Located just a few miles outside of Moab town, Slickrock Trail, in the Sand Flats Recreation Area (fee), is truly a unique biking experience. This 9 mile loop trail is considered among the most technical of the popular local trails. About 99% of the ride is on coral colored sandstone...the rest is on sand. The trail is best done early in the day or in the spring/fall seasons. What makes this trail "technical" is the steepness of the ascents and drop offs. Plus there is the ever present danger of going off the edge. I did the trail on my 8 speed dh bike. The ascents were hard, had to walk some of them, but I alway had a good grip and surprisingly had no crashes or near crashes, an almost daily event on my Maui rides. There is a 2 mile practice loop before the main trail. For some, the practice trail was enough to decide to bail out of the main ride. This pictures shows the lay of the land....rocky desert.

Just follow the dotted lines and you can't get lost. The trail is well marked.

Looking back toward the Manti-La Sal Mountains.

A truly unique landscape.

You could take a 600' dive into the Colorado River if the trail weren't marked for good reason.

Heading back to the parking lot staging area.

Here is a look at some of the stuff that grows in the sandy areas...prickly pear cactus.

Here's a look up Moab Rim Trail....best left for the experts and adreneline junkies.