Offroad driving comes in all flavors, some being barely more difficult that being on tarmac, while others demand 100% of your concentration, 100% of the time. “Top of the World” in Moab, Utah falls into the latter category. A punishing ~10-mile round trip in low-range rewards with some of the best panoramic views in the Moab area.
I’ve experienced Top of the World in the past, but only as a passenger – so I was hoping I’d get a shot at it in my own truck while Becca and I were in Moab. We headed to the Top of the World trailhead on a Friday morning after some delicious waffles at Love Muffin Cafe in Moab (check them out if you’re in town). Top of the World Starts about ~30 miles north of town so we had a bit of a drive – much like I did in Colorado, I relied heavily on a Funtreks Guidebook to find the trailhead.
The first 5 miles of the trail are on a graded gravel road that doesn’t even require 4wd. After that, the trail was slow going; ledge after ledge and all kinds of loose gravel. To complicate things, my black truck was cooking in the hot Moab sun, and in sections where I was working hard in low range, my temperature gauge would creep up ever so slightly. The temp stayed under control, but made things more stressful. I also had a near-miss with a valve stem that I damaged with poor wheel placement on a rock shelf – amazingly the tire continued to hold air and I didn’t need to swap the tire on the trail.
After 5 miles creeping up, we were rewarded with the spectacular panoramic view of the valley below (called “the Narrows”) as well as Fisher Towers and Titan Tower. It was a sight to behold. We hung out for a few minutes, took a bunch of pictures, and then prepared for the equally difficult ride down, which included a small loop of new terrain.
Overheating wasn’t a risk on the way down, but I did have to be very careful on steep ledge sections that tested the undercarriage clearance on the 4Runner (thankfully I have skidplates!). After wrapping up on the trail, we continued our journey on to Glenwood Springs Colorado for the tail end of our trip.
For those of you that want to do this trail, I’d recommend giving yourselves about 4 hours for the trail itself, and you’ll likely want at least 33” tires and skid plates to safely clear the ledges. Because the trail is so rocky and in a fairly remote area, you’ll probably want to do this trail with 2 vehicles so that in the event of a breakdown you’re not stranded ~5-10 miles from a main road.
Thanks to Becca for playing photographer on this adventure in the mid-morning desert heat!
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