Poison Spider Mesa - Moab, UT

Challenging. Beautiful. Hardcore. Varied. Epic.

Poison Spider Mesa is a 10-mile trek southwest of Moab compiled of tight switchbacks, high irregular ledges, steep slickrock climbs and well-placed guide markers. The trail is marked by jeep symbols, and if you take the trail while the 4x4s are attacking it, be ready for a great spectator sport. With some skill, motorcycles eat up the terrain...with a lot of skill and slow going, perfect tire placement, jeeps can tackle the trail, too. Mountain bikers share the terrain as well, but most of the trail is too difficult to get through on a bicycle, so there's lots of walking involved.


4x4's tackling The Waterfall.
There are some narrow gullies with craggy rock formations, where you have to pick your line carefully before you ascend. The slickrock sections seem made for a bike, as your tires just grip it and go, gravity be damned. The sandy spots, which are quite prevalent for about a mile on the return loop, are much more challenging, and we snaked back and forth through most of it, feet ready for balance. There's a short section called the High Speed Mesa, which is easy going dirt roads where jeeps make up for time lost on the tricky spots.


View from the lookout.
The sights along the way are breath-taking. Other-worldly sandstone formations loom up in rounded bumps and dive down into deep valleys. The snow-capped La Sal mountains draw a jagged horizon in the distance. Desert greenery stakes its claim along the trail, contrasting sharply with the red slickrock and fine red sand. At the summit of the trail is an overlook which gazes down onto Moab Valley and the Colorado River...a striking scene.


Brant taking it one tire at a time.
If you leave early enough in the day, you can combine Poison Spider Mesa with two trails called Golden Spike and Gold Bar Rim, and add another 11 miles to the offroad trek. We bought and highly recommend an incredible book, the Guide to Moab, UT Backroads and 4-Wheel Drive Trails, by Charles A. Wells. Not only does it have detailed descriptions and maps of 50 trails in the area, it also has GPS waypoints and difficulty ratings, time and distance details, and backcountry consideration to take into account.

The Moab area is overflowing with awesome motorcross and jeep trails (not to mention mountain biking). Poison Spider Mesa is only one of innumerable adventures to be had.