Full-size Invasion was made up to encourage people to get their full-size trucks and 4x4s off-road into the great outdoors.
Poison Spider Mesa forms one of the cliff features that is part of the Moab landscape northwest of town. The mesa is bordered on the east by Moab Valley and on the south by the Colorado River. Access is via Scenic Byway 279. The trail climbs to the rim via the sloping rock layers. The first few miles of trail must be retraced, but most of the travel time will be spent on a loop that reaches the rim. It has become one of our most popular trails because it has great scenery and because the jeeping is just challenging enough to be fun without quite being a vehicle buster. Incidentally, we love the name, but the population of Black Widows is probably no greater than other local areas. Approximate mileages: 37 total, 16 off highway.
The Moab Rim is the cliff rim seen just to the southwest of town. Its only 4WD access begins just downriver from town and the first mile has about the highest density of obstacles of any of our trails. Many vehicles have “bit the rocks” on the succession of rock ledges and tight turns that lead to the rim. Once on top the trail is sand and rock. After closing a short loop the trail returns on the same rocky mile it started with.
Approximate mileages: 14 total, 9 off highway.
Our premier slickrock trail lies northeast of town between the Sand Flats Road and the river. There are long stretches of slickrock where the 4WD trail has been marked. The most difficult obstacles are out of the stock-vehicle class, but those can be bypassed. There are steep climbs and descents and some edges that are not for the faint of heart. The steep slopes, however, are not technically difficult because of the excellent traction on sandstone. In a few places, the trail crosses the now-famous “Slickrock Bike Trail,” a motorcycle and mountain-bike trail. Approximate mileages: 16 total, 12 off highway.
The land named “Behind the Rocks” is an elevated area south of Moab bounded roughly by the Moab Rim cliff s and the rim of Kane Springs Canyon, which is still farther south and west. This trail follows the most difficult routes in this region, though it gets its reputation and rating from “White Knuckle Hill”. Going down the hill is scary enough, but be prepared for a long wait and a good show while some see if they can climb it. It may be the most difficult hill hereabouts that is ascended with any frequency, although the frequency is diminishing as it erodes. Approximate mileages: 55 total, 35 off highway.
?“Top of the World” is a viewpoint on Waring Mesa. It has a spectacular view of Fisher Valley, Onion Creek, and the La Sal Mountains, but this view is only part of a variety of landscapes seen from this trail. Waring Mesa is east of Moab and south of the Dewey Bridge crossing of the Colorado River. Approximate mileages: 74 miles total, 10 miles off highway.