any of ya'll that got the Moab guidebooks......

The 5th Annual LJ Meet will be Sept. 1-3, 2009, in MOAB!!!

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tweeder
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any of ya'll that got the Moab guidebooks......

Post by tweeder »

do they say anything about what qualifies for street legal in Utah? from what i hear, they got a few rather draconian requirements that they like to enforce before you can drive your 4x4 on their streets........which you pretty much have to at SOME point up there. :?
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Re: any of ya'll that got the Moab guidebooks......

Post by Jimny »

The camping area (and/or Cabins) are not right there at the play area?
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Re: any of ya'll that got the Moab guidebooks......

Post by stevec »

Jimny wrote:The camping area (and/or Cabins) are not right there at the play area?
No, expect to do some highway driving to get to the trails. Some of the trails in that book are 20+ miles from Moab. Fins and Things will not require any highway driving, but most other trails do. I'm looking at a loop trail that would make for a full day trip, give us 25+ miles of mild to intermediate offroad driving, and I think only 7 or 8 miles of highway driving heading out there, and fewer on the way back. Nice variety of terrain, great and varied scenery, and other neat stuff to see. It will also allow us to cut out early and head back to camp, if we need or desire to.

If I recall, the speed limit on that highway is only 55mph, and there shouldn't be too much traffic, so even the LJ10's should do fine. Most of our LJ's are street legal, so the local law shouldn't give us much hassle. Remember, Moab's primary industry is the tourism and the 4WD community, so the local law probably isn't going to give you much hassle unless your rig is unsafe, or if it is far from street legal! (Mouser may have a few issues though!)

Here's the link to the Utah safety inspection page:
http://publicsafety.utah.gov/safetyinsp ... ction.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And the (88 page) document that applies to light trucks, including lifted/modified vehicles:
http://publicsafety.utah.gov/safetyinsp ... manual.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: any of ya'll that got the Moab guidebooks......

Post by stevec »

I should point out that this inspection is for vehicles liensed in Utah, so you aren't required to have your vehicle inspected before driving it in Utah. However, the document for cars and light trucks does point out what is street legal and what is not.

Around here, a lot of people have mudflaps to make their rigs street legal, but they are easily removeable (i.e. pull the pin) for offroad driving.
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Re: any of ya'll that got the Moab guidebooks......

Post by Jimny »

Ok cool!
I'd rather be driving my LJ!
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Re: any of ya'll that got the Moab guidebooks......

Post by Smuz »

stevec wrote: (Mouser may have a few issues though!)
Prolly more than a few.

Guess I could towbar him to the trailhead if'n I hadda.

But he's street legal in Kansas, don't that count?
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Re: any of ya'll that got the Moab guidebooks......

Post by tweeder »

Smuz wrote:Prolly more than a few.

Guess I could towbar him to the trailhead if'n I hadda.

But he's street legal in Kansas, don't that count?
from what i've heard, state (not local) Fuzz will nail you to the wall for such BS issues as not having full-coverage fenders... :roll:

i'll be sure to get the laundry list of BS and post up :cool:
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Re: any of ya'll that got the Moab guidebooks......

Post by stevec »

So, I have the guidebook, and some maps and descriptions of the trails, so I thought I'd plot a few possible day runs for the meet. I'll probably try to do each of these loops while I'm there, but figured I'd get opinions from everyone else, so that if everyone wants to do one loop during the meet, I won't run it beforehand. The numbers refer to trail numbers in the Guide to Moab, UT Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails, so you can see where I plan to go.

Route 1: Potash Road, Musselman Arch, Shafer Switchbacks, Gemini Bridges Trail. (#45, part of #46, #16). Approx. 76 miles total: 14 highway, 23 paved road, 4 dirt road, and 35 = 4WD, though the 4WD trails are rated easy, so 4WD would not be needed much I expect. Very easy trails, but scenic, with great views, petroglyphs, dinosaur tracks, etc. Est. time, 6-8 hours, allowing for plenty of stops. Musselman Arch and Shafer Switchbacks are part of the White Rim Road; I'd like to do the whole White Rim Trail, but it would be a 2-3 day trip to do it right, so I'll save that for another trip. Note: this trail enters Canyonlands Nat'l Park, so a visitor pass will likely be required.

Route 2: Arches Nat'l Park, Tower Arch, Eye of the Whale Arch, Willow Springs Road (trail #3): We plan to tour a lot of Arches in air conditioned comfort, but there are some backroads where 4WD is recommended, and they would make a nice 4-6 hour trip. This route is 62 miles, including 16 hwy miles, another 17 paved road miles, 16 miles of dirt road, and only 13 miles of 4WD trail. Again, 4WD would only be needed for a portion of the trail, and the trails are all easy, so very little risk of body damage. Lots of scenery, arches, petroglyphs, and dinosaur tracks. This might make a nice afternoon run. Willow Springs Road can be impassable after storms, so this is weather dependent. Also, we would need to pay the entrance fee for Arches for this run. I expect to just pick up a week pass for both parks ($25 at last check), so I am covered.

Route 3: This is my preferred route; I will definitely plan to do this run one day while I am there, but there are lots of places to stop, so it would likely be an all day run. This is somewhat of a loop run, covering five different trails in the Guide, #4 through #8. This is the most difficult run of the three, but should still be easily doable in an LJ. Again, there are a couple of early exits, so if we run short on time, have vehicle problems, or the weather looks threatening, we can turn back early. The trip is about 67 miles total, with 25 on the highway, 12 on dirt, and 30 miles of 4WD trails. Estimated time is seven hours, but we may take a bit longer, as there is a lot to see. This loop would include Tusher Tunnel, Hidden Canyon, both from below and above, and Bartlett Wash and Overlook. Portions of these trails can become impassable after thunderstorms, so this would depend on the weather while we are there. Sevenmile Rim is a 12 mile loop we could hit as well, though it is rated "difficult", and would take a few extra hours. I'm not sure how difficult it would be, but stock rigs could always head back to camp, and the built rigs could stay and try it. The biggest downside of this run is the highway driving (12-13 miles each way), though we will come out the same place we came in, so towing/trailering rigs would be an option.

I'd also like to drive Fins N Things, but this is a shorter loop (less than 10 miles), and could be done in a few hours. It is rated difficult, but from what I have heard, it isn't that difficult, and our short wheelbase rigs should do fine. There are also exit roads throughout, so people could back out early if they were having vehicle problems. The best part is that it leaves wight out of downtown Moab, so very little highway driving.

Let me know what you all think. We certainly don't need to have everything planned out beforehand, but I would like to be somewhat prepared when I get there, so I can check with the locals when I get there, and maybe pre-run a little. Some runs will also depend on the weather while we are there too.
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Re: any of ya'll that got the Moab guidebooks......

Post by Vagabond »

I snarfed this from colorado4x4.org

Differences between the orig Moab book and volume 2.

Added: Book Cliffs(E), White Wash Sand Dunes(M), Bartlett Wash Road(E), Strike Ravine(D), Dome Plateau, Dolores River(M), Castleton Gateway Road(E), Lockhart Canyon(M), Beef Basin(E), Area BFE(X), Rusty Nail(X)

Removed: Mineral Bottom(E), Pritchett Arch(M), Porcupine Rim(D), Salt Creek/Horse Canyon(M), Lion's Back

Rename? Old=Shafer Trail(E) - New= Potash Road,Shafer Switchbacks(E)
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