Bobby's Hole (Devil's Lane)

Rating: 5 - 7

Bobby's Hole is a 5-8, but the rating is quite variable depending on erosion. If there have been some recent large storms and no maintenance, the road could be impassable to most, if not all vehicles. 

Location:

Near the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.

IMPORTANT: Beef Basin and Bobby's Hole do not require a permit. However, if you plan to continue past Bobby's Hole to Elephant Hill as we did, you need to have a permit for Elephant Hill. You can obtain through the National Perk service. 

Trailhead:

The eastern part starts at Bridger Jack Road, located at 38°05'01.3"N 109°34'06.3"W (38.083698, -109.568416). The turn off to this dirt road is 7.9 miles northwest on UT-211 towards Canyonlands. 

The western ends starts at 38°08'27.3"N 109°52'04.8"W (38.140910, -109.868012). This is 0.5 miles west of Devil's Kitchen Campground on the Elephant Hill loop. 

Description:

I have heard several people talk about Beef Basin and Bobby's Hole as two separate trails. The reason is that Beef Basin is accessible by most high clearance vehicles and makes a great in-and-out day trip. Bobby's Hole has a higher rating, so it attracts a different subset of off-road enthusiasts. If you aren't interested in a difficult trail or you don't have a modified vehicle, I recommend that you explore Beef Basin and not do Bobby's Hole. 

The road through Beef Basin turns into Bobby's Hole. Bobby's Hole is a washed out descent (or climb if you are coming from the Elephant Hill side). This can get fairly eroded and I have seen videos of this climb being quite a challenge for a stock vehicle. The erosion is bad enough they have put in some type of erosion barriers along the hill. 

When we did the trail, we went down Bobby's Hole. I would rate going down a 5 when we did it. It was something I would definitely take my mildly lifted 2015 4Runner with 33" tires down. I would have to choose my line carefully and watch my rear bumper, but it wouldn't have been too difficult to navigate down. I would hesitate taking my 4Runner up Bobby's Hole as the difficulty is at the upper limits of only having a rear locker. I took my 2000 Jeep Cherokee on this trip because of Bobby's Hole. I have front and rear lockers, a mild lift, and 33" tires on the Cherokee. Going down was simple and I only had to pick my line in 1-2 spots. It would be a fun climb in the Cherokee, but we didn't have time. A 4-door wrangler with 35" tires and front and rear lockers would have no issues.

As I have previously stated, erosion is an issue on the Bobby's Hole Dugway. They have put plastic retention matting on the hill to help, however it still can be impassable. I have seen pictures where there were 6 foot deep ruts going down the center of the road. I saw one picture of a guy standing in the rut and the top was higher than his head. From the pictures I would have rated the climb as a 9-10, something that only dedicated rock crawling rigs would attempt.

After Bobby's Hole there is another obstacle called SOB hill. This is a fun, loose climb where you have to do a tight right hand turn between two slick rock walls. This requires either a mutli-point turn (many do a 5-7 point turn) OR pulling up past the turn then backing through the turn. There is a 3rd option of turning sharp and going over a large boulder/ledge. 

When we did SOB hill, the lifted 4-door JK on 35" tires went over the boulder. My cousin in the 100 series land cruiser and me in the XJ opted to do the multi-point turn. Once we went through, we decided the easiest method is backing up through the last part, but this didn't even cross our mind. This obstacle is probably rated a 5. 

The scenery between Bobby's Hole Dugway and Elephant Hill is enjoyable. There are multiple sandstone cliffs and ridges typical for the Needles District. 

Beef Basin and Bobby's Hole can be done in a day trip, but expect a long day. We did it in two days, which was MUCH more enjoyable. We camped at the Devil's Kitchen Campground, which I also highly recommend. This is a neat campground where you camp in varied caverns eroded into the slick rock. 

Another benefit of doing this over a few days is that we also did an optional spur, Davis Canyon. Davis Canyon parallels the Bridger Jack Road and is rated a 3-4. This is a slower, but less travelled road that can be taken if you want to minimize driving on a 1 rated gravel road. 

Here is the KML of Beef Basin, Davis Canyon, and Bobby's Hole

This is Bobby's Hole. Sadly we didn't get many pictures because

there was a group waiting at the bottom to go up.

This and the next several pictures are SOB hill. 

The kids loved playing along the rocks, cracks, and 

caverns of the Devil's Kitchen Campground

Typical night. My youngest daughter falls fast asleep

while the oldest doesn't sleep

It was a long day, okay?