 | Monitor and Merrimac Bike Trail -
Courthouse Rock to Mill Canyon Loop The Monitor and Merrimac Bike Loop is a new slickrock ride north of Moab. The apex of the loop offers a view of two rock formations, named Monitor and Merrimac in honor of the two civil war ironclad warships. The ride is 6.1 miles in length. Beginning altitude is 4450 feet. There is 500 vertical feet of climbing on the ride, almost all of it on open rock. The route is well-marked with carsonite posts with a bicycle sticker and that-a-way arrows. It's about 50% slickrock and 25% singletrack, with dirt road completing the loop. Ride the loop clockwise. And don't forget the Dinosaur Bones hiking trail. |
| Riding notes, clockwise loop: 0.0 Head south on road N38 43.519 W109 43.968 0.5 Fork L (R = return route) N38 43.089 W109 43.957 0.6 Keep R, N38 43.031 W109 43.913 0.8 Halfway Stage House N38 42.856 W109 43.922 1.5 R up sandy trail to slickrock N38 42.350 W109 43.874 2.0 Shortcut forks L, keep R | 2.9 Trail hooks R around butte 3.8 Keep straight (L = to jeep route) N38 41.847 W109 44.439 4.0 Shortcut joins on R, keep straight 5.0 Fork, L to Dinosaur Bones R = to complete loop N38 42.751 W109 44.361 5.6 Fork L on return road 6.1 Back at parking |
 | Getting there: From Moab, drive north 13 miles from the
Colorado River. (It's 4.5 miles north of the 313 Canyonlands turnoff,
and
16 miles south of Crescent Junction.) As the road comes over a small rise,
spot the dirt Mill Canyon road crossing the railroad tracks on your left
(N38 43.634 W109 43.346).
Ignore the ATV parking (on your right just after the tracks) and drive
0.5
miles. Park near the trail kiosk at the fork in the road. The ride begins
by heading south (the left fork of the road) N38 43.519 W109 43.968. Copyright 2009 Mad Scientist Software Inc
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