Hell's Revenge

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4.8/5 (79 reviews)
Moab, Utah (Grand County)
Last Updated: 04/09/2023

Trail Information

Highlights

Desert Category Icon Desert
Iconic Category Icon Iconic
Rock Category Icon Rock
Sand Category Icon Sand
Scenic Category Icon Scenic

Welcome to Hell's Revenge, the world's most famous slickrock trail. Slickrock is petrified sand. The slickrock moniker dates back to when horse-drawn wagons would try to cross the seemingly easily traversed undulating sandstone. Metal horseshoes and steel-rimmed wagon wheels found no grip on the sandstone. Thus, it was called slickrock. Modern tires love the course sandstone. Moab's Hell's Revenge is considered a must-do for many wheelers. It's also in most folks' top 5 Jeep Badge of Honor Trails. When picturing Moab, the slickrock rollercoaster, fins, steep climbs, insane traction, and the two rubber tracks cresting over the hills off into the distance of Hell's Revenge is what comes to mind. If eavesdropping on conversations at any Moab watering hole, you'll hear names like Hell's Gate, The Hot Tubs, Car Wash, Micky's Hot Tub, The Escalator, and Tip Over Challenge mentioned reverently and constantly at the heart of any good Moab story. They are all on Hell's Revenge.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Hell's Revenge can be run as an out-and-back or a half-loop exiting west of the entrance. The classic slickrock trail gives incredible traction, and all major obstacles can be bypassed.  The trail begins with fins and ledges before encountering the more challenging and optional obstacles like Hell's Gate, the Escalator, the Hot Tubs, Tip-Over Challenge, and the Steps. Given that the hardest obstacles are optional, the trail is suitable for beginners in stock high clearance vehicles with a 4-low transfer case. Airing your tires down will enhance the drive by making it cushier and adding traction.

Hell's Revenge is well-marked with paint and signage. As you drive, you will come across four paint markings that you should be aware of:

  • The double V or diamond shapes indicate vehicle travel. 
  • Circles indicate vehicle travel.
  • Solid yellow paint suggests keeping your vehicle within those solid lines.
  • Dashed white lines indicate bicycle trails. 

As you complete the entirety of the trail, there are two options to exit. The first is the traditional exit at Waypoint 37, which is long and rough. The second is at Waypoint 3, now the more common exit.

Fees and Area Information

Hell's Revenge is located within the Sand Flats Recreations Area and managed through a partnership between Grand County and the BLM. All 4X4s, ATVs, motorcycles, and bikes must remain on designated roads and trails. There are no open play areas within Sand Flats. Penalties for violations of trail use can include, among other things, forfeiture of vehicles. Please Stay on the trail! Remember, indiscriminate vehicle tracks represent the theft of beauty that you came here to see.

Sand Flats offers a few different types of use passes.

Enter in a private vehicle, and you can purchase a 1-day pass for $5.00 or a 7-day pass for $10.00. Sand Flats also charges a vehicle trailer fee of $5.00. An annual pass for $25.00 is available. The pass admits the cardholder and passengers in a single, private vehicle for day use through the last day of the month and year indicated on the pass.

Trail Reviews

4.8/5 (80)
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 12/02/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Was able to do only about 20% off trail and then we decided to return. Rating should be harder than yellow. Stock wrangler 4xe will be able to tackle most of the obstacles but you need to mentally prepared for sketchy off camber situations on steep inclines. This was the first trail when I appreciated trail view camera on front.
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 10/18/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Hell’s Revenge! The slickrock fins get all the attention on this trail, but the real story should be the more technical rocky parts, which is pretty much the whole rest of the trail, with a few short sandy sections thrown in. I wish we had gotten some video of the last couple of miles, as the most technical stuff (other than the big named obstacles) is actually there. Overall an awesome run!
Trail Review: Hell's Revenge - Shannon Neumann
Trail Review: Hell's Revenge - Shannon Neumann
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2350
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 10/05/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Great challenging trail close to town with amazing views. I do think the trail rating should be updated to make it a 5+ as it has been worn down from so much traffic that many of the obstacles have become a bit harder. Speaking of traffic, subtracing one star for the seemingly endless side by side traffic that can get annoying at times. Sometimes you want to take your time getting over an obstacle and feel like you need to rush because a long line of side by sides are waiting their turn. Either way, I struggled on a couple obstacles here in June with open differentials, but was able to check them off the list this time with a front locker. Wanted to go out the harder difficulty exit but ran out of time, so will have to try again in the spring.
Trail Review: Hell's Revenge - Jason
Open
Visited: 10/04/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Accurate trail review as always. Great description and pic tutorials. I do wish there was a little more explanation for the iconic optional obstacles but you can always look that up on YouTube or Google. Very fun trail with a little for everyone! The scenery is 10/10
Open
Visited: 09/19/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

So, thinking hard about Hell's Revenge. According to what I read and watch, most people do not complete the whole route. Most turn around and go back the way they came before the exit, which is described as rough and relentless. Going up the trail sounds doable. But going up, there are several places where there are "very steep drops". These I could probably do, but what concerns me is turning around and going back the way I came, means going up these very steep drops, not sure how doable that is not having lockers. Any thoughts on this?

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