Rockin A Trail - Moab Brand Trails

Css Horizontal Drop Down Menu by Vista-Buttons.com v4.3.0

Rockin A Trail
One of the Moab Brand Trails

Seven miles north of Moab, the Moab Brand Trails offer a wide variety of biking fun. The Rockin A trail is a short technical section, only 1.8 miles long. However, the up-and-down quick-turn type of riding makes it a fair amount of work. This trail connects the southern end of the Bar M Loop and the Bar B Loop to the Circle O trail.

Photo above: View southeast toward the La Sal Mountains, showing a fork off Seven Mile Canyon near the beginning of the Rockin A. Photos and write-up by Bruce, April 2009.

The shortest ride that includes the Rockin A trail is 8.7 miles. This is a counterclockwise trip around the Bar M, skipping a one-mile portion of Bar M to ride the Rockin A.

Handlebar view of some smoother slickrock on Rockin A.

Hard-core bikers will ride Bar M to the Bar B trail (right across from the Rockin A's start), then ride the Bar B loop before entering Rockin A.

Looking east toward Arches National Park.

After completing Rockin A, ride Circle O before completing your loop. Or, head back to Bar B and drop down Killer B.

View to the west. The cliffs are across the highway.

The ride is 100% slickrock. The Entrada sandstone forms waves, so you'll be constantly making short climbs and descents. There are a couple of ledges and wheel-traps that require either technical skill or a dismount. There's no cliff exposure or other truly hairy stuff.

Typical trail surface. The route goes straight up in this photo.

Ride Description, direct to Rockin A on Bar M:
0.0   Exit parking, turn right and ride south
0.7   Pass Gemini underpass, keep straight
1.7   Fork L (leave 191)
2.3   Fork R (L = Bar M shortcut)
2.9   Keep straight (Bar M loops to L)
        After 100 feet, fork L on ST
        (option: ride Bar B loop first)
        Start Rockin A!
4.7   At Circle O
        (option: fork R to ride Circle O)
        L to return to Bar M
4.9   R on Bar M
8.7   Back at parking

The trail is marked by a stripe of stain on the slickrock
(hard to see in the early morning or evening) and periodic
Rockin A marks as shown at left.

Getting there:
From the north: Drive south on US-191 for 22 miles south of I-70. From Moab, drive 7 miles north from the Colorado River on 191. When you see the Gemini Bridges parking area, look for a gravel road on the opposite side (east, away from the cliffs). Turn onto the gravel road and immediately go right, then right again into the parking area. GPS N 38� 39.38' W 109� 40.66'. The trail starts by riding the gravel road either north or south. Our ride description assumes you'll ride south out of the parking lot, counterclockwise on the Bar M.

Riding resources for this trail:
Single-page riding guide
GPS track files (right-click and "Save as..."):
Garmin GPX
High-res topo (500 KB): View
Lodging, camping, shops:
Links to Moab area resources