Horse Riding

Horse Riding Areas

• Abajo - Harts Draw Recreation Area

  The Abajo - Harts Draw Recreation Area is located in southeastern Utah west of Monticello, south of Canyonlands National Park and north of Blanding, Utah. The area extends from the east Forest boundary to the Cottonwood Road on the west and from the north to south Forest boundaries. The closest access is from US 191, SR 211 near Harts Draw, and Monticello. It features wonderful views of the Abajo (Blue) Mountains, including Horsehead Mountain and the highest peak in the range, Abajo Peak at 11,360 feet. It features a network of trails, scenic drives, camping, and opportunities for back-country skiing and snowmobiling. The Harts Draw Highway and the Abajo Loop Scenic Backway provide access to the area.

  For a quick overview brochure on the area, please click here.

• Aspen Flat Trail
• Aspen Flat/Shay Ridge Trailhead
• Blue Creek-Allen Canyon Trail
• Blue Creek-Tuerto Trail
• Camp Jackson Trail
• Cooley Pass Trail
• Hop Creek Trail
• Lower Indian Creek Trail
• Mule Canyon Trail
• North Cottonwood Rim Trail
• Red Ledges Access Trail
• Robertson Pasture Trail
• Shay Mesa Trail
• Shay Mountain Trail
• Shay Ridge Trail
• Skyline Trail
• Spring Creek Trail - Abajos
• Trough Canyon Trail
• Tuerto To Skyline Trail
• Tuerto Trail
• Wagonwheel Trail
• West Shay (435) Trail
• West Shay Mine (437) Trail
• Carpenter Ridge - Buckeye Recreation Area

  The Carpenter Ridge - Buckeye Recreation Area is located almost entirely in western Colorado on the east side of the La Sal Mountain range. It is nearly surrounded by state, private and BLM lands and adjoins the Forest at the area’s southwest corner on the Utah/Colorado state line. It is most easily accessed from Colorado SR-90 and SR 141. It is closest to Paradox, CO. It provides spectacular mountain scenery, camping, hiking, motorized trails, fishing and hunting opportunities.

• Roc Creek Trail
• Sinbad Ridge Trail
• Dark Canyon Wilderness

  The United States Congress designated the Dark Canyon Wilderness in 1984. Great stone arches, old-growth ponderosa pine, aspen groves, meadows, hanging gardens and high country deserts are found at Dark Canyon.  The only designated Wilderness in southeastern Utah, the 47,116-acre Dark Canyon Wilderness is located in a beautiful and remote section of the Colorado Plateau. Visitors are dwarfed by steep, sculpted and terraced sandstone walls that shade the canyon in morning and late afternoon -- hence the name. Ancestral Puebloan structures and rock art are tucked among the cliffs. Please leave these treasures undisturbed for others to experience.

  General Trip Planning/ Water Sources Information:

  One of the biggest concerns with backpacking on the Colorado Plateau, including the Dark Canyon Wilderness is the lack of water.
  Always treat water by filtering, boiling or chemical treatment before using any water in the backcountry.
  Below are the general descriptions for water in the Wilderness and the lower canyon. Remember conditions change. This is wild country so always pack enough water to make it several days in case your next water source turns out to be dry.

  Woodenshoe Canyon:
  Four miles down the trail you will run into Cherry Canyon coming in from the right (looking down canyon). In the spring there is usually water coming out of Cherry Canyon and running for a mile or more downstream. In the fall it stops running down canyon, but I have never seen the spring in Cherry Canyon dry up completely, although I have seen it running pretty low and muddy. The next water source is approximately 7 miles downstream (although in the spring it is not unusual to find water in other locations as well) at an area known as Wates Pond. There is a large pothole and spring that usually holds water year round. Approximately 1 mile below Wates Pond, you will come to the Hanging Garden Spring that flows out of the canyon wall on the right and usually has a pool beneath it.

  Dark Canyon:
  If you are coming from the Notch Trailhead, you will usually run into water around the mouth of Drift Trail Canyon. There is also water coming out of the pipe near the Scorup Cabin at the mouth of Horse Pasture Canyon, although this water can have a pretty bad taste. In the spring, the water often flows from here to the junction with Dark Canyon and then all the way to Rig Canyon and beyond in good water years. In the fall, most of this water dries up or gets fouled by livestock. The next possibility for water in Dark Canyon is approximately 5.5 miles downstream near the junction with Trail Canyon. There are springs in the vicinity that usually run, however we have received reports in the fall of 2019 of the Trail Canyon Springs being completely dry. Water has been found in Trail Canyon and Warren Canyon in the past but don't count on it. Below this, the canyon is dry for about two miles until the Black Steer Canyon junction in the Dark Canyon Primitive Area (WSA) on BLM managed lands.

  Peavine Canyon:
  Peavine Canyon often runs with water in the spring but dries up pretty quick in the summer. The only water in Peavine Canyon later in the year is usually located in a cattle trough about 3.5 miles below the Peavine Canyon Trailhead.

  Lower Canyon (Dark Canyon Primitive Area):
  About two miles below Black Steer Canyon, there is a stream that usually starts flowing year round.

  We will try to update current conditions on this page below or call the Monticello USFS office at 435-587-2041.

• Dark Canyon East Trail
• Dark Canyon West Trail
• Dark Canyon Wilderness Loop
• Horse Canyon Trail
• Peavine Canyon Trail
• Peavine Corridor Route
• Scorup Cabin Site
• Trail Canyon Trail - Dark Canyon Wilderness
• Woodenshoe Trail
• Elk Ridge Recreation Area

  The Elk Ridge Recreation Area is located in San Juan County, Utah, west of Monticello and north of Blanding in southeastern Utah.  It lies west of Cottonwood Road to Elk Ridge, west to the Dark Canyon Wilderness boundary, and from the north Forest boundary to the south Forest boundary.  The easiest access is from SR-95.  It is in close proximity to Natural Bridges NM to the southwest, Canyonlands NP to the north and Blanding, Utah to the southeast.

  The Elk Ridge Road runs the length of the areas from the north to the south.  Dark Canyon and its tributaries begin high on the edge of Elk Ridge at an elevation of 8,800 feet and cut through layers of sandstone and limestone to the upper reaches of Lake Powell and the Colorado River, ending up at 3,700 feet.  The Forest Service manages the upper end of the canyon, which includes the 45,000 acre Dark Canyon Wilderness Area.

  Information on the Elk Ridge Scenic Backway can be found HERE.

  Dark Canyon Wilderness information can be found HERE.

• Allen Canyon Trail (453)
• Arch Canyon Trail
• Beef Basin Wash Trail
• Brushy Knoll Trail
• Butts Canyon Trail
• Chippean Canyon Trail (452)
• Cream Pots Trail
• Gooseberry Trail
• Hammond Canyon Trail
• Horse Pasture Canyon Trail
• Kigalia Canyon Trail
• Lyman Canyon Trail
• Posey Canyon Trail - South
• Redd Pasture (446) Trail
• Reservoir Canyon Trail
• Ruin Canyon Trail
• Short Point Trail
• Texas Trail
• Vega Creek Trail
• West Rim Texas Canyon Trail
• Whiskers Trail (472) Trail
• Ferron - Muddy Creek Recreation Area

  The Ferron - Muddy Creek Recreation Area is a favorite for campers and fishers. It begins at Wagon Ridge Road on the north and extends south to the Forest Boundary. From foothills near Ferron, Utah it extends west to Skyline Drive. It is located in Emery, Sanpete and Sevier counties and the closest towns are Ferron and Emery, Utah.  It can be most easily accessed from SR-10 and I-70. Portions of the Arapeen OHV Trail System are in this recreation area, small reservoirs and dispersed camping sites offer great opportunities for fun on the Forest.

• Big Bear CreekTrail
• Black Dragon Trail
• Dairy Trail
• Dry Wash Trail
• Duck Fork Trail
• Ferron Mountain #114 Trail
• Willow Lake Campground
• Gateway Recreation Area

  The Gateway Recreation Area is located in the La Sal Mountain Range and overlooks Castle Valley and the Colorado River. It extends from the northern Forest boundary south to Forest Road 207, from the forest boundary on the west and to the boundary on the east. The closest access is the Gateway Road (Colorado SR-141) and Utah SR-128 to the Castle Valley Road. Nearest communities are Gateway, CO, Moab, UT and Castle Valley, UT. This area features camping, motorized and non-motorized trails, scenic overlooks, and is near the La Sal Loop Rd Scenic Byway.

• Fisher Mesa Trail
• Kokopelli Trail
• La Sal Loop - Moab Front Recreation Area

  The La Sal Loop - Moab Front Recreation Area is in southeastern Utah just outside of Moab. The La Sal Mtn. Loop Rd. starts south of Moab, climbs up into the mountains and traverses the western side of the mountains to come out in Castle Valley, UT.  This area includes 3 campgrounds: Warner Lake, Oowah Lake, and Mason Draw.  Perhaps one of the most photographed mountain ranges in Utah, the La Sal Mountains form a spectacular backdrop to the red rock features in the desert below.

  This recreation area provides many opportunities for scenic drives, motorized activities such as motorcycle riding, ohv riding, and hiking, mountain and road biking, rock climbing, camping, peak-bagging, backcountry skiing, hunting, fishing, and snowmobiling. For winter recreation, the Geyser Pass Winter trailhead, is one of the best places to go.

  Here are some brochures for this area:

  La Sal Mountain Loop Road Brochure

  Hiking in the La Sal Mountains

  Winter Recreation on the Moab and Monticello Ranger Districts

• Bachelor Basin Trail
• Burlfriends Trail
• Burro Pass Trail
• Carpenter Basin Trail
• Clark Lake Loop Trail
• Clark Lake Trail
• Doe Canyon Trail
• Geyser Pass Trailhead
• Gold Knob Trail
• Hell Canyon Trail
• Jimmy Keen Trail
• Medicine Lake Trail
• Miner's Basin Trailhead
• Miner's Basin to Warner Lake Trail
• Moonlight Meadows Trail
• Mountain View Trail
• Oowah Trailhead
• Pole Canyon Trail - La Sals
• Salt Flat Springs Trail
• Schuman/Shafer Creek Trail
• Tuk Trail
• Upper Porcupine/Slickrock (UPS) Trail
• Warner Lake
• Warner Lake/Beaver Basin Trail
• Warner To Oowah Trail
• Whole Enchilada Trail
• Miller Flat-Joes Valley-Huntington Canyon Rec Area

  Perhaps the most popular recreation area on the Wasatch Plateau is the Miller Flat-Joes Valley-Huntington Canyon Rec Area. The area boundaries are at Huntington Canyon on the north to Wagon Road Ridge on the south, and from the Skyline drive on the west to the east Forest boundary. It’s beautiful, easily accessed from urban areas, and offers a great variety of recreational opportunities. Whether you camp, fish, hunt, hike, explore on OHVs, ride a horse, or enjoy a day on the lake, you can find a place to do it here. You will find developed camping, dispersed camping, lakes and streams, and a network of motorized and non-motorized trails. The scenery is fabulous and there are hundreds of ways to enjoy the outdoors. The closest access is from SR-10 and SR-31. Closest communities are Huntington and Orangeville on the east side of the plateau, although many visitors come through Fairview on the west.

• Black Canyon Trail
• Bull Pasture Trail
• Candland Mountain Trailhead
• Castle Valley Ridge Trail
• East Mountain Trail
• Gentry Hollow Trail
• Huntington Canyon Recreation Area

  Traveling over the Wasatch Plateau between the towns of Fairview and Huntington, the Huntington Canyon Scenic Byway makes up half of the Energy Loop, a National Scenic Byway. The byway passes through the Manti-Lasal National Forest and provides excellent views of the mountain tops and valleys below. Huntington Canyon is filled with the history of the region, especially evident is the history of the Mormon pioneers who settled the area. Don't pass up the opportunity to travel Huntington Canyon Scenic Byway.

• Chute Group Campground
• Nuck Woodward Road Trailhead
• Old Folks Flat Group Campground
• Jordan Canyon Trail
• Josephite Point Trail
• Left Fork of Huntington Trail
• Mill Canyon Trail
• Mill Fork Canyon Trail
• Pole Canyon Trail - Huntington Canyon
• Sawmill Canyon Trail N/S
• Scad Valley Trail
• Second Water Trail
• Seely Canyon Trail
• Short Canyon Trail
• Wild Cattle Hollow Trail
• Sanpete North Recreation Area

  The Sanpete North Recreation Area is in one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in Utah when viewed from the rural Sanpete Valley. It rises from the Sanpete Valley and extends to the Skyline Drive on the east, and from Brown’s Road near Indianola, to Ephraim Canyon on the south. It is most easily accessed from US 89 and is closest to the towns of Ephraim, Mt. Pleasant, Fairview and Spring City. Sections of the Huntington and Eccles National Scenic Byway are located in this area. It is a favorite place for OHV travel, camping, snowmobiling, fishing and hunting.

• Canal Canyon Trail
• Middle Mountain Trail
• Spanish Fork - Scofield Recreation Area

  The Spanish Fork - Scofield Recreation Area is the northernmost portion of the Wasatch Plateau. It is near Scofield Reservoir and Scofield State Park on the east, although neither are National Forest System Lands. The closest urban area is Spanish Fork to the north. It is bordered on the west by the north Sanpete Valley and on the south by Browns Road. It is most easily accessed by SR-31 from Huntington or Fairview and from US-6 and US-89. This area includes the Eccles Canyon section of the Huntington and Eccles Canyon National Scenic Byway, the popular North Skyline Drive, and the Fish Creek National Recreation Trail. It is a favorite for snowmobiling and non-motorized snow sports, camping, OHV travel and fishing.

• Fish Creek Campground and Trailhead
• Fish Creek National Recreation Trail (NRT)
• Flat Canyon Campground
• Gooseberry Creek Trail
• Right Fork of Lake Fork Trail
• Sweat Creek Trail
• Two-Mile Recreation Area

  The Two-Mile Recreation Area is located in southeastern Utah near Moab and the Utah/Colorado state line. It extends from the state line to the La Sal Pass Road (FR 73). This area is most easily accessed by Utah SR-46/Colorado SR-90. It is in closest proximity to the towns of La Sal, Old La Sal and Paradox. It features numerous trails, and scenic views of the La Sal Mountains and surrounding red rock country.

• Lower Two Mile Trail
• Trinity Canyon Trail
• Two-Mile Connector Trail
• Upper Two Mile Trail