trail question(s)

[jssjeepin]

hello all ;D

first time poster.

I reside in Houston, Texas. Needless to say I hate it here lol, my Jeep gets little wheeling in because there is not much terrain other then mud, which I have quickly grown to hate.

but, I have 2 weeks of time before school starts, so me and my mom decided to come up to Moab and stretch my Jeep's legs a bit.

I have a Moab survival guide from a 4wheel magazine and highlighted all the trails that seemed driveable at my Jeeps current level:

3 - D
Tip Toe
Chicken Corners
Copper Ridge
Crystal Geyser
Dome Plateau
Fins and Things
Gold Bar Rim
Hey Joe Canyon
Kane Creek Canyon
Lockhart Basin
Porcupine Rim
Secret Spire
Seven Mile Rim
Steel Bender
Top of the World

now my Jeep is a bone stock 95 YJ (Disco'ed with a winch and tow hooks) and some regular All-terrains, how would it fair on these trails? I recently had it break down from a creek incident (ugh) and it also needed some maintenance which ran the total bill to $2300 and I dont want to push it "to the edge" because my biggest fear of all time is breaking down in the boonies.

Also how far are these trails from downtown Moab? We'll probably be in a motel near or in Moab (painted lady and rustic inn looked good).

And how long do these trails take to complete? I would like to stick to trails that would take no more then a few hours to complete, and if in the unlikely event I were to break down, are there any phones out there? or would I be looking at a very long walk?

thanks for any and all help, this is my first real road trip since I was tiny so I'm quite excited about it, but dont want it be ruined by the lack of knowledge

[broncoman]

As a first timer at moab you should probably see if there are going to be other people running some of the trails that you want to run while you are there .. solo 4-wheelin is not only dumb but can be life threatening .. even for the old hand.

All of the trails that you mentioned CAN be handled by a stock veh. the big limiting factor is the experience of the driver ... the rating system of the trails that you listed ranges from 3-4. for a novice driver you should start with a 3 then if you feel up to it move up ... all the trails you mentioned except maybe Top of the World and Lockhart Basin is in close around moab and can be done in a few hrs
.
tell us when you are going to be in town and usually some one from here will be in town at the same time ... most people here on this board are willing to help a newcommer to our favorite place then see if you can tag along and learn.

remember to have plenty of water ( at least 1.5 gal / person/day ) with you on the trail.

As I remember I think I was there on green jeeps first trip to moab ..

[timb]

Broncoman gives good advise. I'd personally stay away from Steelbender with a bone stocker YJ - some of those ledges are getting big. You will find plenty to do there but it may be hot. Good luck!

[jssjeepin]

well we went ahead and got the Wells guide to moab's backroads, and wow, there are ALOT more trails then I figured.

as for wheeling solo, I dont know what to say/do about it. I do wheel conservatively though, if I see an obstacle that looks questionable, I either take a bypass or turn around and go to another trail. This method is hard with mud and because of it, I have become good at recovery but will pretty much be babying my Jeep the whole time if I'm solo.

I will be in moab from the 27th (1 week from today) to September 8th, I have about 24 trails in the Wells book marked that I want to atleast try and we'll probably be getting started on our runs early in the morn till the evening (however we may hang around town in the afternoon over the heat issue), I was looking at running some trails together since they were next to each other but I still question that idea over the issue of gas, but I dont expect it to be a problem since most trails are 10-20miles.

if anyone wants to join in...I'll highly appreciate it lol.

I am definitely doing lions back as well, and we were also planning on trying a half day trip of white water rafting too along with arches national park (planned on doing some trails there, as the Wells book says most are easy).

for the heat issue, like I said, we might hang around town, or just take some leasurely drives on some scenic roads in the afternoon till it starts to cool off later on (however under no circumstance will we be driving trails in the dark unless accompanied by someone who knows the area).

also *IF* someone does tag along, I will warn you now, I am a photography freak, I would probably be making constant stops for photo-ops, plus stops to let the engine cool down if I have gone slow in 4-lo for any extended period of time. (the Jeep does have a new A/C system and new radiator fan and fan clutch, with a recently flushed radiator.)

oh yea, I also have a CB radio with a 8.5' whip antenna just to let ya know.

phew, 1 week to go.....1.....looong.....agonising.....week

[greenjeep]

I agree with what's been said and echo about avoiding SteelBender. Since you'll be here for Labor Day, you might consider registering for the Red Rock 4-Wheelers, Labor Day Campout. It's kind of like a mini Jeep Safari. You can find more info about it,

HERE
or
HERE

If you'd like to register call 435 259-ROCK, and you can get all hooked up.

If you have other questions, let me know. I might be available to go with you a few days.