Potash/Schafer Trail - Moab, Utah

Tony G. for HondaSUV · Commented: Fri Jun 28, 2002 1:27 pm

Just finished a 4000 mile road trip through the Southwest - including Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. The CRV handled admirably both on and off road. We took our silver CRV off road three times and once even off trail out into the desert to camp. Below is our trip on the Potash/Schafer Trail near Moab, Utah. I'll update it with a CRV photo on the trail shortly. Some of my description of this trail is taken from the book "Scenic Driving Utah", by Joe Bensen. (Highly recommended reading if you're going to drive/sight see Utah.)

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If you saw the road-adventure film "Thelma & Louise", you will recognize the end of this trail as the location of the final dramatic scene (although it is represented in the movie as the Grand Canyon). If you are into scary, steep, "thrill driving," you'll love this one. There are NO guardrails, and it is definitely better driving UP than down. My wife kept saying, "Stay to your right!" about every minute until we got to the summit (since all she saw out her window was the canyon floor two thousand feet below!).

The Trail starts as the paved Potash Scenic Byway (Utah 279) just north of Moab. It follows the contour of the Colorado River to the town of Potash where the pavement ends and the Schafer Trail (and fun begins). From here you can drive into Canyonlands National Park through a very back entrance.

There are a couple of short, steep intervals, than at about 2.5 miles beyond the pavement's end you come to level bedrock. At mile 8.5 you come up on top of a great, broad, grass covered mesa overlooking the Colorado River. Great views and photo op!

The road forks here at the first big river vista. Take the right fork. At mile 9.5 there is about 100 feet of slightly nerve wracking road (with a VERY BIG drop on the left). The road here is only about as wide as your CRV, so if you don't feel comfortable with the possibility of falling a thousand feet to your death - not to mention wrecking a great vehicle - retrace your path back to Moab, but if you make it through this, the best is
yet to come!

Just past mile 11 you enter Canyonlands NP (via the back way, so there's no entry station). At mile 13 is a "T" in the road, turn right and follow the signs for Island In The Sky.

The book says you'll need a low-geared vehicle and plenty of nerve for the next three miles of white-knuckle switchbacks as the trail climbs out of the canyon. Well folks, I'm here to tell you - yes, it is scary and just like in Thelma & Louise - IT WAS GREAT! The CRV handled every steep climb and turn with perfection.

I'd highly recommend this trail as a great off-road adventure (as long as you aren't afraid of heights and realize your own driving limitations.) Personally, I had some reservations about the CRV being able to handle the high-torque portion of the steep switchbacks, but it proved it was capable!

Tony Gadomski (6/9