Moab-Jeep rentals?

My real concern is not knowing what I don't know and ending up over my head before I realize it

Wise comments - as an East Coaster, it's REALLY easy to mess up and get into real trouble AND you are FAR from help. For my 50th birthday, I flew to Moab, rented a dirt bike and headed off into the desert alone. I had food/water and it was February, so not too hot.

I tried to be ultra careful but you never know, one bad fall and you break a leg. Looking back, it was a memorable trip and nothing went wrong.

To the OP - Moab is a wonderful place, uncanny beauty and remoteness. Listen to some of the sound advise from folks on this thread, be safe and have a memorable experience.

Good stuff all around. I debated a Jeep or ATV rental while we were there. In the end, concerns for my wife's back pain won out and we didn't do either. I did drive my crew cab dually on a couple of dirt roads, but basically was ready to bail if things got too hard. A couple of sandy areas but nothing major.

My real concern is not knowing what I don't know and ending up over my head before I realize it. I think if I had rented a jeep, I would have pushed that line further than I should and may have gotten myself into trouble.

What I really want to do is take my buddy who has 20+ years of very technical off-roading and either let him ride shot gun to keep me from doing something stupid.

I've been going out West for about 15 years now, usually Nevada but also Utah.
A couple of important lessons I learned are:

1 - fuel is not as available as on the East coast; Watch your fuel gauge and make decisions based on your range. I fill up every morning, even if the tank is still above 3/4
2 - do not rely on your GPS to lead you to a fuel station - they may have closed down and are not longer in operation.
3 - take 1 full days worth of food and water
4 - do not rely on your GPS to take you to the nearest "town", some "towns" are nothing more than a railroad crossing with one building (usually abandoned !!!)
5 - listen to the locals

g

To the OP -

If you have nice running boards on your truck, and you smash one of those, there is your jeep rental fee right there. Your F250 will do fine on a lot of the roads though.

kohldad wrote:


Then there is another trail which I can't remember except it goes up under a huge rock that fell down. Edit: This is Long Canyon Trail.

Everyone needs a picture of their tow vehicle under the rock on long canyon trail.

For trail ratings and rental information, these might help:

http://www.moabtourismcenter.com/Moab-Trails.html

http://www.fourwheeler.com/events/154-1208-best-jeep-trails-of-moab-utah/

In Arches, I went out the road that starts at Balanced Rock across Willow Flats. I was an idiot and did it in the evening and didn't come out until well after dark, almost got lost. Had two buttes I was using as a reference point but lost sight of them for about 10 minutes during which time a full moon came up. Changed the looks of the area completely. Just kept reading the tracks and finally made it out but was very nervous for a while as I had not carried enough food or water because I hadn't planned on anything like that. It was a fun road though and easy to follow (in the day time that is).

In Arches, I didn't run it, but the valley through Salt Valley is doable IF you can lower your tire air pressure and have a way to pump them back up.

The trail out to Gemini Arch, almost to the end. Though I probably could have made it to the end, I decided it was safer to walk the last 1/4 mile versus taking the chance on dropping down a 12" ledge. That was before I had any off-road experience but after wheelin a built Jeep Scrambler for years, I wouldn't hesitate today.

Then there is another trail which I can't remember except it goes up under a huge rock that fell down. Edit: This is Long Canyon Trail.

You can also do Shafer Trail (recommend down from Canyonlands) then go out on White Rim trail for a short way. If you started at the Pot Ash pits, you could do all of the White Rim trail in a long hard day.

Best advise is do as joloote said, get the book. It is what I used and will get it again when I go back out.

Make sure someone knows where you are going and when you are going to be back. Phone service is better than in 2000 when I was out there, but you could still be out of service area until you climb to the top.

Watch the weather, if it rains and the roads get to slick (they do very quick) just stop and wait. Within an hour or two after the rains stop, they will get much better very quick. Just make sure you aren't in the bottom of a ravine where the water will run.

There is a grocery store in middle of down town. It use to be the meeting place on Saturday morning for groups, some of which you could hook up with so you weren't out riding alone. Not sure if it's the same meet up point, but sure there is one some place in town.

In Moab get a book called "Guide to Moab Backroads & 4 wheel drive trails." It breaks down all into categories from easy to INSANE with mile by mile directions of each...altho I've still gotten 'Temporarily lost' on some. LOL.

kohldad wrote:
One thing to be careful about is some of the jeep rental places charge you for all damage and breakage. The good news is they want to keep you on the trail so will either get you fixed on the trail or will trade out jeeps.

As others have said, you need to explain why you want the jeep. Do you have any off-road experience? I was there seven days in a stock 4wd crew cab truck and never ran out of places to explore and saw amazing country. Only used the 4wd a time or two but those were way out of the way spots.

July is going to be real hot too so you will probably want something with AC any how.

Personnally, if this was your first trip to Moab, would save the jeep rental money, use my own vehicle, and us the rental money on a jet boat trip and/or a guided jeep tour (where you drive in a group). You can do Shafer trail and out past the Pot Ash pits in a 2wd SUV though I wouldn't try it in a car.

What are some of the backroads you traveled in your crew cab? I'll be there in May with my F150 crew cab.

SO I have a lot to think about. It is my understanding some roads I can use our f250, 4x4, but was told we would be better served renting a jeep. We don't have much experience so I don't plan on doing anything crazy, but again don't want to be too limited in our explorations during our trip....hmmm?