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Golden Spike Trail |
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Golden Spike Trail |
| Golden Spike Trail | |
Location: |
Utah |
Nearest Town: |
Moab |
Directions to Trailhead: |
Start by riding the Poison Spider Trail (trailhead is at N 38°32.024' W 109°36.444'). At mile 5.0 the Golden Spike trail begins. |
Trail Description: |
This trail is very popular with 4X4, ATVs, and motorcycles. I love to ride a mountain bike, but only do this trail on a motorcycle because of its length, technical difficulty, and sand patches. However, on my last outing I came across a half dozen mountain bikers on the trail and wanted publicize it for those who have the required technical skill and aerobic capacity. The hills are steeper than on the Slickrock Trail and the obstacles are far more difficult. You start by riding the Poison Spider trail. This is an uphill grind with a number of technical slickrock sections, interspersed with sand pits. At mile 5.0 the Golden Spike trail begins. Most of the trail is on slickrock, but with some short sandy sections. The next five miles includes a couple of very steep slickrock climbs and a number of slickrock obstacles. The climbs and obstacles will be unridable for most bikers. At mile 10.7 is the famous Golden Crack, a crack about 4’ wide that presents great difficulty for a jeep. Of course you can easily carry your bike over it, or jump it. There are several more tough obstacles up to about mile 13. After that the ride is pretty dull to the end at mile 20. You might consider doing this trail as an out-and-back from the Poison Spider trailhead to mile 13, then back. The trail is marked, but I’d strongly advise bringing a GPS with waypoints recorded. Get them at http://www.4x4now.com/33jsgs.htm. |
Trail Length: |
26 miles |
Trail Type: |
Singletrack |
Skill Level: |
Extreme |
Web Link: |
http://www.4x4now.com/33jsgs.htm |
Submitted By: |
Scott W. Frazier |
