- Dirt Road Magazine - Kane Creek Trail

- Dirt Road Magazine - Kane Creek Trail - (dirtroad.com)

Š2008 Dirt Road Magazine

The morning began much like many previous Jeepin' trips I've been on. Meet group "A" at location "B" and hit the trail. Except this wasn't any morning: I was in Moab, Utah, we were going on an XJ run (organized by Glenn Wakefield and some folks from the XJ digest), and the trail we planned to attack was "Hell's Revenge" (4+)!! After a quick meeting and CB channel selection, we rolled onto the highway with a serious thunderstorm heading our way. As we reached the entrance to Hell's Revenge, it was raining heavily. We decided this trail would likely be way too slick and treacherous, so we chose another: Kane Creek (3+). The Kane Creek trail is more sheltered and winds through a gorge no more than 3 or 4 miles from Moab.
We regrouped near the trailhead and began our ride. The first obstacle was a short but steep ravine that claimed a front driveshaft. The trail ran along the side of the gorge for awhile, and then dropped into the creek bed for several water crossings, some of which were almost headlight deep. At one point, the trail dropped several feet with a left-lean into the water. The next notable area was a climb up the side of the gorge on a trail barely wide enough for the Jeeps, with several large rock steps, some of which were off-camber. It was here the XJ ahead of me was three-wheelin' with about 3' of air! With the help of our excellent spotters, everyone made the climb with little trouble. Along the way we had to make a simple field repair when the radiator quick-flush fitting cracked on my XJ. After the majority of the group made it near the top, we heard from the tail end: A TJ had trashed his R&P. A few folks volunteered to stay behind to work on the Jeep, and the rest of us trudged on.
One scenic and historic part of the trail is possibly the highest point along the gorge, where you can see an old mining bridge across the creek. Not too far from the bridge are the remains of an old Willy's Jeep Pickup which tumbled into the ravine long ago.
Near the end of the trail we maneuvered over a steep drop-off, followed by a creek crossing, and then a multi-stairstep climb back up. This obstacle proved to be fun, since the steps were just about an XJ length apart.
It wasn't much longer until we were back at the highway, about 10 miles south of Moab, where we parted ways.

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