Rattlesnake Arches Jeep Trail

Total Miles
15.4

Technical Rating

3

Easy

Best Time

Spring, Fall

Trail Type

High-Clearance 4x4 Trail

Accessible By

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Rattlesnake Arches Jeep Trail
6

Trail Overview

This is a mostly easy two-wheel drive dirt and gravel road. The last few miles do require a high clearance vehicle. This route is an out and back through BLM lands with lots of Pinyon and Juniper trees, open sagebrush parks, and views of beautiful red sandstone cliffs and canyons off in the distance. There is open cattle range and limited camping sites. At the end of the trail is a half-mile hike to some natural sandstone arches.

Photos of Rattlesnake Arches Jeep Trail

Rattlesnake Arches Jeep Trail
Rattlesnake Arches Jeep Trail

Difficulty

This road is mostly very easy; however the last few miles require a high clearance vehicle as there are a few rocky sections and a few small ledges. There is one ledge that is almost 18" but with some rock stacking it would be closer to 12"; therefore it merits the #3 "easy" rating.

Technical Rating

3

Status Reports

Michael Wilcox
Apr 19, 2025
2020 Jeep Gladiator
Open
Normal
From the open gate at North 16 1/2 Rd, it's a little rocky for 1.4 miles to the split. Continue left here as Lower Black Ridge Rd (to the right) is only open from Aug 15 - Feb 15. From here the trail smooths out for about 6 miles until you reach the descent to where the two trails meet. To save your breaks, use 4 Low on the descent. At the trails end there is parking for approximately a dozen rigs. There are both long and short walking trails from here with some awesome views.
Kaitlyn Cunningham
Apr 17, 2025
4x4
Temporarily Closed
Closed Gate
Jeremiah Boies
Sep 01, 2024
Open
Normal
Two mud pits, some minor obstacles as you get about 1 mile from trailhead.
Casey Cunningham
Aug 31, 2024
4x4
Open
Muddy/Wet
Normal
Trail was in solid shape. There were 2-3 mud holes with 1 of them being particulary daunting. It required some speed so resulted in a $45 jeep washing. There was no avoiding the 2 deepest ones.

Access Description

This track starts at the Glade Park Store. Founded in 1910 and the only general store in the rural Glade Park area, it's a great place to start and end the trail adventure. There is no gas in Glade Park, so fill up in Grand Junction or Fruita before heading up to Glade Park.

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