Slickrock Trail

38.581922 - 109.519261Koordinaten: 38 ° 34 ' 55 "N, 109 ° 31 ' 9 " W

The Slickrock Trail is a well-known beyond the borders of the United States also circular route for mountain bikes and road motorbikes near Moab, Utah.

History

The route was first created in 1969 in Sand Flats - Erholungsbiet east of Moab for use by road motorcycles. With the advent of mountain bikes in the eighties, the route was interesting and popular for cyclists.

Location

The at least 17 km long route leads through the desert landscape of the Colorado Plateau over petrified dunes and the eroded remnants of a former sea floor. Its special feature is the constant ups and downs with some extreme slopes that are traversable only by the particular ground of mostly rugged sandstone cliffs.

The trail is located within the Erholungsbiets Sand Flats Recreation Area, which is bounded on the north by the canyon of the Colorado or Utah State Route 128 and to the east by the Negro Bill Canyon and the Abyss Canyon. With the Porcupine Rim Trail north another well-known mountain bike route is within this camp, but has a completely different character.

Route

Course

The route is about 6 km and 150 meters from the center of Moab, and is on the Sand Flats Road within easy reach. Before the actual main course ( Main loop) can be driven a 3.7 km long bout of exercise ( practice loop) that contains all the essential technical difficulties of the main course. This allows mountain bikers who do not yet know the route in advance to check their own driving skills and suitability of mountain bikes. The main course is usually sail in the technically simpler clockwise. Along the way there are several routing options for connecting the different track pieces together or lead to lookouts. The route is at an altitude 1350-1460 m and overcomes at least 350 meters.

Marking and road surface

The route is marked by white paint marks on the sandstone. Dangerous places, such as not observable scarps or canyon walls are highlighted with additional triangles. A total of three times crosses the Slickrock Bike Trail the reported for SUVs Hell's Revenge 4x4 Trail. The track surface is almost 100% from grippy sandstone, only in some valleys there are sandy places. Often you can find kryptobiotische scabs that should not be attempted.

Difficulty

The Slickrock Trail is one of the most technically demanding trails in the area of Moab, and despite the small height difference also conditionally challenging. For the route must be calculated depending on the skill level between 1.5 and 5 hours.

Hazards

Besides the obvious risk of injury from falls, the ruling in the summer months, high temperatures have led to several deaths from heat stroke.

Infrastructure and environment

In the vicinity of the car park there are several primitive campsites. On the track itself, there is no water.