A group of friends and I are going to be heading to Moab in July for some mountain biking. It's not exactly the best time of year to be riding the low elevations, but it was the only time that everyone could make it. So, we're eyeballing the La Sal mountains as the place where we'll likely be spending most of our mid-day to evening hours.

I was hoping to get some offroading in while we were there. I'll be taking my JK and one of my buddies will be in his 4-runner. I was wondering if any of you have driven any of the trails in the La Sals? I've been looking all over, but the only trails that I've found so far have been the La Sal Pass and Geyser Pass trails. I've seen mention of a Burro Pass, but I can't find any info on whether there is a Jeep trail to it.

I still plan on hitting some of the great trails right around Moab, but likley most of our offroading will take place at the higher elevations to get out of the July heat.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

Utahgoose is the Area Leader for Utah you may want to ask him.
If you post your thread here as well: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=55
You may get even more hits.

Good luck

 

Thanks mods for putting this in the right spot.

 

Ridebrick,
Well, you came to the right place. (or more accurately, Dizzyliz put you in the right place. ) A year and a half ago my wife and I moved away from Moab, where I had lived for about 10 years. Coincidently I worked at one of the local bike shops (among other things) for eight of those 10 years. Needless to say, as hot as the summers are, I'm very familiar with the LaSals.

I wanted to give you a quick reply to let you know that I'll have some answers to your questions, however I'm in the middle of a few other things right now, so it will be later on this evening, or tomorrow morning when I can sit down and type out all the details for you. Do you need riding advice too, or just Jeep trail info?

 

Goose, any info you're willing to share would be much appreciated. Thanks for the help.

 

LaSal pas will be your best bet for wheeling in the mountains. You would want to start on the Moab side, by Pack Creek Ranch, and go up from there. When you get to the top you can either come back down that way, or drive the dirt road around the back side into the town of Lasal (one horse town) and then back to Moab. If you have everything you need with you while you are wheeling, there is great camping at the top of Lasal pass, as well as great views. This is a fun trail that isn't too tough. I took a stock YJ on it and only hit once.

Geyser Pass is dirt road. There are a few bike rides that start from that area and we take my Brother in-laws Honda Civic up to the top, so it won't be too interesting.

Burro Pass is a hike/bike only trail. However.... it would be a great shuttle ride to consider. You would park at the top of Geyser Pass and then ride to Burro. Once you are on top of Burro you are at about 11,500 feet. There is a link-up of trails from there that will take you all the way to the town of Moab at 4,000 feet. It's a 7,500 foot downhill in one shot! It is NOT for DH bikes, as there is quite a bit of pedaling on the ride, however it's more fun on longer travel trail rigs. ie: 5"-6" Full Suspension. No matter what bike you ride, it's a blast and it is a long day, so bring a ton of water and be prepared. The trail links are as follows.
Burro Pass, to Hazard County, to Kokopelli Trail, to Sand Flats Road, to Porcupine Rim. There are a few other "substitute" trails that can be put in there, but they are illegal and the Forest Service/BLM has been ticketing folks that use them.

There are a ton of websites/books about the wheeling in Moab, so I won't go into the desert stuff. I've been on most of the trails in the area so if you have any questions about the lower down stuff, just let me know.

I'll add more as I think of it. Hope this helps.

 

Gracias, mi amigo!

 

the town of LaSal has a cool little store with some of the best fountain pepsi in the state. Incredible camping on the east side of the la-sals south of redd ranch.

I'm fairly familiar with the area as well, I make it down there 4-5 times a year for wheeling and another coupl for hunting.