Spring Canyon Bottom and Beef Basin

Here are a few pics from my trip to Moab last weekend.

I arrived in town just after 3 PM, checked into my hotel, grabbed a burger, and headed out to Spring Canyon Bottom. This is one of the many easy trails off of highway 313. They are not technical at all, but they have some amazing scenery to explore.















On Saturday I headed out to Beef Basin. Beef Basin is about an hour south of Moab. The trail is pretty long (like 60 miles although I didn't keep track) and fear of running out of gas was never far from my mind. It was probably 10 AM by the time I made the drive down from Moab and got on the trail. It was pretty warm and very windy. It's a pretty easy trail. The only mildly challenging part was the Salt Canyon overlook where there were a few ledges, one about 15 inches, and someone had already stacked rocks, so they were no problem. There was a bit of mud and melting snow at the higher elevations, but nothing to be concerned about. I made it to the major ruin, the tower ruin, and the farm house ruin. I was pretty pressed for time because the storm was blowing in and I was a little worried about the road conditions at the higher elevations, so I didn't stay long at each. Here are a few more pics.



















All in all it was a pretty fun trip. I will definately do Beef Basin again (with a spare gas can!). There is so much more to explore out there. It would be fun to connect this trail with Elephant Hill via Bobby's Hole. I might look at doing something like that this summer.

Beautiful area, nice report!

That is awesome! Thanks for sharing!

Ernie,

Sorry I missed it.

If any of you have the opportunity to wheel with Big Ern do your best not to miss out, he's a good egg.

Looks like we missed a good ride! Would I need anything extra besides a stock FJ? I need to get out more that is obvious!!!! Thanks for your pictures and trail report. Thanks Tain

Thanks for posting this report, it's almost fate. I'd never heard of Beef Basin (go figure) until seeing a video of it from Greg Miller and the Proffits guys and ever since I've wanted to check it out. Now I'm hearing about it every other week, someone's got to be giving me a hint

Great pictures!

Beef Basin is an absolutely incredible place to visit, you can easily spend several days there and not scratch the surface. The route north through Needles is a neat segment as is the route south over Elk Ridge and above Dark Canyon.

LFNTMS wrote:

...I'd never heard of Beef Basin (go figure) until seeing a video of it from Greg Miller and the Proffits guys and ever since I've wanted to check it out. Now I'm hearing about it every other week, someone's got to be giving me a hint

Great pictures!

Had to do some searching to find that video, I had never seen it but I recognize my mug in it. It was a really fun trip, great people, great scenery and location, had the place to ourselves.

tain wrote:

Looks like we missed a good ride! Would I need anything extra besides a stock FJ? I need to get out more that is obvious!!!! Thanks for your pictures and trail report. Thanks Tain

Both of these trails could be done in a stock FJ. If you want to cross over Bobby's Hole to the Elephant Hill trail you will want some skids and rock rails at least. You could probably make it with out, but my skids saved a transfer case at least the last time I was there.

Edit: I wish I would of brought extra gas. I was worried about running out the during the entire trip. I made it back in town with about 1/8 of a tank left. Also, the area is really remote, so make sure you are as self sufficient as possible (i.e. jack, shovel, tool kit, means to air up a tire, etc.). Also bring food and plenty of water. I saw two other vehicles at the trail head and that was it. I saw absolutely no one else until I got back to the highway.

cruiseroutfit wrote:

Beef Basin is an absolutely incredible place to visit, you can easily spend several days there and not scratch the surface. The route north through Needles is a neat segment as is the route south over Elk Ridge and above Dark Canyon.

I've seen tons of pics of Beef Basin on the Wasatch Cruisers and the Expedition Utah web sites (great sites BTW) and I've been wanting to check it out in person for a long while. I'm glad I made the trip.

I definitely want to head back there and try the two routes you mentioned. I think I'll make it a priority for this summer.