Flake Road aka Illinois Gulch

This is an amazing trail with lots of options, lines, and paths to explore. As far as moderate trails, this one is more challenging. I would rate it a 4 out of 5 for difficulty.

Trail was totally dry for us today. Where the mudhole typically is, I made it through fine on 35's with a lift, buddy on 33's with small lift needed a hand. Mini moab is of course the main draw here, but is getting pretty wore out. Alot of the rocks have deep undercuts now. We weren't interested in breaking anything so played it conservatively here and didn't try playing around too much. The big downhill after mini moab should be a concern in wet or winter conditions. It's over 30° downhill, long, and a bit slippy even in dry conditions. This is a really fun trail, with options to make it as easy/hard as you'd like.

Great “backwards” run down Flake Rd (WP 7-1) today so we could go “up” Mini Moab. Picked the far left line, no problemo (Rubicon 392 XR and buddy’s Rousch Raptor). Bogs near WP 4 were a no-go for sure - betting deep one was over 2 ft easy … lots of daily rain lately.

Super fun trail! Went west to east, and came back via Missouri Gulch. I liked all of the options (easier or harder) at most spots along the way. Probably a few good water traversing routes (one was deeper than we anticipated, but fine … one was “Aww hell nah”). Moab Hill was crazy cool. With stock 1.5” lift and 35s on the Rubicon 392, I was comfortable doing any of the steps and looking north where you’re going down the hill, we chose the left trail (easy) bcuz I down have a lot of under armor yet (just diffs) and just haven’t driven enough to fully grasp all the 4-wheel options - noob. Would be interesting to try it east to west and go “up” Moab Hill sometime.

Fun day. Lots of mud and little of everything. Stock vehicles will be able to play around the obstacles as the obstacles have a variety of lines from easy to hard.

Snow-free, great day.

Ran up the trail to Moab Hill. Did a few lines up and down. It was a great day. The trail is in good condition. There is some snow in the shadows, but everything is passable.

Ran this trail in conjunction with a bunch of other trails in the area. I found this trail not too difficult in most areas, but rougher on the section between Long Hollow and Mini-Moab. This was the primary trail planned, but decided to also explore other trails in the area. It to had lots of mild off camber areas, lots of tight turns, ice and snow in a fee areas, and was a but rougher then most of the other trails. I think the Concerns section needs to include more details such as mild to moderate off-camber due to the the Mini-Moab section and other parts of the trail. It did make for a great day out. I will definitely visit this area mor often.

Trail is open and no real snow issues. The mud pits really have gotten dug out in some areas and mini Moab is dug out a bit more. Overall, good running trial still.

I was out to update the trail today. The high end of this trail will get a single digit increase on the high end. Moab Hill has gotten more dug out. The mud hole is also VERY deep now. If I had to guess, the Forest Service will close that soon and just let the bypass be the new trail.

First time off roading in rocky terrain vs flat mud in an (at the time) stock LX470. Trail has a couple obstacles, but everything has a relatively easy bypass, but even stock I was able to take some of the obstacles. Great intro to Colorado offroading

The trail was fun and easy, the main purpose of our day was to have some fun on Mini Moab. We started there and played around for a bit, then ran the trails, and finished our day on Mini Moab again. Had a blast.

Calvary 4-Wheelers ran Flake on Saturday, May 28 as part of a tour of the Rainbow Falls area. We came in from Overlook (Waypoint 6), went down to Moab Hill and then back out to the top so we did not run the lower portion of the trail. The parts we did run were open, clear and dry. At Moab Hill a couple of us played around a little, mostly on the easier far left lines. I did make a successful run up a slightly harder line not quite as far to the left. We also ate lunch there and watched others make their way up or down various lines including a Bronco II that got itself crossed up and pinned against a rock coming down a little right of center. He had to be winched back up by a buddy. We also saw a JKU Rubicon on 37s successfully come down the hard center line and then get hung up trying to go back up it. He winched to a tree to make it the rest of the way up. I voted for "spot on" for the difficulty as the lower, mandatory rating is good but I think there are a couple optional lines on Moab Hill that exceed the 6 rating.

Fun trails here. Spent about 5-6 hours running this and some of the spurs that connect. I love this area this time of year. Everything is dry for the most part but plenty of puddles and some good mud holes to bash through. 2004 Jeep LJ, 35s

Ran this yesterday. Hard to believe just how dry it already is out there.

Fun trail. Mini Moab can be as hard as you want it to be. Was dry all the way through when we ran it.

Trail is open, dry, and ready to go for the season. Was a little busy but not too bad for being one of the few trails open on a great 70 degree spring day.

Ran this trail on 4th of July, came in around noon. The trail is dominated by SxS and ATVs. Saw a couple stock vehicles do it without a problem. All obstacles have bypasses. There’s a couple water crossing with A ton of water. Moab hill itself is no joke. There’s many different likes you could take. I went with the “moderate” bypass

Trail is in good condition, there are many bypasses to most obstacles, it's hard to tell if these are legitimate or not, attempt to stay the main trail as much as possible. Moab hill is no joke, used the bypass for my stock Tacoma OR. Watched a side by side drop into the center. Went in the AM, not to crowded but by noon was pretty busy. Heavily used by OHVs. Definitely a more challenging orange trail for a stock vehicle, great for beginner to learn their vehicle. Would be easy with 33's or more.

Little other traffic and trail was packed under the tires. A few mud holes near the entrance off of rainbow falls. Definitely can get tricky from the entrance to Moab Hill.

Hit this trail today, with Missouri Gulch as a solo run. No one else was out there today, a nice run. Didn't get too aggressive on Moab Hill due to no teammates out there.

Trail was dry and easy to travel on. Traffice was overall pretty quiet and just a few jeeps and side by sides. Hit the middle line on mini Moab and got a little turtled but pulled out just fine. Mud pits were mostly dry. Overall great day for hitting the trail and no real concerns today on the trail.

Trails is open, dusty, and dry except for a couple of puddles near waypoint 2. No real mud. Saturday was VERY busy. More SxS's than trucks, but lots of trucks too. Moab has gotten a lot meaner since I was there last (a few years ago). The bypasses are still easy though.

This trail is open, however, CAUTION. Colorado weather is unpredictable this time of year and there may be the occasional fresh snow fall or mud and melting snow. This trail is in an area of the state where snowfall levels have dropped for the season and the majority of the trails are dry, muddy and/or only have a small bit of snow on them. Again, please use caution if traveling on these trails until the dryer season.

Went to the Rainbow Fall area and had good time. Not to crowded, but needed to watch for bikes and ATV's. Ride up to Little Moab was a nice trail with a few challenges. Not mudding so pretty easy. DId only a small section of Little Moab as not setup to run those steps yet. Fun watching other try. Was able to find a few other obstacles that did challenge the stock JLU Rubicon, and those were fun to tackle. Nice park and will be back to take on more!

Ran rainbow falls area. Only a few inches of snow and trails packed down and patchy in spots. Did only a small section of this to get to Moab hill then doubled back to Illinois gulch. People were coming up from the main trailhead though. Great day!

This area is a lot of fun and has a plethora of trails to explore! It's extremely easy to spend a full day here and find some varying trails to test your skills. I like to start on Illinois Gulch (which is about 1-2 minutes north of where this page tells you to start) and work my way to Long Hollow Road. Illinois Gulch is easy for both stock rigs and built rigs and is a good warm-up before you get to some of the other obstacles (Mini Moab or Moab Hill is the only difficult part of this area and even then, it has different lines to choose from so it's only as difficult as you make it). Once I hit Long Hollow Road, I work my way SE to where LHR turns into 348B which then takes you to Road 344 (turn right onto 344 and further down the trail is where you'll find Mini Moab). When I went out, it had been warm and precipitation-free the entire week so there was hardly any snow on the trail but there was a little bit of mud. A SxS did get stuck on 344 which caused a huge backup (probably close to 12 vehicles) at the junction of 348B and 344. Other than that, the trail was smooth sailing. This area is extremely popular for SxS's, dirt bikes and ATV's so if you can, go early on a week day. There are a lot of spots on this trail where passing would be impossible and backing up in either direction would be a bit difficult/stressful if you're not comfortable.

This trail is located at a higher alitude of Colorado and at this time of year should be considered impassable for any regular off-road user. Some people may be able to manage these trails with the correct gear, emergency equipment, and rig. Travel with caution.

Decided to take our friends on this one again as a cross over from rule ridge. They had not done anything to like this previously and got their first belly scrapes going down Moab hill. Some of the mud ruts are getting pretty deep. The thing I like best is the amount of bypasses. I can hit more of the obstacles and others in the group can skip.

Did some Halloween wheeling in the snow. Hit Moab Hill, had a lot of fun doing some of the medium sections. Rubbed a little on the higher ledges (18 inches). There was a crew that showed up once we hit the top of the hill that decided to go right up the middle on the 4 foot ledges. Made our path look like we were going up a flat trail. Lots of fun to be had here although it was very crowded by the time we headed out. Rest of the trail was muddy and had some areas with 2 to 3 inches of snow. Lots of fun on the trail today and best part is no dust.

Ran today in stock TJ. A bit busy, but still very open. Had a great time!

What a muddy day! But this trail was a blast. Moab Hill was awesome. Only real hiccup was this giant mud hole that my friends kept getting stuck in.

I went on a Wednesday to re-map this trail as it's proper "Flake Road". It had previously been labeled "Illinois Gulch" incorrectly. That trail has it's own guide and will be posted soon., The trail was in good shape all things considered. The year-round traffic means that there are usually some changes to routes and available paths from washouts and traffic. Since it's still early in the summer, the large mud holes were full of water and mud. It is starting to get thicker though and will be a sticky mess in a few weeks. I'm adding the link for the old video for this trail to this review just to save it for posterity,

Trail was mixture of snow, mud and ice. Once you descend the big hill on the east side you were committed to coming out on that side.. It was too icy to get vehicles backup. Couldbe dangerous sliding back downn into the tree. The video is of mini moab or moab hill.

Ran this trail at the beginning of February, and then passed by it on some nearby trails this weekend. As of 2/16/20 the whole Rainbow Falls area had a mix of snow packed trails and mud. Snow depths vary from bare in the sun to a foot deep in shaded gullies, with an average of a couple inches of snow/ice hardpack. This area has been getting heavy use this winter, and there are some dangerous icy hills that have caused some serious wrecks. Be especially wary of the steep hill on FS 344 just north of the junction of 344 and 348.B (waypoint 4), if you continue on FS 344 instead of following the loop described here. The hill on 348.B coming down from waypoint 4 can also be icy, but not as bad because it gets more sun exposure. As of Feb 1, Mini Moab was a mix of ice, slush, and mud, which makes it considerably more challenging than I suspect it would be if it was dry. Be careful and don't underestimate it. The ledges are a lot bigger in person than they look in the pictures here. You will need a well equipped vehicle with a very good breakover angle for all but the easiest lines. Easier lines are along both edges of the rock formation, while the difficult lines are in the middle. Also, one note about trail names. While TrailsOffroad refers to FS 344 and FS 348.B as Illinois Gulch, the official Forest Service MVUM GIS data lists the nearby FS 350.A as Illinois Gulch Road, about a mile to the north of FS 344. FS 344 is named Flake, and 348.B is named Overlook.

Just ran this trail (347/Missouri Gulch) - north from The Woodland Park side -79/spruce road exit. Open all the way around. Snow pack and slush/mud. Just used 4 high - no issues. Took the 344 road/turn/connection (Waypoint 6) to Illinois gulch and mini-Moab - no issues. Then continued on 344 back to highway 67 - basically Illinois gulch north to south for the exit.

Pretty fun trail for a beginner like myself. Only drove halfway in, then turned around before it got dark. LC100 with 2" lift and 33's had no trouble on any line I picked.

Took a few coworkers out for their first wheeling trip. One in a stock 5th gen 4runner and another in a stock 2018 Rubicon. Mini Moab was my main destination and I was finally able to conquer the middle line. My buddies were able to enjoy the majority of the trail and get their feet wet. Overall this trail and the surrounding network of trails has something for everyone.

I decided to run up to Mini Moab and back out just to check out the trail a bit. The first few sections up to Mini Moab are fun with a couple rocky climbs but nothing to intense. Mini Moab is pretty gnarly in spots and dug out as well. the line to the right seems to be the best for most with mild modifications, but a 3.5" lift, SWB and 37-40's would be best for the middle I think. there were several vehicles out on the trail from Wranglers, Tacoma's, 4 Runners and Cherokees/Renegades. It's a busy trail but pretty fun.

A fun trail without too much difficulty, unless you want to play on the hard end of Moab Hill. There is currently a pretty deep mud pit a little ways west of Moab Hill, and it is very slick when wet. I couldn’t keep a good line without sliding back into the ruts, so I backed up the hill and went down Missouri Gulch instead.

We did Illinois Gulch followed by Missouri Gulch. In hindsight, I would have preferred to do Missouri Gulch and then do Illinois Gulch. The trail was in good condition - no snow whatsover. Overall, the trail is not hard, but the nice thing about Moab Hill is you can make it difficult or easy depending on your preference.

We ran the route clockwise and it made for a great time! A few steep hill climbs that I was able to crawl up with a rear locker, another member of our group was open diffs front/rear and he made it up with a heavy foot + momentum! Things are a bit easier or have an optional route from here on out. "Moab Hill" was a fun obstacle with something for every vehicle.

Most of the snow is gone from the trails. It has instead been replaced by a lot of mud. We had no problems getting through the mud in a Jeep with 35" Falken ATs. There was a stock 90's Taco with street tires that made it through as well. We both avoided the middle going down Moab Hill. I elected to take the left side of the hill. It has one significant drop there but any Jeep with 35s can handle it easily. There were lots of great mud puddles to splash through. I think there were a couple that were up to 2' deep. You can take the bypasses but what fun is that?

Had a lot of fun Forest Service Road 344 and 348B. Mostly dry dirt with a little mud and melting snow to play in. Moab Hill was dry dirt also. The three images show today's conditions. The first image is 344, the second is Moab Hill and the third is 348B. Of course the conditions will change with the next snow storm.

Fun little trail with a few fun obstacles. The mini Moab section is quite big and there are plenty of different lines, all ranging in difficulty. You can opt to avoid the harder stuff by going further to the right or left. Just hop out and look around, but of course only take designated routes.

This trail is awesome. I managed to get through with just a couple scraps on my side skirts with an 08 Forester on slightly oversized tires. This trail has great camping spots that are very secluded and amazing views!

Trails were dry and easily passable. Moab Hill is breaking up a bit compared to previous reports. Trips up the hill had big rocks breaking free. Left side while looking uphill easily passable.

Trails are mostly dry. Snow in the shaded runs but nothing to difficult. Two hill climbs that have snow and can be slick depending on who went before you. Climb on fs344 & fs348a. Little Moab was clear, little slick on the heavy traffic runs because of a slight coat of mub. Overall, great condition for running in February.

Trail in good condition. A little dusty. Late afternoon trip, not much traffic

Trail was open and dry in most areas.

Trail was open and dry all the way through

Great day running through the gulches. Nothing significant to report in changes.

Trail was in good shape with very little snow. Just some icy dirt in places. There were some folks navigating Moab Hill that had no snow on it and looked pretty dry.