Trail Overview
Buttes and Towers trail is an 18-mile point-to-point trail rated 3 of 10 located outside Moab in Grand County, Utah. This trail offers the perfect combination of moderate 4-wheeling with plenty of sightseeing opportunities. Some rougher sections of the trail call for more attention than others but nothing too tough for a stock 4WD to handle. This beautiful trail visits the scenic Courthouse Pasture area northwest of Moab to provide participants with picturesque views and vistas of the beautiful reddish Entrada rock formations that are plentiful in this area. The La Sal Mountain peaks serve as a backdrop. Courthouse Rock dominates the beginning of the trip. The trail passes some of the most famous areas of northern Moab such as Pasture Butte, Monitor and Merrimac Buttes, and Determination Towers. There are no major obstacles along this route. After crossing the ledge section and traveling through Mills Canyon the trail runs straight south out to the buttes. After visiting the buttes, the trail backtracks and then turns west towards the towers thus giving this trail its name. The trail surface varies but stays consistent with the trail rating. It varies from bumpy rock sections to smooth sandy washes. There are two track dirt sections, a lot of fun slickrock driving that includes some sidehill areas (follow the white dashes painted on the slickrock), then sandy creek bottoms, and a lot of sandy pasture area. Sprinkled among all this variety are broken, rubbly rock sections and a few short steps. Cell phone service is intermittent and the nearest services are in Moab.
Difficulty
The trail consists of loose rocks, dirt, and sand with some slickrock surfaces. Mud holes are possible and no steps higher than 12". 4WD may be required, aggressive tires are a plus.
