Fins and Things

Rating: 4-5

Depending on the route and direction you take, the rating will range from a 4 to a 5. The direction we took required a tow strap on one hill for a mildly modified Grand Cherokee giving this a rating of 5. If we would have gone in the other direction, it would have dropped the rating to a 4. 

Location

This is East of Moab on the Sand Flats Road. 

Trailhead

This road is in two parts. The first part is to the south of Sand Flats Road and the second part is to the north of Sand Flat Road.

The first part of Fins and Things starts 1.9 miles down the Sand Flat Road from the toll booth, coordinates are 38°34'48.5"N 109°29'58.0"W (38.580127, -109.499438). It is to the right. You go through a small campground (I believe it is campground E). The trail starts next to camp site E-6 according to the Sand Flats Recreation Area website. This portion of the trail comes out on Sand Flat Road 2.8 miles measured from the toll booth, coordinates are  38°34'58.7"N 109°29'06.3"W (38.582961, -109.485089).

The second portion is quite a bit longer. If you do the first portion, turn right (East) onto Sand Flats Road and the turn-off is to the left in 1.1 miles.  Measured from the toll booth it is 3.9 miles. Coordinates are 38°34'36.4"N 109°28'06.5"W (38.576778, -109.468487). This portion of the trail travels back toward the toll booth. 

The exit of the second portion is 1.5 miles from the toll booth and is on your left. Coordinates are 38°34'56.9"N 109°30'26.0"W (38.582480, -109.507215).

We had only a few hours so we didn't do the whole trail. We only did the second portion, and we ended up going in reverse. I can't speak for the first portion, but the second portion is a little easier if you go in the normal direction (starting 3.9 miles from the toll booth). 

Description

This, along with Hell's Revenge, is what Jeeping in Moab is all about. There are ledges, slick rock climbs, sand, and great scenery. This can be done in a stock vehicle (such as a Jeep Wrangler) if you have good approach and departure angles. Do not take a stock cross-over SUV as it won't have good approach and departure angles. If you do it in a stock vehicle you will need to take some care to avoid hitting your bumper. We did this years ago with my cousin in their Land Rover (I believe it was a discovery, but I don't remember). Their vehicle did really well, but their bumper didn't.

This is a popular trail and expect a lot of traffic. This is especially popular with UHVs (side-by-side). If you aren't in a UHV, be ready to let them pass you as they can travel much faster than I can in my Jeep. 

For the most part this trail isn't very technical. There are a lot of steep climbs and descents over slick rock fins. There are also a lot of rock ledges. Most of these are not difficult for a stock vehicle, and many of the ledges have different routes that makes it passable by most vehicles.

There is one obstacle that was difficult for our vehicles. We had a 2000 Cherokee with 31" tires and 3" lift and a 2000 Grand Cherokee with 31" tires and 2" lift. Both had open differentials. Going backwards we had to go up the most technical portion. It looked deceivingly easy. There were two routes, one up a ledge that was pushing the limit of my clearance in the Cherokee. The other option was a rock slope that looked easy but turned out to be a "Jeep Trap" for the Grand Cherokee. We had to strap the Grand Cherokee up the hill. Like I said, if you don't do the trail in reverse, you will go down this obstacle making it much easier.

This obstacle did teach me a valuable lesson: take my strap out of the Jeep on level ground. I backed up into position to strap my brother up the obstacle and I opened my tailgate. Obviously, I wasn't thinking ahead. I easily retrieved the strap from the back of the Jeep. Without any further effort, I was rewarded with a 12 pack of soda pop, my cooler, my camp chairs, many snacks, sunscreen, and other odds and ends all falling out of the Jeep. One can of pop exploded when it hit the ground (luckily it was a Diet Coke, my wife felt it was unlucky). It took 3 of us to hold the cooler in and shut the gate. It took about 5 minutes to get everything back into my Jeep. Not my brightest moment...

Here are the GPX and KML files of my track.

If you want the other portion of the trail that we didn't do, here is a KMZ that I made with google maps. It includes the KML from above and then I traced the route in google maps to make the portion we didn't do. 

 Oh how I love slickrock!

 I love this picture of Tranvis's Jeep!

 This is a spur that take you to an overlook half way through the trail. It is well marked if you want to go.

 Travis enjoying the scenery. 

This is the obstacle that gives the trail a 5 rating if you go in reverse. It was the max that my vehicle could do. I actually was sitting on my transfer case (maybe it's time to get a skid plate?) The "bypass" is just as hard for a vehicle this size because of the off-camber line you are forced to take.

 This is the bypass to the above obstacle. It doesn't look hard, but if you don't have good flex in your suspension you will struggle with this spot. You are forced to take an odd angle due to rocks on the side of the trail. There is also a rock/ledge just in front of the Jeep you can't see that forces you to turn left. This forced left turn makes it more difficult. 

 Overexposed picture, but nice flex!

 Here was my smart move of trying to open the tailgate on a hill to get out the tow strap. We tried to get the gate closed with two people, but it didn't work.

 Then things started falling out of the back. 

 We didn't get more pictures because the beautiful photographer (my wife) decided it was time to come help. It took three of us to get it shut, and that is after more junk fell out of the back.