Onion Creek

This was our first trail in Moab on our first offroad trip to Moab. We were camping in the Lower Onion Creek Campground and arrived at the campground around 2 pm, set up camp, then went into town for a quick bite to eat, firewood, and some misc supplies. On our way back we decided to run Onion Creek trail instead of going right back to camp. By the time we reached the end of the trail it was starting to get dark so we made the drive back in the dark. The trail is mild enough that it actually makes for a great night ride. As stated in the overview for this trail, it is a bit smelly due to the minerals in the water around this area, but not so bad it takes away from the beautiful scenery.

Absolutely spectacular scenery

Very very fun trail. 27 creek crossings this morning each way. Great scenery of the mountains and cliffs, the road is very smooth and easy to navigate. While there are some places for only 1 car, there are plenty of areas for pull out to let others pass each way as you navigate the trail. If you like splashing through puddles, this is the trail for you. NOTE: There WAS some crazy smell about mile 5 into the trail, and it wasn't Onions, but passed relatively quick. I agree with the review below that it would be great to continue the Thompson Canyon loopback into Moab in the future. Excellent work as always, TO.

Wanted to run something easy to catch sunrise. No challenge whatsoever but a very pretty drive. Saw a few deer at the meadow at the end of the trail.

This is a beautiful trail you can access from the Scenic Highway 128. You'll mostly follow the Onion Creek and cross it over 20 times. There isn't any real difficulty along the way, but a bit of ground clearance is benefitial. The one-way time estimate of 1:30 is quite conservative; without photo stops (which are a must), you can expect around half of that. One of the best easy trails around Moab!

What a fun and relaxing trail! The creek crossings were a fun bonus to the beautiful scenery. This was a half day for us and took the time for many photo opps! Any vehicle with a bit of ground clearance can do this trail.

Outstanding drive in Moab. The scenery is majestic. All info is spot on! It would be awesome if TO would include the Thompson Canyon loop back into Moab on the south end.

This was my second time running Onion Creek. It's always a great time, but this time the water was incredibly low. Rather than the fun creek crossings it was more like crossing trickles. Still very scenic, but lacked the power of my previous visit. Also, both times on this trail I'd say it's about a 1 in difficulty; I have no clue where the 3 comes from, it's quite easy. No significant shelves, no crawling, just winding canyon roads that can be steep at times.

Definitely a very scenic trail. A great ride on sunny days with no flash flooding which would make it impassable. I think we counted over 30 stream crossings. A nice place to fly drones. Just down the road from Fisher Towers which is a must stop on your route. They are currently filming Kevin Costner's movie called Horizon here. Does not affect any driving.

This trail is ridiculously beautiful, and the water crossings really added an extra layer (pun intended) to Onion Creek. The trail was very smooth when I went. By Trailsoffroad standards, I would say this would be rated a level 1 out of 10. I guess if water levels were really high, there would be much more of a challenge. We took our sweet time driving through this trail, I highly recommend it!

This is a beautiful and easy trail so long as it's not raining and/or the creek is running higher than normal. Driving this trail puts you in some of the most beautiful scenery in Moab for very little effort. On a normal day any passenger sedan should be able to navigate this trail with no issue. I would rate this trail a 1 with maybe a couple of spots being a 2 but that's it. You'll cross Onion Creek 27 times with most spots only a few inches deep. Clearance was never an issue and I can't think of a single memorable obstacle at all. Portions of the drive are on a shelf road above the creek, but the height is nowhere near as high as many you'll encounter around Moab and the road is plenty wide so even those with a fear of heights shouldn't have a problem. There are numerous places to stop along the trail to get out and take some pictures, walk around and explore, or just sit back and take it all in. This truly is one of the most beautiful trails in Moab and is absolutely worth the time it takes to run it. As an aside, if you have a vehicle capable of level 3-4 terrain you can drive a very cool loop that will continue on from where this trail ends that takes you across Fischer Valley, up into the Manti-La Sal National Forest where you'll end up in cool air, pine trees and snow capped mountains, and then proceed back down through Castle Valley eventually linking back up with Highway 128. In total it was about 51 miles and took us about five - six hours with stops. It was one of the coolest "roll your own" off-road excursions my wife and I have ever been on.

This review is tainted because we are in Moab. In any other location this would be beautiful scenery. Here in Moab it’s run of the mill. So it’s a beautiful trail and interesting geography but there are so many other options.

BY FAR ONE OF THE MOST PICTURESQUE easy in-and-out trails in all of Moab. I head to Moab 2-4 times a year and when headed back east on the way out of town I cannot leave town without taking the trip down HWY128 and hitting Onion Creek. Highly Recommend as a trip just to do this trail or after hitting up Top of the world or some of the other trails in the area.

This is undoubtedly the most beautiful trail in Moab. While not technically difficult, the scenery is just amazing. Had to document this trip with my drone and the footage was stunning.

Fantastic trail! Great views with no clearance issues. If you’re looking for a nice drive before you head out of Moab to get some good views, this is a perfect trail for that. Note: we continued on hidden canyon road up to the south side of the La Sal mountains. This road is harder and high clearance is recommended if you try making this into a loop. Recommend in and out if you’re looking for something quick and easy.

Surprisingly few people out on this beautiful trail on a weekend day. This trail had me in awe from start to finish and the water crossing’s were fun without being very challenging.

Lacking in difficulty but making up for it in over two dozen river crossings and amazing views. If you just want a nice, relaxing drive, its really hard to beat this trail

The trail was in excellent shape up until waypoint 6. At waypoint 6 it narrows and turned into a sheet of ice for as far as we could see. The Jeep that was ahead of us had turned around and they for warned us. We went ahead to check it out and made the same decision. Such a beautiful trail and we have been turned back twice now in the winter.

Ran the first 4 miles in the evening. Nothing technical at all, just more stunning desert views and closeups of this beautiful creek canyon. Per the locals we were with, this year's wet weather has washed it out quite a bit, but still nothing their stock Tacoma couldn't handle.

This is an awesome trail, beautiful scenery. Nothing very technical, thinking a stock jeep would not have a problem completing this trail. There were so many creek crossings we decided to count them on the way out, (28) creek crossings! Careful if using WAYS/Phone for direction, those will show this trail as the route to "Top of the World". Phone will get you in the vicinity of TotW, you'll just be @ 1'200 feet below it! Do "Onion Creek" and "Top of the World" on the same day, you'll really enjoy it!

This was a great and easy trail to ride. I did it in my lifted tacoma without issue. My friend did it in his Subaru Outback also without issue but had to take his time through some of the creek crossings. The trial was in great shape. We saw 6-8 other trucks, 10 UTV's and 4 dirt bikes over Memorial Day Weekend.

I had an absolute blast on this trail. I would definitely run this again as I love water crossings. I got lucky and ran in it a rain storm which was a super atmospheric experience. Definitely one of my favorites in Moab!

Really great trail of the "beaten path" of Moab. Was not very crowded, and had great spots to pull off and do a quick hike through the canyon and stream. A couple of tight spots and a few water crossings keep it interesting but not a difficult trail, i can see how a few turns make this a moderate trail but an easy drive with some outstanding views away from the busy trails. Overall enjoyable.

Jon's parents joined us on their first trip to Moab in their JLUR, and we felt Onion would be a good trail for them to start with. They had a great time, and even commented they wanted to run it again that same day! If we had more time, we might have. The trail was beautiful as always, though a bit muddy at the end. I’d recommend this on a hot day, rather than a cold one. But any day is a good day on Onion Creek.

Tried to run the trail today but they had a road closed sign at the start of the trail. I'd imagine it temporary but it was bummer to drive all the way there to have to turn around

Beautiful red rock and amazing canyons. There were a lot of shallow water crossings that could become obstacles in the rainy months. The canyons provide shade and cool you off for majority of the trail. We did not come across anything really difficult. We went towards the end of the day and there was only one other jeep on their way out as we headed in, so were were able to park a ways in and enjoy the creek and beautiful views. We definitely plan to come back and explore farther in, the trail seems to go on for quite a ways and connects to other trails as well.

After the challenges we had been facing in Moab, Onion Creek was a welcome change of pace. We lost track of how many creek crossings there were, I want to say 40 or so. With temperatures around 100 degrees, it felt wonderful with the doors off, and feet hanging out as we splashed through the water. This is a favorite trail of ours, and we’ll certainly tell others about it, and come back ourselves.

We did this on our way out of Moab. We only went around 3 miles since the road was very snowy and muddy in places and got worse the farther we went. Since we hadn’t done this trail before and we were by ourselves, we didn’t want to take a chance of getting into a sticky situation. What we saw was awesome and can’t wait to do it in better conditions. Love all of the creek crossings😀

Really enjoyed this trail. Lots of shallow creek crossings and beautiful red rocks. It looked like it was graded recently so more like a 1 or 2 instead of a 3 currently.

Must do Moab trail. Drive out of town up 128 highway is breathtaking. And the trail itself extraordinary . Multiple creek crossings ( 6 inches deep) and narrow carved canyons awesome . CHECK weather any shot of rain no go! There is a 10 % grade toward end of trail . Do it . You reach the most perfect green valley ( Taylor ranch) a must see. There is a gate by a camp area and we continued on another 40 mins ) but it’s very technical and we have a rubicon . Turn back at the gate. Again must see trail.

This was such a great trail, with all the creek crossings and the narrow canyon walls. I did this in a 4x4 Tacoma and it was just so fun and had some great views up on top.

Great trail for any level driver. We counted 30 creek crossings, most of which can be hit at pretty good speed. No real challenges to speak of. There are a lot of narrow blind corners, so keep and eye out for traffic coming in the opposite direction.

Seems the trail recently got graded but still a lot of fun to drive. And the view, spectacular

I took this route as a way to get from Utah to Colorado. I never smelled any onions or sulfur but perhaps that was due to the AC being on full blast. It was pretty warm out. The trail was beautiful!

This trail is a must do if want to see some of the best scenery around. The brown sandstone rock formations are incredible and the other formations further up the trail are so colorful it is almost otherworldly.