A quick boondock near Moab

The past few days have been rough on my body. After mountain biking on Wednesday (for my second time in two years) I decided to stay out in the desert north of Moab to save myself the same drive again in the morning. I was planning to drive a few miles further north to another group of mountain biking trails called Klondike Bluffs. The spot I chose to boondock is one I came across an online discussion about two years back. It is simply a dirt/gravel road between Hwy 191 and Arches National Park. I’ve been wanting to check it out for some time, and since I was in the neighborhood I did just that.

The road is Willow Springs Trail and will take you right to Balancing Rock in Arches National Park. There are  more than a few established areas to camp along the roadside, each with a fire pit but nothing else. After a long day of riding I chose the lazy site, only 100 yards off the hwy. This ensured I could get moving again first thing in the morning with little effort, and that I still had a Verizon 3G signal for my work. Although there was a little road noise being so close to the highway, those sounds do not bother me and do not keep from my sleep in the slightest.

The wind had picked up by late afternoon so I bunkered myself in the van and licked my wounds after the long day of biking. The camping was peaceful and relaxing and even though I was so close the the highway, not a sole bothered me. I woke and got on the move to bike the Klondike Bluffs trails before the day’s heat settled in.