Behind the Reef - BLM851

Total Miles 13.3
Technical Rating
4 Moderate
Best Time Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Trail Type High-Clearance 4x4 Trail
Accessible By
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Behind the Reef - BLM851 trail photo

Trail Overview

Behind the Reef is a rugged and unmaintained OHV/ATV trail within the BLM's San Rafael Swell trail system. The main trail starts at Temple Mountain Campground and passes along the N side of the swell, passing numerous slot canyon hike trailheads - Bell, Ding, Dang, Little Wildhorse, and Crack Canyons. At roughly 6.5 miles in, the character of the trails grows more rugged with a rocky climb along a ledge. Further along at mile 13, the trail changes from a high-clearance full-width trail at the intersection with BLM854. This trail passes through numerous washes and will be impacted by wet weather.

Photos of Behind the Reef - BLM851

Difficulty

rugged OHV trail

History

Additional information is available on the BLM website here: https://www.blm.gov/visit/behind-reef-trail

Technical Rating

4

Status Reports

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Mike Berg
May 23, 2026
Open
The Chute Canyon Trailhead headed West trail becomes tricky, especially the first climb from the trailhead (1/4 mile). It’s passable but should be rated a 6 or 7. Unexpected barriers like rock sliders and under armor are advised for anything bigger than a side by side.
Guy Taylor
Apr 30, 2026
Open
Open to cute canyon then washed out.
Adam Mertz
Apr 07, 2026
Open
Not particularly technical but very rocky and they’re sharp. Prepare to air down and bounce around a lot.
Nick Bishop
Mar 28, 2026
Open
Camped at the trailhead for Wildhorse Cr. wash. Dispersed camping was somewhat crowded - maybe 4-5 rigs including us. Road is not technical up to this point. NOTE: the easily navigable road ends at Crack Canyon and, according to the ranger at Goblin Valley, becomes a challenging track which is not travelled by most vehicles. Beautiful views and plentiful rockhounding opportunities!
Marc Lind
Oct 31, 2025
Open
Very technical washout at (38.62872, -110.76447). We couldn’t het our dirtbikes up this point, and we’ve done 6/10 trails according to OnX. After the obstacle it looked very smooth, but unfortunately couldn’t get past this hiccup. Hoping this gets resorted soon.
Tyson Fredrickson
Apr 05, 2025
Open
Amazing scenery, mostly dusty road with a few little technical fun spots! A lot of driving on the edge of a cliff though!
James Buck
Feb 04, 2025
Open
Hanhie Jabbour
Nov 29, 2024
Open
1-2 inches of recent snow have left several sections muddy.
Bawt Net
May 26, 2024
Open
trail is easy till you start to climb about halfway to the wild horse turn off. Going up is definitely lately a 5/10, 4/10 there after. Don't reccomend for anything stock ride height.
Gary Allison
Sep 27, 2023
Open
Jerin Bussio
Jun 04, 2023
Open

Behind the Reef - BLM851 Trail can be accessed by the following ride types:

  • Single Track
  • 50 Inch
  • 60 Inch
  • High Clearance

Behind the Reef - BLM851 Map

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