Temple Mountain Road

Note: we did this road in September, 2016, and the description is based on that trip.

Rating: 1-2
This is a well maintained road, however when we went through there were a few washed out areas that required some clearance that would have been slightly difficult for a passenger car.

Location
Near Goblin Valley, Utah

Trailhead
This trail is located near Goblin Valley. The north end of the trail starts off of I-70, exit 131. The road is to the south of the freeway. Coordinates are 38.880433, -110.658117.

The south end of the trail, near Goblin Valley, start off of Utah State Route 24. The road goes to the west of route 24. To get there, you take the exit 149 from I-70. Head south on route 24 toward Goblin Valley. Follow route 24 heading south for 24 miles. Temple Mountain road is to the right at GPS coordinates 38.880433, -110.658117. There should be a sign to take toward Goblin Valley, which is off of Temple Mountain Road.


The turn-off to Goblin Valley is 5 miles down Temple Mountain Road.

Description
For me, this is an alternate way to return back to I-70 when visiting Goblin Valley. The road is not difficult, but the scenery is better than return on the paved road.

This takes you through some small canyons and you get to enjoy the desert scenery typical for the San Rafael Swell. Be careful, though, as the lower portion of this road is likely subject to flash floods as evidenced by the washed out road from a recent snow storm.

Make sure you look for Temple Mountain. After you climb through the canyon Temple Mountain will be to your north.

If you are starting on the Goblin Valley side, you take main road at each intersection with one exception. The intersection that is about 16.8 miles from route 24 is the only one that can be easily missed. Make sure you stay to the right at this intersection and start heading north. There is another intersections a few miles later that joins with two main roads, but just continue straight (the right).

If you are starting on the north side and heading toward Goblin Valley, follow the main road at all of the intersections. There are two intersections that connect to other main roads. Each of these intersections is in the shape of a small triangle, and just stay to the left at both of these intersections.

There is a network of roads in this area, so it is good to have a map or GPS to help navigate.

Here is a KML file (created with Google Maps as my phone died and I lost the track) and map of the trail.

This was the only picture I took during our ride along Temple Mountain Road. This is Temple Mountain in the background. The rest of the pictures were from playing in Goblin Valley.