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Author:
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_superstition
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Date:
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27 Jul 2007 9:10:05 AM
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Activity:
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Mountain Biking
ActivitySearchMountainBiking
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State:
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Utah (UT)
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Distance:
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14.77 mi
(Change units)
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Elevation:
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Total Gain: 2189 ft
Total Loss: 4027 ft
Net Change: -1839 ft
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Difficulty:
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5 / 10
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Tags:
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Moab, Utah
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Rating:
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Unrated
Rate it
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| Position Format: |
Datum: |
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Moab: Porcupine Rim
| Dist: 14.77 mi |
Points: 826 |
Calories: none |
| Time: none |
Speed: 0.0 mph |
Pace: 0:00 / mi |
Coffee Pot Rock
Location: 38.612820°, -109.433754°
Parking Area
Location: 38.581860°, -109.416634°
Parking is about six miles further up Sandflats road from the Slickrock trailhead.
Trail End
Location: 38.612141°, -109.532150°
Bottom of Porcupine Rim Trail at highway 128
Trailhead
Location: 38.582027°, -109.416306°
GPS waypoint to find the trailhead on Sandflats road. It's about 6 miles up the road from the Slickrock trailhead. The road is paved part of the way and turns to dirt. Its in great shape and suitable for any passenger car.
Specialized Commercial
Location: 38.600288°, -109.386703°
Clint and Rich are like a commercial for Specialized mountain bikes. The new Enduro SL is absolutely made for this kind of riding. Porcupine Rim offers some very technical riding with many great ledge drops if you dare. Crash pads are recommended if you plan to get too crazy!
Air Rider
Location: 38.618809°, -109.485336°
Trent again shows his knack for photography capturing Rich in another mid-air shot. Man....is this trail a blast!
Breathtaking!
Location: 38.621372°, -109.498398°
The single track follows the top of the brown cliff layer (literally in some places so br careful). Below you can see the Colorado River and highway 128.
Views, Views, Everywhere
Location: 38.622078°, -109.476685°
You can't ride Moab without seeing some of the most majestic views to be found anywhere.
Downhill Fun!
Location: 38.621689°, -109.475159°
Trent, Clint, and Rich take a nice ledge jump flying down the jeep road on Porcupine Rim. There are many opportunities for air and you can really pick up some speed on the way down. But be careful...just when you're flying the next rock garden or ledge springs up in front of you!
SWEET Singletrack
Location: 38.619659°, -109.488777°
The last 4 miles or so of Porcupine Rim change from rugged jeep trail to SWEET singletrack. This section is probably the best singletrack we've ever ridden. Why??? Well, its a bomber downhill run for 4 miles, its exposed on a cliff ledge for that extra "excitement", the views of the canyon and Colorado River on the way down are absolutely killer, and finally the technical steeps are challenging and will send you over the bars in a heartbeat if you lose your concentration. What else could a mountain biker ask for?
Rest Break
Location: 38.616512°, -109.523460°
We had a take a brief break on the way down to literally inhale how phenomial this trail really is!
Trailhead Warnings
Location: 38.582077°, -109.416298°
The BLM does a good job of educating mountain bikers. This is a very technical trail requiring advanced riding skills and a good full suspension bike.
Clint's Jump
Location: 38.621674°, -109.475174°
Clint shows how to rip over a drop. you'll find this action everywhere on Porcupine Rim.
Catch Your Breath with a view!
Location: 38.590591°, -109.378838°
Clint and Trent stop to look back on the climb up. Don't worry, you'll need to stop to catch your breath on the 1,000' initial climb over 3 miles to the Castle Valley overlook. Great views of Moab are found in the distant backgroud.
Trail End Parking Lot
Location: 38.611523°, -109.532936°
This is where you'll park a shuttle vehicle. The trail ends at a tunnel that goes under the road making it safer to cross. you can have some half pipe fun in the tunnel too to "complete" the experience!
Mini Monumment Valley
Location: 38.594471°, -109.377380°
Castle Valley is gorgeous and reminds me of a minature Monument Valley, the famous Arizona destination.
Lower Your Seat!
Location: 38.619610°, -109.488747°
Bring your seat down when you start this run. You can absolutely fly on this single track in places but be sure to get back on the rear tire for some of the rock steeps you'll need to desend. Oh yea.....be sure you have great brakes. The Avid juicy 7's on the Euduro SLs were fantastic.
Mid Air Baby!
Location: 38.621674°, -109.475197°
Trent captured this photo of Rich while he was in mid air off the ledge. Check out the shadow.
Technical Steeps
Location: 38.623241°, -109.506058°
If you like technical riding then Porcupine Rim is one of the best anywhere!
Pinch Flat
Location: 38.613411°, -109.420532°
The trials and tribulations of a rental bike. While Clint and Rich were able to bring their own bikes from Arizona, Trent traveled from Ohio and had to rent. He rented the Santa Cruz Nomad, a great bike for Moab riding, but he had two flats for the Porcupine Rim ride! Tubeless technology is the solution for pinch flats but its a bit tricky to get set up initially.
Technical Steps
Location: 38.585754°, -109.393127°
On the way up the road you'll encounter many places with technical steps to climb. The climb is a blast if you like this kind of terrain but it helps to have a good all mountain bike with lower weight for climbing but 6 inches of suspension for bombing downhill.
Technical Jump Action!
Location: 38.618843°, -109.485161°
At the wash before the singletrack there is another highly technical ledge jump to navigate on an exposed rock formation. Rich and Trent test the Enduro SL and Nomad again!
Jeep Road Jump
Location: 38.587265°, -109.380211°
Rich and Trent take a nice jump on the way up the jeep road. The camera never does the jump justice!
Porcupine Rim Trailhead
Location: 38.582100°, -109.416298°
The Porcupine Rim trailhead is located about 6 miles up Sandflats Road from the Slickrock Trailhead. There is an open air toilet, a small parking area, and cattle water tanks. Bring your own water though - the cattle tanks are non potable.
Panaramic Video Views
Location: 38.594540°, -109.377312°
Castle Valley from the Porcupine Rim is as good as it gets!
Jeep Road Climb
Location: 38.585323°, -109.396629°
In places the inital climb is like a steep sidewalk of solid rock. Be sure you have a granny gear!
Group Photo
Location: 38.594471°, -109.377357°
All trips must have a group photo for bragging rights! From the left....Rich, Clint, and Trent brave Porcupine Rim. Castle Valley is in the backgound.
Big Air Jump!
Location: 38.623642°, -109.480469°
Rich and Trent take this 5' drop with style! This is where all the suspension you can pedal is necessary! The Euduro SL and Nomad are great bikes for Moab riding.
Slickrock Blur
Location: 38.624725°, -109.482880°
There is a cool slickrock play area part way down Porcupine Rim that is fun to romp around on. Traction of this stuff is amazing.
Marking a Waypoint
Location: 38.621674°, -109.502831°
Rich is marking a waypoint with his GPS phone. He brought a Sanyo 7050 Sprint phone on this trip and it worked flawlessly running Trimble's GuideWorx GPS product.
Fun Technical Climbing
Location: 38.585854°, -109.393051°
Clint is climbing a fun step on the Jeep road heading toward the Porcupine Rim. Of course....he did climb it successfully when I was not rolling film!
Funny Lizzard
Location: 38.620594°, -109.484467°
this colorfull specimen was not afraid of us at all. In fact he trotted up and posed not more than 6 feet away.
What??? No Way!
Location: 38.623615°, -109.480484°
Rich is posing next to a big 5' drop that he and Trent cleared. This is where you need all the travel you can pedal!
A Picture of a Picture
Location: 38.621372°, -109.498375°
Trent snapped this photo of Rich taking a photo! Don't forget to stop every mile or so on the downhill single track run to inhale all of the great scenery!
The Payoff!
Location: 38.594471°, -109.377380°
Clint and Rich take in the phenomial views of Castle Valley from the Porcupine Rim after a 1,000' climb over 3 miles.
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