RimRocker Trail
Montrose, CO to Moab UT
7/6/22 - 7/9/22
Trail Rating: Easy (4)
Road surface consisting of loose rock, dirt, and sand with some slickrock surfaces. Erosion, washes, gulches and rock steps no higher than 12". 4WD is recommended with solid recovery points, good ground clearance and driving skills. Aggressive tires and limited slip would be a plus. Water and mud is possible.
-Driver Experience: Novice
-Minimum Tire Size: 31"
-Lockers: Rear Locker Recommended
-Winch: Recommended
Night one we headed east towards Montrose, CO at 17:15. We arrived at our first campsite right about sunset just three miles into the trail.
After some good campfire talk, a good night's sleep and morning discussions regarding our route choice we hit the road around 09:43.
We decided to take bypass route 668 because it sounded right up our alley according to their brochure “...this route is steep, narrow and minimally maintained. The views are AMAZING!” How could we pass that up with our full size rigs?
After heading down the trail of well maintained forest roads we turned down the alternate route and worked our way slowly through some muddy and rocky two lane track. Driving through hillsides bordered by aspens and mini oaks with stretches of open meadows. This alternate trail did not disappoint.
At point the road became very narrow, there was lots of down trees that were barley cut to the width of the road. Our big rig squeezed through but we took our time for sure, there were too many areas for close calls.
As we continued down in elevation reaching the desert terrain the temperatures rose a good 15 degrees and we decided to backtrack to Nucla, CO to top off our tanks and grab a few extras from the local mercantile before heading off to camp just a few miles outside of town.
We decided to make camp after 88 miles and almost 7 hours in the truck at a place called “The Ballpark Campground and Day Use Park” which borders the San Miguel River and Highway 141. This campground is very well maintained by the Rimrocker Historical Society of Western Montrose County. All their sites were clean, spacious and stocked with wood for burning in the nice fire pit. They are in the process of building vault toilets but have port-a-potties readily available that are very clean and well supplied. All that they ask is that “if you enjoyed having clean toilets and nice campsites to please leave a donation.” Our stay there was very pleasant and we enjoyed dipping our toes in the nearby river.
After another great evening with an easy going morning we packed up and set off on the trail once again ready to make our way across the desert terrain and back into Utah. Our goal was to head up to the La Sal mountains where cooler temperatures will be greatly appreciated.
We finally came across the first large Rimrocker trail sign. From here there were some steep climbs up rocky desert terrain.
We stopped a few times to take in the vast landscape in front of us that we just left behind and to view the epic lands we were about to cross still. It was definitely enough to make you pause. By the end of day three we were completely covered in fine desert dust and managed to log another 73.5 miles. With that we decided to forgo the last bit of the Moab portion of the Rimrocker for the opportunity to go up 10,400 feet to camp in one of our favorite spots in the La Sal mountains where the weather was a wonderful 65 degrees. All in all we really enjoyed this trip and hope to do it again sometime. We had some campfire take-a-ways that night and we all agreed adding a 4th night and a tad bit cooler weather could just make it all that much better.
Looking over Paradox Vally, Colorado.
Montrose, CO to Moab UT
7/6/22 - 7/9/22
Trail Rating: Easy (4)
Road surface consisting of loose rock, dirt, and sand with some slickrock surfaces. Erosion, washes, gulches and rock steps no higher than 12". 4WD is recommended with solid recovery points, good ground clearance and driving skills. Aggressive tires and limited slip would be a plus. Water and mud is possible.
-Driver Experience: Novice
-Minimum Tire Size: 31"
-Lockers: Rear Locker Recommended
-Winch: Recommended
Night one we headed east towards Montrose, CO at 17:15. We arrived at our first campsite right about sunset just three miles into the trail.
After some good campfire talk, a good night's sleep and morning discussions regarding our route choice we hit the road around 09:43.
We decided to take bypass route 668 because it sounded right up our alley according to their brochure “...this route is steep, narrow and minimally maintained. The views are AMAZING!” How could we pass that up with our full size rigs?
After heading down the trail of well maintained forest roads we turned down the alternate route and worked our way slowly through some muddy and rocky two lane track. Driving through hillsides bordered by aspens and mini oaks with stretches of open meadows. This alternate trail did not disappoint.
At point the road became very narrow, there was lots of down trees that were barley cut to the width of the road. Our big rig squeezed through but we took our time for sure, there were too many areas for close calls.
As we continued down in elevation reaching the desert terrain the temperatures rose a good 15 degrees and we decided to backtrack to Nucla, CO to top off our tanks and grab a few extras from the local mercantile before heading off to camp just a few miles outside of town.
We decided to make camp after 88 miles and almost 7 hours in the truck at a place called “The Ballpark Campground and Day Use Park” which borders the San Miguel River and Highway 141. This campground is very well maintained by the Rimrocker Historical Society of Western Montrose County. All their sites were clean, spacious and stocked with wood for burning in the nice fire pit. They are in the process of building vault toilets but have port-a-potties readily available that are very clean and well supplied. All that they ask is that “if you enjoyed having clean toilets and nice campsites to please leave a donation.” Our stay there was very pleasant and we enjoyed dipping our toes in the nearby river.
After another great evening with an easy going morning we packed up and set off on the trail once again ready to make our way across the desert terrain and back into Utah. Our goal was to head up to the La Sal mountains where cooler temperatures will be greatly appreciated.
We finally came across the first large Rimrocker trail sign. From here there were some steep climbs up rocky desert terrain.
We stopped a few times to take in the vast landscape in front of us that we just left behind and to view the epic lands we were about to cross still. It was definitely enough to make you pause. By the end of day three we were completely covered in fine desert dust and managed to log another 73.5 miles. With that we decided to forgo the last bit of the Moab portion of the Rimrocker for the opportunity to go up 10,400 feet to camp in one of our favorite spots in the La Sal mountains where the weather was a wonderful 65 degrees. All in all we really enjoyed this trip and hope to do it again sometime. We had some campfire take-a-ways that night and we all agreed adding a 4th night and a tad bit cooler weather could just make it all that much better.
Looking over Paradox Vally, Colorado.
