The reason for the 3 is due to the Dolores River crossing. This can be a deep crossing depending on the time of year. The rest of the road is well maintained and would be rated a 1-2.
Location
The Dolores Triangle. This is a triangular region made by the Dolores River to the south, the Colorado River to the north west, and the Colorado/Utah border to the east. There is no way to cross the Colorado until you get to Fruita, CO or to Dewey bridge where the Colorado and the Dolores rivers meet near Moab, UT. I don't know of any bridge to cross the Dolores River until you get to Gateway, CO. On the west side, the only way into the area is by fording the Dolores, which can be deep.
Trailhead
If you are travelling from Moab, it is 29.8 miles up river from the intersection of highways 191 and 128. This paved road along the river is a scenic and fun drive. The dirt road starts immediately before you cross Dewey Bridge. It is a right turn coming from Moab. There is a little turn-out and bathroom at the site of the old bridge that has collapsed where the road begins. You can't miss it. Coordinates are 38°48'39.3"N 109°18'18.4"W (38.810918, -109.305110).
If you are coming from Grand Junction, you needed to follow DS road. This road starts from the Colorado National Monument and turns off of Rimrock Dr. DS road is left turn if coming from the east entrance and is 3.8 milesthe fee station for the monument. It is 14.5 miles measured from the west fee station and is a right turn. Coordinates of the beginning of DS road are 39°01'38.0"N 108°39'28.4"W (39.027213, -108.657885).
Tell the ranger at the fee station that you are driving through to Glade Park and you shouldn't have to pay the fee. If you are going to stop and see the monument, then you should pay the fee.
Directions from Colorado
There is a maze of roads in the Dolores Triangle. If you are unfamiliar with the area, I recommend using a GPS app that you can follow my route.
If you are starting from Colorado, DS road will take you through town of Glade Park. Some time later it will turn into a nice graded road before you get to the Utah/Colorado border. DS road ends 26 miles after you leave Rimrock Dr. The road ends at the state border and you turn right at this "T" intersection. There is a left turn 0.8 miles later that you will need to take and this is BLM road 107 (I'm not sure if it is marked). After this turn you are going to follow the main road for 10.4 miles. There is a right turn at this point that will take you up some mild switch backs and then toward Dolores River (still BLM 107). There is one other main road in the area, BLM 108 that takes off to the right. If you accidentally take this, it will loop you around and will end back on 107. Once you reach the river, follow it to the right (west) until you reach the crossing. A few miles after the crossing the road ends another "T" and you turn right to get to the pavement at Dewey Bridge.
Directions from Utah
If you are starting from the Moab Side, turn right onto the dirt road at Dewey Bridge. 1.3 miles after leaving the pavement you will take a left turn, which I believe was the first well traveled left turn. You will cross the Dolores River and then follow this main road until it ends at a "T" and take the left. Follow the main road until you reach DS road. There are a few T-type intersections, but you always take the straight path. Once you reach the Colorado/Utah border (it isn't well marked). You will be driving next to private property on your left and then there a left turn. This is DS road and it is the only turn that you take off of BLM road 107. If you miss this turn, you will head back into the Dolores Triangle.
Description
As I stated above, this is an area that is bordered by the Colorado River, the Dolores River, and the Colorado/Utah border. I would love to spend some time in the area exploring, and there are many primitive camp spots. This would be a blast to stay here if you have ATVs. It is in the middle of nowhere, so make sure you bring plenty of water.
The route we took was easy. Everything was graded and would be rated a 1. The only reason for the rating of 3 was the river crossing. The river base here was gravel and smooth, I didn't hit any big rocks. Depending on the time of year, this can be deep. I went the first weekend in April, and to be honest it was probably too deep for my vehicle. About half of the river crossing was deep enough to completely submerge my tires. There was one spot where my front end dipped down for a second and the water went half-way up my headlights. If it was any deeper or if it stayed that deep any longer, I could have done some serious engine damage.
If you look at the map below, you will notice that we didn't follow BLM 107 for part of the road. This was where we went to eat lunch and there were some spots I needed 4-low, but this is optional. It was a gorgeous spot to eat lunch and have my daughter do her Easter Egg Hunt.
I really enjoyed this road because it was an alternate way for me to drive home to Colorado. Sure, it probably added 3-4 hours to our trip, but it was better than driving I-70!
Here are the GPX and KML files of our route.
They went across the river first. They made it look easy! There Jeep has tires that are 2" taller than mine and they have a few more inches of lift as well.
This was the deepest spot. Mayb a little too much for my jeep?
Here you can see it really wasn't that bad. Sure I went half-way up my head lights, but that was for one split second. As you can see, the water marks on the side only go just to the top of my bumper/tires. I did get a little water inside my Jeep, but the carpet was only just damp in the rear.
This was only a few miles before the Utah/Colorado border. This picture shows you the type of roads we were on all day. They were very well maintained.
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