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Poison Spider Mesa
34 reviews
3.47 of 5
I have only visited moab once and this was my favorite ride. You start at the bottom and ride up. This trail has everything. A steep rocky fire road, then some sand pits, steep slick-rock type rolling hills (big ones) try not to get lost at this point in the ride, I almost did, then some moderate double track to the top of the trail. From there you ride down on the face of a cliff. It is pretty far-out to be riding down steep boulders which swichback and all the while having a 1000ft drop to your side. You could lose your balance and die on parts of this ride! It was great... and at the end of the trail you can leave your comments in a sign-out box. Oh yeah... people stack rocks up at the top of the trail.
Summary: Rode this trail in Mid-October when we were there (in the midst of the most rain ever in Moab, a few days before the 24 Hour race was cancelled/put on hold etc). It was a day and a half after the rain stopped, weather was perfect. Some puddles, but the sand was just as bad as ever, i imagine. There are hike-a-bikes due to it, but the trail is cool otherwise. Follow the white paint jeeps. The scenery is beautiful and the rocks/ledges are fun. Good slick rock sections and a great viewing area if you climb up. We didn't take the Portal trail down, just turned around and went down the Poison Spider trail.
Recommended Route: Followed a route in a Moab trail book. Most of the bike shops also have cheap maps that are one page and less than a buck. A map isn't necessary, but there are a few trail intersections.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Slickrock, Porcupine Rim, Fruita trails
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Summary: you'll find some people say that the sand kills this ride, and others that say it doesn't. after all the hype i heard about this trail being sandy as sh*t, i was aactually surprised to find LESS sand than i was expecting, and i rode it when it was about as dry as it can get. granted, there were several sandy sections that required some lengthy hike-a-bike, but i would say this: if you haven't ridden it, give it at least the benefit of the doubt and ride it once, then decide. you will get frustrated, but if you don't ride it, you'll be missing a lotof cool stuff. i think that it was pretty decent otherwise. then of course, making it a loop via Portal was just awesome. definitely do Portal.
Recommended Route: up to portal, then don to potash and back
Other recommended trails in the same area: all of 'em
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Review Date October 10, 2003
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Aerobic Difficulty 5 of 5
Technical Difficulty 5 of 5
Ridden Trail: Every few months
Visitors rate this review 1.00 of 5,
2 votes
Reviewed by: Santa-Claus
,
Weekend Warrior
Summary: Hello Kids! I hope you all are being good this year and you better, because I am watching. Santa is having fun during the off season riding on a lot of trails on his summer sled, it has four wheels and shocks. I really like it, it is fun and my reindeer are staying in shape for the winter. We rode on the Poison Spider Mesa and it was a lot of fun! I saw jeep arch and a lot of cool rocks. The trail was very fast and Comet fell and got a bruise on his chest. He is O.K. now. What a ride! Boy, it was hot. It's not like the North Pole.
Recommended Route: We did pretty much about halfway till Comet fell and got hurt, then we flew off. Rudolf complained and wanted to do more.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Whistler, Canada. Switzerland, Norway, China, Phillipines, Australia, Mount Snow, California, and Kenya. All the trails there were fun!
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Review Date September 27, 2003
Overall Rating 1 of 5
Aerobic Difficulty 3 of 5
Technical Difficulty 3 of 5
Ridden Trail: Ridden Once
Visitors rate this review 4.00 of 5,
1 votes
Reviewed by: Tony
,
Racer
Summary: Well, I was fairly excited at first when we started the climb (I love to climb) out from the parking lot but that all soon changed. This trail has a lot of sand pits which are rather long. If you want to walk your bike often then this is the trail for you. There are a few mediocre technical sections that are fun but nothing to get very excited about. The only high point of this trail is that it leads you to the Portal Trail, which isn't as dangerous as some people make it seem (2 motocross bikes went down it the day we were there...no, I'm not lying). My recommendation is to skip the Poison Spider trail regardless of how long your stay in Moab might be because there are plenty other rides wayyyyyyy superior to this joke of a trail to be had (i.e. Sovereign Trail, Porcupine Rim, of course Slick Rock). It's obvious this trail is ideally for jeeps and it should stay that way.
Recommended Route: Don't bother with this trail.
Other recommended trails in the same area: See description.
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Review Date May 15, 2003
Overall Rating 3 of 5
Ridden Trail: Ridden Once
Reviewed by: bray
, from Edwards, Colorado
Summary: In response to Owen's comment below, I rode this trail on 5/11/03, following rain two days before, cool weather and a wet Spring. The verdict? SANDY! Compared to other trails in Moab, this one just ain't that great. The slickrock sections at the top are very nice, as are the views. However, the slickrock sections below are smeared black with jeep tires and grease and separated by one sandtrap after another. There are many rides in Moab with good slickrock, just without the heinous sand and grunt to get there. Everyone in my group of strong riders thought the ride was a lot of uneccesary effort for what is essentially a so-so trail. In conclusion, there are much better rides in Moab. If you are in town for a few weeks, maybe do this one. If only for a few days, there are much better choices.
Recommended Route: As Described
Other recommended trails in the same area: Sovereign Trail, Slickrock, Porcupine Rim
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