aired down to about 10 psi and no lockers. Oddly enough, I gave it some momentum and kept it steady all the way up the easy part of the hill. After I ran back down, I took a shot in my jeep on new mud terrains aired down to 14 psi and locked front and rear. I managed to get stopped on the turn. Luckily, my tires were able to keep grabbing and with a lot of RPM’s I slowly made my way to the solid track to the right of the hill and up the final bit. This is the quick lesson that airing down significantly increases your chances in sandy situations. After the sand hill, there are a few rocky patches and even another smaller sand hill, yet no match for the big one. After all of this excitement, the scenery just gets better. We camped out at the south valley overlook. Weather was nice and cool with a small breeze, just perfect all night long. The remaining bit of the trail was simple and quick. We stopped and had lunch at Sammie's Chuck Wagon in Orderville. Highly recommend if you are passing through.