Headed to Moab Feb 16-20th

[georgia gabe]

A group of us from ga are headed out to moab Feb 16-20th to do some wheeling.

I would love some reccomendations on trails to run, what order, ect.

all who are coming are very experianced in east coast wheeling, but only one driver has wheeled moab before... and that was when his Toyota was IFS.

Rigs coming are as follows
87k5 Buggy thing 350/700r4/203/205 Chromoly one tons ect ect.

98 Toyota Tacoma truggy... 22re Marlin Crawl Box chromo 44 front toy rear.

06 Rubicon 4.0 stock TC Dynatrac 60 rear, long arms, Chromo front 44...

old pic

 

[Greg]

Welcome to RME! 4 Days in Moab, huh? Sounds fun!

There's a ton of fun trails to take up 4 days. I'd look into Pritchett Canyon, Moab Rim, Hells Revenge, Rusty Nail, etc.

Here's where I'd start, don't think about this... BUY THIS BOOK!! It will make your trip much smoother, has directions to all the trails, excellent descriptions of obstacles, and will help you decide where you want to spend your time. - http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Backroads-4-Wheel-Drive-Trails/dp/0966497627

Also, if you want some real challenges head to Area BFE. AreaBFE is South of town, it private land and has a handful of very challenging trails as well as a playground area. - http://areabfe.com/

That should get you started...

 

[LT.]

Another set of trails that you may want to run is Posison Spider to Gold Bar Rim to Golden Spike. And Greg has just recomended the best book for the area. I don't think that anyone in our group does not have it. Bar none the best advise is to purchase that book!

Have fun, keep it safe, but above all have a great time.

LT.

 

[georgia gabe]

thanks, Ill buy the book...
Another question for you, some of the people in the group want to stay in a hotel. I personally prefer to camp. Do any of you camp in Feb? I used to live in Colorado and camping in cold weather wasnt a big deal because of the dry air. Is moab a similar climate? Also what is camping like at area BFE.

Thanks, Gabe

 

[notajeep]

You can do it, it will be cold. But it is the off season , so you should be about to get a reasonable rate at any of the motels.

 

[waynehartwig]

You can do it, it will be cold. But it is the off season , so you should be about to get a reasonable rate at any of the motels.

I want to say off season rates for Best Western is like $30 a night? I won't even bring my trailer in the off season because it's just not worth camping and the extra gas/time...

But yeah, cold as fawk! Last year my son and I went through 5 gallons of propane in a day and half - we were there for nearly 3 weeks for EJS.

 

[georgia gabe]

ever heard of the Apache hotel?

 

[Greg]

ever heard of the Apache hotel?

Yep, I've stayed there before. It's good for the local flavor, not a ritzy place by any means but it will do the job.

 

[georgia gabe]

sweet thanks...

 

[notajeep]

The apache was where John Wayne stayed when ever he was in town shooting a movie.

 

[xtoy]

Thank You everyone!

My name is JB. I am the one with the Black Toy. I have been out to Moab once in 2003.

My question is....

How is I-70 going over the Vail Pass and Eisenhower tunnel in Feb? I will be pulling a 2 car trailer with a `04 Dodge Diesel Dually 4x2.

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks again

 

[Greg]

Thank You everyone!

My name is JB. I am the one with the Black Toy. I have been out to Moab once in 2003.

My question is....

How is I-70 going over the Vail Pass and Eisenhower tunnel in Feb? I will be pulling a 2 car trailer with a `04 Dodge Diesel Dually 4x2.

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks again

That route can be a b!tch in Feb, especially with a 2WD truck. It all depends on the weather, if it's snowing hard, that section of I-70 will be very bad. I've been up there in a storm and it's not fun. Wrecks, stuck cars and all kinds of nastyness. I would not want to be up there pulling a big trailer with a 2WD truck. I was up there when they closed the freeway ahead of me, that wasn't fun.

My suggestion is to get chains for your rear axle, stop in Denver and see what the that area looks like before going up and have an alternate route planned. Heading South would be the best bet. It will add a few hours, but it's better than being piled up in the mountains.

 

[hillbillysteve]

I moved to UT from VA in the winter time and I traveled on I-40 just to be safe(I was also pulling a heavy load). It took a little longer but the roads were good , depending the snow . The only thing that made me worry was the route up from AZ(which will run you straight into Moab,191 if I remember correctly). The reason it made me nervous is because this road is very desolate . The scenery is awesome though. Hope this helps.

 

[georgia gabe]

I moved to UT from VA in the winter time and I traveled on I-40 just to be safe(I was also pulling a heavy load). It took a little longer but the roads were good , depending the snow . The only thing that made me worry was the route up from AZ(which will run you straight into Moab,191 if I remember correctly). The reason it made me nervous is because this road is very desolate . The scenery is awesome though. Hope this helps.

Is this similar to the route you took?
thanks, gabe

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Atl...rand+County:1/m:::::0:::::/io:1:::::f:EN:M:/e

 

[Meat_]

I want to say off season rates for Best Western is like $30 a night? I won't even bring my trailer in the off season because it's just not worth camping and the extra gas/time...

But yeah, cold as fawk! Last year my son and I went through 5 gallons of propane in a day and half - we were there for nearly 3 weeks for EJS.

I didn't talk to them all, but the cheapest I found this last weekend was a single at the 6 for $49.99. Dude said it hasn't been slow this year, he also said that they were 3/4 full that night (Thursday night)

 

[xtoy]

Thanks Again for all the advise.

We will be looking into going I-40 out and back to avoid the possible delay of I-70 in poor weather.

One of our friends is having his Kids fly into a city on the way( it was/still is Denver). We will see if we can change it to Alb, NM.

Thanks again!

 

[Greg]

Thanks Again for all the advise.

We will be looking into going I-40 out and back to avoid the possible delay of I-70 in poor weather.

One of our friends is having his Kids fly into a city on the way( it was/still is Denver). We will see if we can change it to Alb, NM.

Thanks again!

I think that's the safest option. It probably won't be as quick, but getting there in one piece makes all the difference! Good luck & travel safe! If you guys have any more questions that we might be able to help with, feel free to ask. Most everyone on here is friendly & willing to help.

 

[BlackSheep]

Not to put a damper on your trip, but I traveled out for EJS from Greenville, SC in 2007 (march maybe?). No problems on the way out to Moab - weather was great!. However, on the way back, when I got into Albuquerque (stopped for gas), it started with the snow. I spent the next 5 hours or so on I-40 headed east in almost stop and go traffic. It didn't seem to be clearing up, but I had arrived in Santa Rosa. From Santa Rosa, I headed more south to drop off my nephew at my sister's house.

Texas can be funny as well, they can get these horrible ice storms. I'm sure the risks of these storms (and like the one I ran into) are less with the southern route, but just keep your eyes on the forecast in the days leading up to your trip. Might not be a bad idea to get snow chains just in case.

 

[xtoy]

Does anyone know if the Route from Alb, Nm to Moab stays pretty good during the winter. There isn't much on that road and it is in the middle of no where ( wished I lived on it). Just seems that there isn't enough things/people to require plows to run (right away) if it snows. When I was out there last I came home that way. I think it's Route 666 ( or used to be). Do they maintain it well? Just thinking worse case senerio here...

 

[hillbillysteve]

I took I-40 all the way to AZ and then straigt north onto 191. I did hit some snow in Albuquerque, it wasn't to bad. I hit more snow in UT on 191, the roads had about an inch or two on them but I didn't need to use 4x4.