Want to make a trip out west...suggestions?

[CDBiker220]

Im from Pittsburgh, Pa and every winter me, my buddy, his dad and sometimes a few other people make a trip down to florida, georgia or south carolina to ride. This year I think we want to try going West. We may hold off untill early spring depending where we decide to go and what the weather is like. Im thinking go to the New Mexico, Utah, Colorodo area. We would likely stay out there for about a week and try to hit up a few different places to get a taste of the riding out there. We are experienced riders ( A/B class offroad racers) and usually look for technical and difficult trails. We ride KTM's and GasGas's, not road legal, but have spark arrestors. I've heard of places like Moab, that would be different, but also some forest riding would be nice to get variety. So any suggestions? and time of year thats best? dont want guided tours or anything like that, I want to plan everything and handle it on our own to keep down cost. This is just the begining of my research, need to pick out a few places to really look into. Thanks for any suggestions.

[KcDavis]

You could always come all the way West. In Oregon, we have desert riding, wooded trails and single track, and we have the sand dunes at the coast. Spring would be the best time of year to utilize all areas.

http://atv.prd.state.or.us/places.php

[pur3evil]

Idaho has some great riding as well, both in the mountains and the desert...

*may be a bit biased* ?

[CDBiker220]

What Im kind of looking for is specific riding area names and information. Places that have enough riding for a full day or 2 atleast. Im considering riding moab for a day or 2 just since it will be totally different than eastern woods riding, then maybe somewhere in colorado for a few days. Would really like to go to some places with some scenery and such to really experience the area out there. It would be ever better if they were near other non-riding attractions we could check out while were out there.

Also trying to do either a winter or early spring trip, to get away from the cold here in PA, not sure idaho or oregon would be ideal for that. Mainly looking to find out where to go in southern Utah, Colorado, or in New Mexico where we might beable to find decent riding conditions.

[trailmeisterjoe]

you have to realize that if you want wooded trails in winter or early spring, colorado and utah are pretty much out too. the elevations there ensure that the snow covers the mountain/ forest until june or july. open desert type riding is available there though ( and amazing at that too).

Joe

[dscofever]

Let me start by saying, I have no clue about this company. I found them online and thought I'd share.

I don't know what amount you want to spend, but they will provide bikes if you want too. Check out the web site, looks interesting. I saw their ad and they change the trails depending on the riders capabilities and I'm sure they could show you around a bunch of cool places.

http://www.admotours.com/

Some buddies and I just did our first dual sport ride from San Diego to Las Vegas (self guided, no other companies involved) and it was amazing. We hit almost every terrain you could think of (no tight single track). Highly recommend the ride.

[maximoose]

Arizona in early spring will be perfect. You could stay somewhere on the north east side of Phoenix (East Valley) and ride Wildcat, Sycamore and a few others for desert and then head to Payson for trees. There is a ton of varied terrain that won't require street legal, but will require sparky's which you said you have. Anything from technical single track to wide open desert to trees to rock gardens. Whatever you choose. I would hit up Arizona trail talk, Riding Arizona or wheresthenextadventure websites and you can get a ton of info on riding areas, terrain, etc.

[MNkayaker]

I spent a from April to July riding in the Moab Grand Junction area and here are the trails that you need to hit.

1. North Desert - Grand Junction CO. Ride out of 27 road north of the Airport and explore. There are cool washes, hill climbs and singletrack.

2. Butterknife Trail, Bangs Canyon - Grand Junction CO. Very cool rocky singletrack around some deep canyons. Then try riding up the Jeep trail, you won't make it unless you have a trials bike, but it's cool to see what a rock crawler can run!

3. Rabbit Valley - West of Grand Junction near the boarder of Utah. Rocky and sandy singletrack overlooking the CO river. Beautiful.

4. Slickrock trail - Moab UT. Put on a trials tire and ride up shit you couldn't even walk.

5. Soverign Trail - Moab UT. Rocky and sandy singletrack. Technical, switchbacks, and no rest. Ride out of the Arch View RV park north of Moab.

6. Dubinky - Green River UT. Sand dunes, washes and slickrock, fantastic and not crowded.

Other things to do.

CO National monument sweet drive south of Grand Junction. Epic scenery and a worth while drive.

Arches National Park - Moab, UT it has got to be seen to be appreciated.

Canyonlands National Park - Moab UT. If you have a 4x4 drive the Shafer trail up to the White Rim Trail. Very Very cool. Then Drive all the way into the park on the paved road, some of the most epic views I have ever seen.

[Soul Man]

Moab is awesome.

An hour or so south of Moab is Monticello, and they have some awesome singletrack in woods. You can get a condo for pretty cheap in Moab. tons of trails within 15 minutes of town.

Like mentioned above, snow will be a factor if you wanted to ride the woods areas (such as Monticello) as many of the trails are closed in winter.

[DrThumper]

Go to Moab.

Rent my condo.

It's in the TT Classifieds.

We'll give you the best discount available, just mention you heard it here on Thumper Talk.

[Watige420]

Im from Pittsburgh, Pa and every winter me, my buddy, his dad and sometimes a few other people make a trip down to florida, georgia or south carolina to ride. This year I think we want to try going West. We may hold off untill early spring depending where we decide to go and what the weather is like. Im thinking go to the New Mexico, Utah, Colorodo area. We would likely stay out there for about a week and try to hit up a few different places to get a taste of the riding out there. We are experienced riders ( A/B class offroad racers) and usually look for technical and difficult trails. We ride KTM's and GasGas's, not road legal, but have spark arrestors. I've heard of places like Moab, that would be different, but also some forest riding would be nice to get variety. So any suggestions? and time of year thats best? dont want guided tours or anything like that, I want to plan everything and handle it on our own to keep down cost. This is just the begining of my research, need to pick out a few places to really look into. Thanks for any suggestions.

The problem is that MOST of what we consider great riding out here is NOT ridable until mid to late JULY, as all the high country needs to shed snow. That being said, I would send you to Taylor Park Colorado. You could ride the area for a year and not hit it all. The area is literally built around hunting,sleds and dirt biking, gas is right there as well as cabins, resturant, general store. All you need. IF you have lights and a brake light you might be able to get a temp tag here. That would allow you to REALLY connect some great riding areas together.

No offence to MNkayaker but the stuff around Grand Junction/Fruita/Moab is what we fall back on when there's nothing else that's clear of snow. Just remember you NEED to be PLATED to ride fire roads and dirt county roads, otherwise Johnny Law might ruin your trip. You also need OFF ROAD Tag. The off road tag is good for Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Wyoming. The CO tag is NOT valid in Utah, and the Utah tag is not valid in CO. Just sayin'.

End of July is the most stunning visually as that's when the wild flowers are in bloom.?

[DrThumper]

I ride Moab all year round.

Seldom any snow in winter, if there is it melts and goes away in a day (or 2). In the summer, a mere 105, tops.

No need for plates, many trails, single track and slick rock to ride.

Been riding there for over 15 years, never been hassled by a cop, Ranger or anyone, 'cept maybe a irate tree huggin' mountain bike...

[MotoX-67]

oregon dunes! florence-> winchester-> coos bay

[CDBiker220]

Thanks for the advice so far, deff will look into going to moab atleast for a day or 2, some of the places in colorado sound really nice but sounds like you would have to wait till atleast spring to go there. Also forgot about offroad tags...thats kinda a pain, Ive never even had to think about something like that before out here.

[MNkayaker]

Thanks for the advice so far, deff will look into going to moab atleast for a day or 2, some of the places in colorado sound really nice but sounds like you would have to wait till atleast spring to go there. Also forgot about offroad tags...thats kinda a pain, Ive never even had to think about something like that before out here.

If you are tagged in your home state you will be good to go, there is a reciprocity for most states, not all. I was asked once and my MN tag was just fine for them even though in CO the MN tag wasn't supposed to pass.

[coktm]

If you hit Moab, also look at Green River. There are great riding areas all directions from town, and in early spring the weather is normally great. A little farther east is Grand Junction with many riding areas (as mentioned above) within a few miles. You could easily spend a week riding desert around Moab, Green River, and Grand Junction, riding as much as you can stand every day, and never ride the same trail twice. If that interests you, a little research can get you lined up with trails that range from serious desert single track (5 miles of hell) to miles and miles of faster desert terrain, and everything in between. As stated earlier, early spring is only good for snowmobiles if you are heading into the higher forests.

CoKTM

[CDBiker220]

So say we decided to just go to Moab and surrounding areas to ride for a week? how early could we go that temps would be enjoyable (say highs around 50 atleast)

[Chuck.]

Some of the western Regional forums have pictures and video; check them out to see what the areas have to offer.

From my limited perspective:

Oregon and Washington each have a coastal region with year round forest riding, high desert/plains riding, and mountain riding in the summer.

Nevada has a lot mountain ranges, with valleys, with lots of riding on BLM land.

AZ has NFs with a variety of riding from mountain, forest, to deserts.

Just pick your adventure.

[shagger]

I spent a from April to July riding in the Moab Grand Junction area and here are the trails that you need to hit.

1. North Desert - Grand Junction CO. Ride out of 27 road north of the Airport and explore. There are cool washes, hill climbs and singletrack.

2. Butterknife Trail, Bangs Canyon - Grand Junction CO. Very cool rocky singletrack around some deep canyons. Then try riding up the Jeep trail, you won't make it unless you have a trials bike, but it's cool to see what a rock crawler can run!

3. Rabbit Valley - West of Grand Junction near the boarder of Utah. Rocky and sandy singletrack overlooking the CO river. Beautiful.

Go to the Westwater exit in UT, the first exit that isn't a scenic overlook, go south and take the two tracker just before the substation. I think you take the left at the first "Y" and take rights after that. You end up at a big rock patio on a cliffside. The trail goes right arcoss it. Go trail right and follow the cliff for the high tral that goes all the way back to CO, unless you ride the extra credit loop at the top of the very end of the feature, a big four way intersection where one goes down into the big valley east.

The trail left is a pretty cool valley trail if you can find it.

4. Slickrock trail - Moab UT. Put on a trials tire and ride up shit you couldn't even walk.

5. Soverign Trail - Moab UT. Rocky and sandy singletrack. Technical, switchbacks, and no rest. Ride out of the Arch View RV park north of Moab.

6. Dubinky - Green River UT. Sand dunes, washes and slickrock, fantastic and not crowded.

Other things to do.

CO National monument sweet drive south of Grand Junction. Epic scenery and a worth while drive.

Arches National Park - Moab, UT it has got to be seen to be appreciated.

Canyonlands National Park - Moab UT. If you have a 4x4 drive the Shafer trail up to the White Rim Trail. Very Very cool. Then Drive all the way into the park on the paved road, some of the most epic views I have ever seen.

Seems for Minnisotes that we have many of the same playgrounds.

[coktm]

So say we decided to just go to Moab and surrounding areas to ride for a week? how early could we go that temps would be enjoyable (say highs around 50 atleast)

That’s a hard question to answer. Some years you can ride those areas all year. Other years you have to hit it between snow storms. We tend to watch the weather and manage to get rides in throughout the winter season. If you want to be safe I would plan for Mid March, and later. Late June starts getting hot.

Contact the Green River Motorcycle association (GRMA) and the Sageriders for more info on the riding in the area.

http://www.sageridersmc.com/index.html

CoKTM