Porcupine Rim (Moab, UT)

Region: Moab

Trailhead Location: 7.1 miles past Sand Flats Recreation Guard Station Turn left at a water tank.

Trailhead GPS: 38°34’29.22″N 109°26’42.59″W

Trail Mileage: 10 miles round trip +/-

Riding Difficulty: Difficult (Rated 3.5 on Moab’s 4 point rating scale)

Temperature Range: 30-100 Depending on the season

Check the map here.

The overview picture of the porcupine rim trail.

Trail Description

The porcupine trail of Moab stretches around the length of twenty-three kilometers. The trail is most popular for hiking and mountain biking. The best time to ride on this trail is from March to October. This trail has a shuttle service and provides excellent views when you reach a high elevation in the trail. The location of this trail is in the sand flats recreation area and eight miles from the Slickrock trailhead.

Experts suggest the porcupine trail is best experienced by mountain bikers when they ride as a point to point which reduces the stressful climbing. As this trail is very famous among mountain bikers do not expect to find the trail mostly empty like other trails. You will find several mountain bikers sharing the same enthusiasm and adrenaline rush. As the trail is huge in length you might get often intimidated to take a shortcut but in the past, that has proven as a troublesome idea.

So always maintain your ride on the main trail and take breaks for food and water often. The porcupine rim trail takes the riders to the edge of castle valley from where the view is a thrill in itself. Then the trail steeps down to Jackass Canyon’s rims where you can ride singletrack with liberty to reach the colorado river.

The trail route in details

The trail of the porcupine rim does start with a double-track climb to gain some elevation subsequently for riding through four miles. After the climbing portion of the trail comes to a halt it serves as a good spot for scenic views and catching breath. Then comes along the descent of eleven miles to reach along the colorado river.

The path has both double and single tracks but the road is mostly of Slickrock but has some sand and dirt portions too. There are wall rides, drops, and freeride features present on the sides trail for maximum fun for mountain bikers. There are several main road drops as well which can keep the heart content for mountain biking lovers.

Towards the end of the trail, the road becomes parallel to the colorado river and the openness of the region would give you can very pleasant vibe of success and freedom. The last region of the trail goes into highway 128 which is very close to the amazing Grandstaff canyon. There are several markings like cairns, brown flexible posts, and symbols on rock throughout the trail. The trail is rated difficult is best suited for experienced mountain bikers.