| Name: | Gold Bar Rim - Portal - Poison Spider | 
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| Description: | Gold Bar Rim marks the southern edge of Moab Canyon, through which Hwy 191 goes to Moab. It connects to Poison Spider trail. My plan was to ride Gold Bar Rim to Portal trail and then up on Poison Spider and back on Gold Bar Rim. I started at the Gemini Bridges parking lot and rode on the dirt road for 5 miles or so to a well marked turnoff to Gold Bar Rim. The whole trail that follows is a jeep road, with lots of quick climbs on slickrock or eroded dirt. It's well marked by both spike signs and jeep tires. After about 7 miles of mostly climbing (and some descent), the trail descends towards Poison Spider. Here I totally missed the short turnoff towards Portal (about 13 miles from the start just before the jeep road descends on slickrock to a narrow canyon), and rode the Gold Bar Rim for another 3 miles to intersection with Poison Spider. Here I went back towards the Portal, and took the wrong trail out of the two, one that was quite sandy. From the start of Portal I went west to see where I should have turned from Gold Bar Rim, and then back to Portal and down it. Then I went on the Potash road to Poison Spider and up it a bit, but, I was tired and late and the trail was infested with motors, so, I turned back and rode back to the car first on Potash road and then along Hwy 191 on a newly constructed paved bike path and remnants of old highway. Overall a good exploratory experience. I think that a good loop would be start at Gemini Bridges trailhead, ride to Gold Bar Rim, down to the Poison Spider turnoff, up to Portal, down it and back on the road and bike trail. That would make it into a bit over 30 mile loop. | |
| URL: | TopoFusion Home Page | |
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| Total Distance: | 40.42 miles (65.04 km) |
| Total Trip Time: | 6:28:20 (5:24:41 moving time) |
| Total Climbing: | 5622 feet (1714 m) |
| Total Descending: | 5647 feet (1721 m) |
| Average Speed: | 7.47 mph (12.02 kph) |
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