Black Dragon Wash
Black Dragon Wash is located on the eastern cusp of the San Rafael Swell. This ride has two highlights: a doubletrack ride through the narrows, and a broad slickrock ramp that climbs to a view into the narrows, from 800 feet above the wash. The area sees only occasional riders, as it's remote -- and Moab draws away riders because it's not far from here.

The narrows can be done as an out-and-back from the bottom (10 to 28 miles depending on the turnaround spot), or as a shuttle ride of 14.7 all-downhill miles. Because of loose rock and some tricky wash-crossings, the ride would be intermediate technical overall.

The one-way ride starts high in the mesa area of the San Rafael Swell. After a couple of flat miles, it descends another 12 miles. The last 3 miles are in the depths of Black Dragon Wash, where sandstone cliffs tower 800 feet high over the 30-50 foot wide canyon. Riding surface is doubletrack, with occasional ledges, rocky areas, and tricky spots.

The ride's highlight is Black Dragon Wash. The rock layers here on the eastern side of the San Rafael Swell are tilted upward towards the west. As you ride down Black Dragon, you're going UP in geographic layers (and closer to the present in time), even though you're riding downhill.

Before entering the wash from above, you're riding on limestone and shale from the Permian Period. The skirts of the cliffs, and some of the shale and mudstone cliffs, are layers of the Moenkopi Formation, from the early Triassic Period. The Chinle Formation here is a bit different than near Moab. It consists of two layers of dense sandstone, rather than just loose clay. The first set of sheer skyline cliffs you encounter going downhill are Wingate sandstone, capped by the layered Kayenta sandstone.

The Navajo sandstone forms the last set of cliffs within the narrows, and the sharktooth eastern ridge of the Swell. Towards the end of the narrows, the canyon is only about 20 feet in width, with cliffs towering hundreds of feet above the trail.

Slickrock above Black Dragon:
At the lower trailhead, a fairly smooth ramp of Navajo sandstone climbs up the eastern sharktooth edge of the Swell. The slope is a fairly stiff 20%, but the rock is broad and smooth enough that you can ride it easily by zigzagging up. The rideable area is almost a square mile overall. This side trip up the slickrock is NOT to be missed!

About 3/4 of a mile up the slickrock ramp, head to the left side for a jaw-dropping view down into the narrows. You're 800 feet above the bottom of the wash. Pick your way higher up for additional viewpoints into the canyon.
There's about a square mile of open rock here, bounded on the north by cliffs above the San Rafael River, on the south by Black Dragon Wash, and on the west by breaking edges of Wingate sandstone cliffs.

Getting there:
Eastbound on US-191, turn west (right) onto I-70. Nine miles later, cross the San Rafael River. Slow down and get ready! 0.3 miles later, watch carefully for a gravel turnaround between freeway lanes, with a dirt road leaving the freeway on the right. (The dirt road is hard to see until you're passing it. N 38° 55.531' W 110° 25.023') Go through the gate, turn L through the wash. At 0.6, keep straight (R). At 0.9, turn left and park 100 feet later. N 38° 56.239' W 110° 25.135'.
Start the ride here for out-and-back, or go back to the freeway for a shuttle ride. Back at the freeway, turn right (west) and drive uphill 15 miles. Get off at Ranch Exit 131 (also listed as Exit 129 -- the I-70 exits have been renumbered in recent years), and turn right driving back east parallel to the freeway on the road to the San Rafael River Bridge. At mile 2.6, keep straight (left). After passing The Sinkhole, turn right at the next fork and park to begin the ride (N 38° 55.742' W 110° 36.027').