Jeep Jam USA Arches Moab

[AV8]

Greetings from UTAH,

Well, here we are in Moab waiting for Jeep Jam to start in a couple of days and doing some wheelin' on our own. We would highly recommend it to everybody to make it here.

It is sooo bloody awesome! Pics and youtube videos don't do justice, have to experience it for yourselves. We've been proudly flying the Aussie flag and SJC colours on the trails here..

We're collecting some information for anyone interested. It's the Pebble Beach of offroading.

Did Hell's Gate, missed the Hot Tub, Dragon's Back, The Escalator on Hell's revenge trail in a lifted JKU on 33's.

[Dieselcon]

wow.... sounds great need some pics /vids to rub it in further...lol

[Wolfe]

Soooooô envious plenty of pics and extensive trip report please!!!!!!!!!

[AJ]

Absolutely!!! Am keen for as much detail as you can give!! as this is something that is definitely on my list of things we've gotta do!!

[Hunno]

Absolutely!!! Am keen for as much detail as you can give!! as this is something that is definitely on my list of things we've gotta do!!

Moab & the Rubicon Trail are on my bucket list too

[AV8]

Sorry about the delayed reports guys and gals.

To be honest we've been running around like cut snake and the free internet in the motel here ain't that great, so I'll post more late next week hopefully.

The ground zero for offroading in Utah is really in MOAB. It is an adventure town with plenty of things to do for all ages ; Dirtbikes, ATVs, Rafting, Rock Climbing, Wineries, Dinosaur Museum, Ziplining, scenic Flights, blah..blah..blah..the list goes on! Really the areas around the states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona is absolutely stunning. Need years to really appreciate them.

Moab can be accessed via a long drive from Los Angeles, 6 hr drive from Denver,Co / 5.5 hr from Salt Lake City, UT / 7 hr from Las Vegas. We flew into Denver via LAX, picked up the cheapest small car for the drive over to MOAB, then picked up the JKU from Moab. So renting a couple of cars for the duration, unfortunately but that's how it goes.

There are several rental companies here for Jeep hire. I've spoken to the owner of Farabee's Jeep and he is offering discounts up to 20%. 10% for a group of three or more and another 10% for more than 6 days hire. Another company is Outlaw Jeep Tours, speak to owner: Jim.

There are countless trails in Moab, all within 10-30 mins. We first took a leasurely drive on the blacktop at Arches National Park. The view was spectacular to say the least. The whole area here is truly jaw dropping drop dead gorgeous. Took heaps of pics including sunset at the world famous "delicate Arch".

When we picked the JKU up from Farabees, we were given a list of "not to do" trails and obtacles. Well, guess what.... That was the perfect list of what we had to do!! Ha! Ha! So the next day off we went to do Hell's Revenge Trail within which has Hell's Gate, Mickey's Hot Tub, The Escalator, Lion's Back (private now and unable to do), Dragons Back, Black Hole and The Abyss. I would rate this as B-B+ trail with plenty of fun and pucker factor!!!

On the third day we found ourselves a canyon trail and yeah... speckky of course. Words cannot described the amazing beauty of the area. Long day again with B-B+ trails including some scenic fall of the cliff type trails to what's called the Chicken's corner.

On the fourth day, we had decided earlier to not do too much as Jeep Jam was starting the next day and we just wanted to chill out and take it easy.... But guess what? We met some really nice people who invited us to join them at Poison Spider Trail, an offer we couldn't refuse. So that we did.. Awesome! Actually Syl drove and I spotted. (This must be boring already but that's the truth)

Afterwards, we quickly headed for the car wash for Jeep Jam vehicle inspection. The Jeep had to be spotless as we were going to an environmentally and culturally sensitive area full of Anasazi Indian pueblos and artifacts (around 1200AD), petroglyphs of mammoths (Paleo-Indian).

The trail rating from Jeep Jamboree USA for Hotel Rock which we did today is 9-10, but I would say our rating would be a C-B, easy enough but great fun factor due to steep inclines and declines, precipitious crawls and scenic views.

Tomorrow we are going to do the Arch Canyon and have a closing dinner. Then back to WJWhipple, Denver on Sunday, LA on Monday and home on Thursday. I'll post pics and videos after getting back to Sydney and please ask away.

We've learnt plenty over week and made many wonderful friendships. The same with our Jambo last year. So when's the next Jambo and where??

There are plenty of widow maker type trails and beyond but these are buggy or 44" territory.. So we're very happy that we were able to rent a built Jeep and go offroad. Many hire companies do not allow this. Farabees Jeep has a few other locations including Death Valley and Ouray... Please google and youtube these companies and trails above. You won't be disappointed and that's is an honest guarantee.

We have maps, books, brochures, so hopefully we can answer some of your questions.

[D.K.]

Great report - good to know you can hire built jeeps for the trails.

The well known and much documented Vee shaped groove, is it Hells Revenge or Hells gate?, looks amazing and intimidating. Looking from the bottom (in the video clips) it looks like a rock climb.

[AV8]

Hi DK,

The trail is called Hells Revenge but that piece of the drive is called Hell's Gate. It looked very intimidating indeed but really quite easy if one straddles up the right side. Some don't obviously, they end up sliding into the crack, smashing windows, body damage etc..