IntrepidXJ

Date: October 8, 2008

On Wednesday, I decided to skip the official trail rides and head out to explore an area with Ryan (DrMoab) that is not as well known as a lot of the other trails in the Moab area. We were headed for the Dolores Triangle. This area is located out past the Dewey Bridge on the East side of the Colorado River and North of the Dolores River. The only way to access this area from Moab is to cross the Dolores River, which is not usually possible in the Spring. It was even pretty deep when we crossed it on this day. This area is also accessible from the Grand Junction area without the need to cross the river, which I can also use as an alternate route into Moab in the future.

Anyways, we got a later start and headed North from Moab on Highway 128 to the Dewey Bridge. Before heading over to the Dolores Triangle there was another trail I wanted to check out first, called Pole Canyon Rim. This trail follows some power lines to a nice overlook over the Richardson Amphitheater and Colorado River.

Ryan following me up the trail


Much of the trail was broken slickrock and bumpy


View over the Colorado River from the first overlook


Headed to the second overlook on a much smoother section of trail


View from the second overlook


Headed back down around Pole Canyon looking across towards Dome Plateau


After making is back down to Entrada Bluffs Road, we headed over to the Dolores River crossing. I walked across part of the river to see how deep it was before crossing. It was actually just about as deep of water as my Jeep can cross without issues.

This is the crossing. The deepest part is on the other side.


Just about at the deepest part of the crossing

IntrepidXJ

This road follows along the Dolores River for a little ways


We passed this old cabin along the way


Once on the Dolores Triangle, we decided to head up onto Hotel Mesa to an overlook to see if we could see the confluence of the Dolores River and Colorado River.

The road onto Hotel Mesa was not a very well traveled two-track and a pretty wide open area


The good news was that once we reached the overlook, we had a great view of the confluence


We also had a good view down into Lake Bottom, where we crossed the Dolores


After leaving the overlook, it was starting to get late, so we decided to head back. Of course, we had to cross the Dolores again.

Ryan crossing the river




It was a great day of exploring a new area, but we barely made a dent in the area. I am hoping to spend a lot more time exploring this area in the future, as there are a number of roads and trails in this area.

Full galleries are here:
Pole Canyon Rim
Dolores Triangle
Hotel Mesa

TrueBlueXJ

Very nice! Trail exploration around these parts never yields such great results.

BlueXJ

Great pics and narration. Wonderful scenery and looks like you and the Dr. had fun.

bmrrwolfe

looks like a fun and very scenic trail ride