Porcupine Rim Trail

by The Flatlander for

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Summary: The 3 1/2 rated Porcupine Rim Trail is long and bumpy but affords fantastic views of Castle Valley and the La Sal Mountains. Many take the trail just to get a picture of their 4X4 on "Picture Rock" which protrudes out over the 1,500 drop off into Castle Valley.

Location: The trail leaves Sand Flats Road around 9 miles from Moab. It covers the country north of Sand Flats Road and west of Porcupine Rim which forms the west wall of Castle Valley.

Scenery: Scenery is the main attraction on this trail. The views into Castle Valley are awesome and will keep your camera very busy. The La Sal Mountains make an appropriate backdrop to the upper end of Castle Valley and add variety to the view. On the way in, the steep walled Negro Bill Canyon is very interesting, if not a little intimidating as you drive along the top of its steep walls.

The Trail: Not too long after beginning the trail, it begins to closely parallel Negro Bill Canyon. The canyon was named after a small rancher who, many years ago, fenced off the lower end of the Canyon by the Colorado River and grazed cattle here. There was no need to fence any of the rest of the canyon. The trail crosses the upper part of the Negro Bill drainage and quickly climbs toward Porcupine Rim. The most spectacular views are from the Porcupine Rim edge which the trail closely follows for about 1 1/2 miles. Toward the end of these spectacular views is "Picture Rock" where you can drive your 4X4 out over a 1,500 foot drop off and get pictures of it with the La Sal Mountains as the backdrop. After this there is one challenging sand hill that is complicated with larges pieces of rock mixed in with the sand. There are several ledges in the 3 to 3 1/2 difficulty range that will require more than one try by some vehicles.

Flatlander's Trail Report, Big Saturday, April 6, 1996:

Click the small pictures to view 640X480X16 million color versions.

On Big Saturday over one thousand 4WDs leave Moab for the trails all at one time. The local Police and Sheriff just shut down the highway on both ends of town to facilitate this "Parade." It is quite an impressive sight. The Porcupine Rim trail is not very difficult. It's main attraction is the scenery from the top. Here is a shot along the early part of the trail.

Being a trail leader on Big Saturday is very prestigious. Red Rock 4-wheelers work for years as gunners and trail leaders on other days so they can eventually lead a trail on Big Saturday. Big Saturday leaders have their pictures in the Safari Newspaper and get a brief write up about where they are from and what they do. Gene Ferris is the Big Saturday trail leader for Porcupine Rim. A well deserved honor. This is another shot along the early part of the trail.

The Canyon Walls are very steep near Negro Bill Canyon. The trail parallels and affords many breathtaking views into Negro Bill.

Some spectacular views open up at the higher elevations. This one is shot to the west, back toward Moab. Moab's elevation is about 4,025 feet while Porcupine Rim reaches nearly 6,800 feet in the areas along the trail.

This is the whole reason some people do the trail. A picture of your 4X4 out on that rock on a sunny day like today is priceless. Be very, very careful as you drive out to the edge. The Castle Valley floor is 1,500 feet below.

This is another shot from the same spot in the trail. You could shot blind from here and get loads and great pictures.

I shot this one out the window on the way back down Porcupine Rim. The scenery from the top is fantastic.

We had about 40 vehicles on the trail again today. As usual Gene got them all out with no accidents or broken vehicles.

34th Annual Easter Jeep Safari (2000)
33rd Annual Easter Jeep Safari (1999)
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31st Annual Easter Jeep Safari (1997)
30th Annual Easter Jeep Safari (1996)
Moab, Utah, 4WD Trails Map with Links to all 30 Trails
Trail Difficulty Ratings

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