Prior to setting out check current local weather, conditions, and land/road closures. Terms of Use: As with each bikepacking route guide published on, should you choose to cycle this route, do so at your own risk. A few miles after Rabbit Valley it is highly recommended to take the scenic off-route detour on the Western Rim trail. From the trailhead at Loma, after a quick gravel traverse, the route starts with 10+ miles of mesa singletrack overlooking the Colorado River. The trail is signposted with blue and white logo stickers as well as brown arrow signs along the way. Parts of the trail are used by jeeps, ATVs, and motorcycles. Kokepelli’s Trail is part of the Grand Loop, a much larger bikepacking route that utilizes Kokopelli’s Trail system, The Paradox Trail, and Tabegauche Trail. In Moab, a great place to drop a vehicle is the Information Center make sure to leave your name and contact info at the desk. It is possible to leave a vehicle at the Loma trailhead, but may be a little more risky. This requires a 9 mile pavement ride to the Kokepelli’s Trailhead, but offers a safe parking solution. There are a couple of options for staging and parking as advised by folks at Over The Edge bike shop, we chose to leave a vehicle in the parking lot behind Suds Brothers Brewery in downtown Fruita. The true scale of this landscape is only appreciated after much concentrated, technical riding on so called “dirt roads”, long descents and climbs out of the smallest of canyons, and by peering off the edge of the rim into an endless void of night.” – Skyler Des Roches ( OffRoute.ca)Īlthough the route can be ridden in either direction, but most prefer a southwest flow from Fruita to Moab which enables a legendary finale down Porcupine Rim.
Non-stop vistas of far away mountains and canyons might lure one into a sort of topographic pomposity. “Kokopelli taught me the length of a desert mile. Find an extra-long weekend and do this ride.” – Joe Cruz ( Pedaling in Place) I was being silly: the Kokopelli is a tremendously satisfying and fun bikepack, from the mildly technical and impossibly beautiful singletrack out of Fruita, to soaring grinding climbs, red desert canyons, rugged sandstone ridges, to the must-not-skip roaring bucking descent on Porcupine Rim down to Moab. That was my fool’s attitude in spite of pedaling and adventuring in that corner of Utah for decades. Classics have a way of seeming passé-almost a cliché-and you might therefore be tempted to skip it. “The Kokopelli Trail is a vintage route ridden and raced long before doing stuff like this was popular. This is the way to enter Moab!” – Joel Caldwell ( ) Two long climbs topping out at 8400′ will test your fitness and the final descent along Porcupine Rim will blow your mind. Sand, dirt, gravel, slick rock, creek crossings, you name it. Starting in the east, the route becomes richer and the landscapes more Mars-like with each mile you travel towards the canyon lands of the high Utah desert. “The Kokopelli Trail is a beautiful route winding from Fruita to Moab that combines primitive roads of all varieties with surprisingly technical single track to keep you guessing about what lies around each bend. Here’s what several members of our four-top riding group had to say:
įind a detailed guide on the route below including parking, resupply and how to plan the perfect trip.
UPDATE (November, 2017): Apparently work is still going on and way behind as of.
Unfortunately, there is no way around it and riders will need to exit out Castle Valley (mile 128) to get to Moab. The road is scheduled to open on weekends after May 27th. IMPORTANT NOTICE: The La Sal Loop Road is currently undergoing construction this spring/summer/fall, 2017 and portions of it is closed, including a section of it that is used by the Kokopelli Trail.