Moab Rim Trail

The Moab Rim has been famous as a gnarly jeep trail for decades, but is used by many types of trail users. This trail runs along a ledge of purplish sandstone on the anticline that rises along the Colorado River to form the cliffs defining the western side of the Moab Valley. It mirrors the infamous Portal Trail on the other side of the river, but never becomes as broken, narrow, or sandy. Basically, the Moab Rim trail is slickrock all the way to the top. This sounds like good news, but there are brutal stair-step features and the angle is absolutely relentless. When you top out, turn around the mesa following the two-track to eventually meet up with the Hidden Valley trail. From here, you can make a loop hike by climbing your way through the edge of Behind The Rocks Wilderness Study Area connecting to the Hidden Valley Trail, down the uber-gnarly "Barney Rubble", and finally utilizing Pipe Dream as your avenue back to town, though this loop is arguably easier in the other direction. Start at the staging area near Portal on the Kane Creek road. Once you are on the trail, it's hard to get lost: just follow the black rubber streak and don't fall off into the river far below.