Are you looking for a Moab offroad trail that isn't over the top like "Metal Masher" or "Hell's Revenge"? Seven Mile Rim is the perfect trail to gain your confidence to tackle those more difficult trails or to soak in the sights. Packed with views in its entire 13-mile distance, it has every terrain type that is located throughout the Moab region, The trail travels along the rim of the Big Mesa area with fantastic views to the east and the south into Sevenmile Canyon. As a bonus, you can get up close and personal with "Uranium Arch," which is just as majestic as those found in the National Park. This is the perfect trail for new drivers to Moab to get yourself and your skills ready for fantastic wheeling found nowhere else in the world.
Moab area designated camping can be found here.
Trail Difficulty and Assessment
Recommended Vehicle:
Lightly Modified 4X4 (Small Lift and Larger Tires)
Concerns:
Summary:
This trail gets its rating from the many ledges both up and down throughout the trail and moderate off-camber sections.
Community Consensus
0 votes
4 votes
0 votes
Easier
Spot On
Harder
The weighted average of your fellow members agreement of our trail
rating. As trail conditions change this helps us keep the community
aware of changes.
Mandatory
4 -
MODERATE
The hardest part of the trail that you
cannot bypass - you have to drive it.
Optional
5 -
DIFFICULT
The hardest part of the trail that is
purely optional - you can bypass it.
Typically, more rock or undulated road surface. Potential rocks and/or tree stumps less than 18" tall and/or vertical ledges less than 18" tall and/or near vertical ledges or waterfalls less than 36" inches. Tire placement becomes more difficult. Can be steep and off-camber.Read More about our Rating System
This trail is a mixture of all that Moab has to offer from soft sand and gravel to 1-3 foot ledges and drops. There are many places where "slickrock" is traversed. This trail is a 13.1-mile loop trail that starts on "Thornburg Road" and ends on "South Road".
1. Trail Start (0
mi)
The trail starts about three miles down "Thornburg Road" past a couple of dispersed camping areas.
2. Small Ledge - Straight (0.67
mi)
This waypoint marks the first "Ledge Obstacle." While it is not difficult, the ledges will get taller from here on out.
3. Larger Ledges - Straight (0.75
mi)
Here there are a series of ledges in a staircase to negotiate.
4. Trail Intersection - Stay Left (1.11
mi)
There is a maze of unmarked and unnamed trails that criss-cross across this area. Stay left to stay on the trail.
5. Dropoff - Straight (1.59
mi)
This waypoint marks the first significant drop-down ledge. It is about three feet tall and drops down in three steps. Make sure you square your vehicle to the ledge as much as possible to avoid a typical roll-over situation.
6. Intersection - Turn Left (1.99
mi)
At this intersection, there is a sign pointing to "Uranium Arch". Stay to the left to stay on the trail and this trail will visit the Arch at Waypoint 12.
7. Three foot Ledge - Straight (2.4
mi)
The trick to this ledge is to stay as far to the right as possible and attacking the ledge as square to the ledge as possible. It does not take any power and with properly aired down tires you probably won't even spin a wheel.
8. Viewpoint - Straight (2.7
mi)
This waypoint marks the first viewpoint looking back down at Highway 191.
9. Intersection - Straight (3.52
mi)
This is another intersection with an unknown trail, stay straight to stay on the trail.
10. Intersection - Turn Right (3.6
mi)
At this intersection turn right to visit "Uranium Arch"
11. Big Drop - Straight (3.8
mi)
This drop-down to "Uranium Arch" looks terrifying but remember you are driving on "slickrock," which is not slick at all. With a firm foot on the brake, stay in the center, and even though it is at a 45-degree angle you can safely crawl down in total control.
12. Uranium Arch Viewpoint - U Turn (3.85
mi)
This waypoint marks the location for "Uranium Arch." This arch is just as grand as those in the "Arches National Park" and can even be walked across. The arch gets its name from the miles of Uranium Tunnels mined in the 1950s and lay hundreds of feet below Seven Mile Rim.
Most of the Uranium mined here was by the government to produce the country's first nuclear weapons.
13. Intersection - Left Turn (3.92
mi)
This waypoint marks a kind of roundabout. Take the first exit and then a left turn at the first intersection to stay on the trail and wind back up to the top for more viewpoints.
14. Stair Step - Straight (4.16
mi)
On your way back up, you will encounter a waterfall that looks formidable, but with proper tire placement and a good ground guide, you won't even spin a tire.
15. Turn Right (4.22
mi)
This waypoint marks a right turn and sends you back along the same cliff edge this trail has been following.
16. Viewpoint - Straight (4.39
mi)
This waypoint marks another awesome viewpoint of the valley below.
17. Staircase - Straight (4.7
mi)
This is the toughest staircase obstacle on the trail, but with some good tire placement and a good ground guide, it is easily mastered. The trick to this obstacle is not power but finesse. You can easily climb this without any mashing on the throttle. If you spin a tire trying to climb, back up 6 inches and give it a little bump, and you will pop right up. Then take the second ledge and then the final with the same technique.
18. Viewpoint - Straight (5.01
mi)
This waypoint marks a viewpoint looking back into the canyons to the east.
19. Intersection - Turn Right (6.26
mi)
The soft sand roads make for some quick time across the low ground, turn right here to stay on the trails.
20. Intersection - Turn Left (7.02
mi)
This waypoint marks another intersection with the maze of trails here. Turn left to stay on the trail.
21. Tight Squeeze - Straight (7.75
mi)
This waypoint marks a pinch point. All Jeeps and like-sized vehicles will have no problems threading the needle. If you are in a full-sized vehicle there is a ledge you can climb up on the right side to bypass.
22. Off-camber - Straight (8.32
mi)
This section of the trail is all on "slickrock." While you are driving towards this waypoint and see the black marks on the rock from other vehicles, the off-camber looks terrifying. Trust me, you will be fine. Just take it slow and stay on the track with others who have gone before, and you'll be past this section quickly. Another steep downhill follows, so be ready; a nice firm brake pedal is the key.
23. Intersection - Turn Right (8.46
mi)
At this waypoint is "Wipe-out Jeep Trail" where the famous "Wipe-out Hill" is located. To get to this section just continue straight. To stay on the trail turn right here. Shortly after, you will drive along the western edge of Courthouse Pasture.
24. Intersection - Turn Left (9.95
mi)
After some quick work through the sand with some whoops that are a lot of fun, you connect with this intersection. Turn left to stay on the trail and follow the trail through Tusher Canyon.
25. Intersection - Turn Right (11.19
mi)
At this intersection stay to the right. the left turn is a dead-end trail back into a canyon.
26. Trail End (13.11
mi)
This is the end of the trail. Turn right onto "South Road" to take you back to Highway 191.
Not allowed
No camping is available along this trail. However, Cotter Mine Road has a few dispersed camping areas.
Remember, when using free designated sites, you must remove all solid human waste from the area. Campers are required to possess, set up, and use portable toilets. Campers may not bury or leave exposed solid human body waste and soiled toilet paper. The disposal of solid human waste off public land is required. You must camp only in marked sites, and no woodcutting is allowed. Following these simple rules will ensure that the sites are attractive to future campers. Enjoy your stay!
Starting Point
Moab, Utah
You will find the trailhead about 11 miles north of Moab, UT, on Highway 191, just north of Hwy 313. This side road to the left is Thornburg Rd. Proceed on this road as it winds up about 3 miles to the trailhead on the left.
This trail is part of the Labyrinth Rims / Gemini Bridges travel management process being conducted by the BLM’s Moab Field Office, which is expected to be completed by 2024. This trail is threatened with either complete or partial closure in at least one alternative under consideration. A new travel plan is being created for this area due to a lawsuit settlement with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), which seeks to close as many trails as possible so that the land west of Moab can be managed as Wilderness. The Grand County Commission and Moab city government are also calling for the BLM to close numerous popular 4x4 trails based on false allegations of “user conflicts” to convert them to hiking and mountain bike trails. The BLM published the Draft Environmental Assessment on September 7, 2022, and is accepting public comments on the various alternatives until October 7, 2022, at the BLM website. The BLM will host a public meeting through Zoom on September 22, 2022, from 5:00-6:30 PM MDT.
Many extremely popular 4x4 trails (including most of the Jeep Safari trails northwest of Moab) are at risk of closure, including Hey Joe Canyon, Ten Mile Canyon, Hell Roaring Canyon, Mineral Canyon, Golden Spike, Gold Bar Rim, Rusty Nail, Day Canyon Point, Dead Man Point, Hell Roaring Rim, Dry Fork Bull Canyon, Four Arches Canyon, the 7-Up trail, the 3D and Mashed Potatoes Jeep trails, the Dead Cow and Tubes motorcycle trails, and parts of Where Eagles Dare, Buttes and Towers, Wipe-Out Hill, and Sevenmile Mile Rim. Please comment, opposing these closures and asking the BLM to keep all of these trails open to motorized use. More information can be found on the Blue Ribbon Coalitions website. You can submit a comment either through Blue Ribbon’s action alert or write your own comment directly to the BLM here. The deadline for comments is October 7, 2022. A map of the route designations for each alternative is available here.
Fun trail with amazing views. I don’t know if someone refreshes the markers in the spring, but it was very easy to loose the trail. The mud wasn’t bad and could be missed in most areas. Definitely recommend this one.
I can't believe I hadn't heard of this trail more before running it. Great views and fun obstacles. Only real downside was the amount of traffic we encountered. 20 UTVs and a tour group of 20 +/- Jeeps, on top of the regular traffic. Didn't ruin our day, just slowed it down a little. Take your time, show good trail etiquette, no worries.
My wife would probably say that the off camber at WP11 & WP22 was more "Moderate Plus". I would tend to agree in comparison to some other trails. Slow and steady as the author says.
We ran The Pickle, then Hidden Canyon, and then this trail. With stops and traffic on 7R, it was around an 8 hour day, but a great one. The 6 hrs combined estimate for wheeling all three trails from Trailsoffroad.com was pretty accurate. While not as difficult or as long, it almost felt like a "Mini Trifecta". Would absolutely wheel this route again.
Super fun trail with almost constant obstacles besides the high speed sand sections. Had a ton of fun, was a little timid since this was my first trail in awhile but everything was fine. I hated the off camber bits near the end but it was worth it.
After some questionable time we decided to do this trail... we took a bone stock, 2013 platnium f150 on stock size all terrain tires. It took 7 hrs for us to complete... would I recommend it on a stock truck... hell no lol!! It was a huge challenge on some of the stairs and drop offs. Traction was never a problem clearance was... we made it with no damage to the truck, but the spotter was out often.
I really enjoyed the variety of challenges this trail presented as well as the beautiful scenery. This trail was very secluded and we didn't meet but a handful of vehicles the whole time.
I surprised by how fun this trail was. I would personally say it is a less popular trail than some of the others in this areas of Moab, but it is really fun. It offers cool viewpoints, good rocks sections, fast baja style sections, and even the optional turn to wipe out hill. Really good trail to visit!
Ran Seven mile rim as part of EJS. The trail is a great way to get into some basic Moab slickrock and 2 track after doing Fins N Things or some of the other must do trails. If you like arches Uranium Arch is really cool and you are able to actually get to it without a hike or a bunch of people around. There is a climb just past the arch that is fun for newbies but easy. The trail cuts through some really cool scenery and the terrain diversity is enough to keep you interested. If you don't like off camber then the obstacle I-lean will give you pause. The spires and the mesas are worth the drive alone. The small canyon/wash you drive out on can be wet and muddy in areas.
View More Images
From the Community
Be the first to ask a question!
Michael Graham
Mapping Crew - Washington
My name is Michael Graham and I'm retired from the U.S. Army as an Infantry First Sergeant with 23 years of service. I did one tour in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. I presently own a Process Service Company in Tacoma. I am originally from Upstate New York but after being stationed in Washington I knew immediately that this part of the country felt like home. Back in the 1980's I owned a Jeep CJ5. This was my first 4x4 but back in the 80's there wasn't a lot of hype and add-on parts as there are today. Building my rig has been half the fun. Making it my own style. I have actually found it to be an addiction. I live in the Pacific Northwest, in the Tacoma / Puyallup area and love the sport of "wheeling" which allows access to so much more than a hiking trailhead. I really enjoy organized rides and poker runs and love the freedom and exploration this sport allows. Finding this website and authoring trail write-ups has greatly enhanced this sport I have grown to love. If you are new to the sport or just looking for someone to show you the trails I would love to hear from you. You can email me directly at "mike.trailsoffroad@gmail.com"
By clicking "ACCEPT", you agree to be the terms and conditions of each
policy linked to above. You also agree to the storing of cookies on
your device to facilitate the operation and functionality of our site,
enhance and customize your user experience, and to analyze how our
site is used.