 | Onion Creek Trail Onion Creek is a dirt-road ride. The highlight is several miles riding through a deep chasm carved in colorful sandstone, the Onion Creek Narrows. The surface of the Onion Creek portion is fairly smooth, for a very easy technical rating. As an out-and-back, the ride is about 7 miles each way (depending on where you turn around) with 1500 vertical feet of climbing. This section can also be ridden downhill one-way with shuttle -- the road is easily passable in the family SUV. |
| In addition to a one-way or out-and-back through the Onion Creek Narrows, there's the option of a long ride from the La Sal Mountains. This version is 25 miles, with 4000 vertical feet of downhill. There's a moderate one-mile climb near the beginning, and a brutal 400-vertical foot, 1/2-mile climb in the middle. This ride is entirely on dirt road. The upper section has some loose rock and a few ruts, but is still an easy technical cruise. |
| Riding Notes, Long Shuttle Version: 0.0 At the fork, head downhill left N 38° 36.716' W 109° 11.738' Alt 8100 0.5 Pass ATV track on L, corral on R 2.0 Keep straight on main road N 38° 37.284' W 109° 10.365' Alt 8200 Straight at any other spurs 4.3 Left on DT marked Kokopelli Trail N 38° 38.693' W 109° 09.452' Alt 7600 7.2 Hard left, ignore track on R 13.7 Stay left on main road, head south | 14.1 Begin climb up steep hill |
 | Getting there: Drive north from Moab (2.4 miles from Center Street) on US 191, and turn right on U-128. Set your odometer as you turn. At mile 15.2, you'll pass the paved Castle Valley - La Sal Loop road on your right. Continue on, passing a gravel road on the right at mile 18.0. At 19.7, turn right onto the gravel Onion Creek Road. Drive 0.7 miles to a parking area on the left-hand side of the road N 38° 43.253' W 109° 20.576'. The trail for the out-and-back is the main road (continuing the same direction you were driving), not the smaller doubletrack that heads north (left) from the parking area. Copyright 2002 Mad Scientist Software Inc |
Long Ride Trailhead:
If you're riding the long (shuttle) version, leave one car in the parking
area. Head back to U-128. Turn left and drive 4.5 miles back to the La Sal Loop Road. Set your odometer. At mile 10.5, keep left (straight) as the La Sal Loop Road forks south. At mile 16, you'll pass parking for the Fisher Mesa Trail (parking right, trail left). A bit later, the paved road turns to gravel. Drive 2.2 miles past the pavement's end and park at the first major fork in the road (mile 18.2 from U-128). The trail is the left fork
N 38° 36.716' W 109° 11.738'. |