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Moab, UT
Moab is a small town with a ton of charm located in the southeast corner of Utah. There are a ton of action-packed activities to partake in while visiting, but we’re going to take about the UTV tour of the Hell’s Revenge Trail in this blog. We recommend booking your tour early since they sell out quickly. We checked in 5 minutes early with our tour company and filled out some quick forms. They took us outside and assigned each family in our group to their own UTV. We were given a quick rundown of the UTV including how the brakes work and how to engage 4×4. The UTV already had some attachment spots for the GoPro so we clipped ours in and hopped in!
We followed our tour guide in a single file line and took off from the parking lot down a side street. You can legally drive on the streets with the UTV in Moab (which is kind of awesome). We went through a few neighborhoods then started up a hill towards the entrance of Hell’s Revenge Trail. When we arrived at the trailhead we stopped again to have another quick safety discussion and put the UTVs into 4×4.
Hell’s Revenge Trail
The Hell’s Revenge trail starts with a terrifying (yet exhilarating) climb up the fin of rock appropriately called the Devil’s Backbone. You navigate slowly up the path that is marked by the years of rubber turning the rock black. On both sides of the UTV, a quick glance to the left OR the right reveals a sheer cliff. Again, both terrifying and exhilarating!
After the harrowing experience climbing the fin, our tour guide stopped the group to make sure everyone was okay and to let us know we just got passed the scariest part of the trail. He gave us all ice cold water from a cooler on the back of one of the UTVs and led us down a little path. There he showed us real dinosaur footprints in the rock! A quick splash of water on the rock and they appeared like magic. It’s strange to imagine dinosaurs have walked in the same place that you are currently standing. It makes you wonder what this place looked like millions of years ago. We headed back to the UTVs to continue our journey down Hell’s Revenge Trail.
This being a fairly well-traveled trail, it was clearly marked where to go. There are arrows painted on the rock to keep people on the path. Make sure you don’t follow the mountain bike trails instead which are marked with dotted lines. The rubber tracks from UTV tires are also a clear indicator of where to drive. Also, we learned that it is extremely important to stay on the designated trails to preserve the land as best as possible. If there wasn’t a trail the entire hill would probably be painted black with the rubber from tires of UTV, quad, and Jeep.
Colorado River
Finally, we arrived at the end of our trail and followed the guide to the edge of a cliff; he told everyone to get out and enjoy the scenery. There was an amazing view of the Colorado River below! The green of the river created a great contrast to the red rock cliffs. Being the sunset tour, we watched as the sun began to disappear behind canyon walls. Everyone took turns posing for the camera and capturing this awesome evening.
Since I drove the first portion of the tour, Rae took over driving the second portion. There was a hummer tour moving slowly up some of the fins so our tour guide decided to take us another way. Rae had the time of her life zipping left and right through sand switchbacks! There were a few places we needed to slow down and climb a rock or two. We pulled out onto the main trail ahead of the jeep tour, feeling quite triumphant I might add. Finally, the group slowly descended the initial fin, which was just as intimidating the second time around. At the bottom, we pulled over on the street to switch the UTV back into 2 wheel drive. Back in the real world, we sped down the street and head back to the tour company’s office.
Watch a quick video of our trip
We can’t recommend this tour enough! If you are in the Moab area, this is a must-do activity. It’s so unique and opens up certain areas of Moab you wouldn’t be able to see any other way. Have you conquered Hell’s Revenge trail? Let us know in the comments below.
If not, book a sunset UTV tour for yourself for the best way to see and conquer the trail!
My wife and I are “snowbirds”. We spend about 6 months each year traveling in the mountain west and southwest with a 35foot Arctic Fox 5th wheel. We really enjoy the Moab area and hit it every year for a week or so. We have our own UTV (Can-Am Commander). We have done a number of the Moab area trails and we did the complete Hell’s Revenge loop in September, 2017. I’m 79 and my wife is 70. Forty years ago I would have found it mostly exhilarating, but now it crossed the line into terrifying in some places. Next time you’re there rent a UTV and do “Fins n’ Things” on your own (no guide required). It’s a little lower pressure and the scenery is almost as good.
Your adventures, and misadventures remind us of ourselves when we started out.
Every person we have talked to about our UTV adventure has told us about Fins and Things. It is definitely on our list for when we return. We never thought we would need a fifth wheel until we visited Moab.
We can only hope to be your age and still enjoying life. Very inspiring for us. Thanks for the comment!