Moab Trail Conditions and Recommendations on Jeep Rental

[ozzy702]

A few friends of mine are talking about heading down to Moab, renting a jeep (neither has offroaded before) and wheeling. I've never been in the winter time but since this winter has been so mild I told them it would probably be doable and I'd look into it. Unfortunately my truck is out of commission at the moment so I won't be driving it down.

Does anyone have any recommendations on who to call or a website to check current trail conditions and also where the best place in town to rent a jeep would be? I've been down four times now, twice in the spring and twice in the fall and with the exception of the trails that have creek crossings can't imagine that many of the trails would be out of the question right now.

 

[amp713]

All the pics ive seen of recent moab trips look like every trail would be open! The prices can get wild so have them ask around and some places only allow you on certain trails. I took my buddies family through Fins n Things last fall and it was a mess trying to get them rigs to rent. There are age requirments and one place wanted like 2 grand down as insurance and wouldnt refund it for 2 weeks or something like that!

 

[ozzy702]

All the pics ive seen of recent moab trips look like every trail would be open! The prices can get wild so have them ask around and some places only allow you on certain trails. I took my buddies family through Fins n Things last fall and it was a mess trying to get them rigs to rent. There are age requirments and one place wanted like 2 grand down as insurance and wouldnt refund it for 2 weeks or something like that!

Holy cow, that sounds terrible. If my truck seated more than two midget sized people I'd work on my truck tomorrow and take them down but unfortunately I haven't made it into a 4-seater yet.

 

[N-Smooth]

The rental place on the way into town on the right (awesome description I know) is on my NEVER AGAIN list. There's a place further in town on the left by City Market that seemed a lot more reasonable.

 

[ozzy702]

Sounds like Cliffhanger was the never again and possibly Canyonlands was the more reasonable? Looking into it for them. I don't want it to be a problem for them and certainly don't want them to get screwed. From the reviews I've read cliffhanger is the worst ran rental place in Moab.


Edit: Looks like Canyonlands is great if you want to do the easiest of trails but prohibits almost every decent trail in Moab.

Prohibited: Moab Rim, Golden Spike, Behind the Rocks, Pritchett Canyon, Poison Spider, Hell's Revenge, Metal Masher, Steel Bender, Gold Bar Rim, Cliffhanger and Kane Creek. That may not be a problem for them but it sure would be nice to not have Hell's Revenge or Poison Spider on that list.

Looking at the Canyonslands jeeps they are probably base model jeeps with little suspension lift and smaller tires. It makes sense that open diffs and a more street oriented setup would be restricted.

Any feedback on twisted jeep? Supposedly they have a 20mph limit offroad? That's super slow on a lot of the dirt roads they have around Moab, I wonder how tight that restriction is.

 

[TRD270]

I've rented from cliffhanger a few times, and well can't say I paid to much attention to their list. Just don't put yourself in a spot where you'll be worrying about body damage. And I took my rental on Hell's Revenge. I will say their fleet is not very well maintained, and my Jeep was a pile, but for Jeeps getting beat on that much on a near daily basis can't say I didn't expect it. I actually had a coil spring pop out on one of the trails, flexed it out pop goes the coil. Just glad I had more knowledge than the typical renter.

 

[TurboMinivan]

Outlaw Jeep Tours rents Wranglers, and they are a fantastic business. They are right next to City Market (on Grand Ave), so I'm guessing this is the business xj_nate referred to above.

 

[N-Smooth]

That's the one

Outlaw Jeep Tours rents Wranglers, and they are a fantastic business. They are right next to City Market (on Grand Ave), so I'm guessing this is the business xj_nate referred to above.

 

[ozzy702]

Outlaw Jeep Tours rents Wranglers, and they are a fantastic business. They are right next to City Market (on Grand Ave), so I'm guessing this is the business xj_nate referred to above.

I just spoke with Jim at Outlaw, what a super friendly, nice sounding guy. Unfortunately they aren't doing jeep rentals this year unless it's part of a guided tour. He recommended that I call up Twisted Jeep and ask for Nick or Matt and use him as a referral. Thanks for the advice guys and thanks Jim at Outlaw Jeep for being so helpful.