Customer Reviews

4WD Adventures: Utah

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A fantastic reference book that makes back country exploring not only possible for anyone at any desired level of difficulty (or not), but also great fun. This book rolls trail information & descriptions , places and history, for the whole state, into one comprehensive book; great value for money.

4wd Adventures is a monstrous book. Seriously, this thing has to weigh a couple of pounds. It comes loaded with historical information, information on nature, and some nice maps.

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Well, I'm a bit iffy on this encyclopedic compendium. Let me tell you why, when I first arrived in Moab I talked with a bunch of fourwheelers and asked them where they were headed. They told me I have to check out the Sands Flat Rec. area. Honestly, I blew them off. Why? Well, I had this huge book full of trails. What did they know that my 4wd Adventures couldn't tell me? So I pick out the best of the best of Moab and go driving around some trails. Overall I was disappointed. The trails had some fun spots (I'm talking mainly the ones located within the Arches), and it was lovely to see, but overall...ehhh, I wouldn't do it again. I head back to my hotel and remember my earlier discussion with the fourwheelers, and I decide to check it out. I couldn't believe my eyes.

With their help, I had found the Slickrock Trails. This is the spot that helped put Moab on the map! Why in the world was it not included in this book? Everything else was! This area is a gem, and absolute marvel. But the book? Basically, the book was a real let down, especially for the price I paid. Note, I haven't tried much of the other trails, but a good portion of them are rated as 1, 2, and 3 on the difficulty level, which can be likened to driving up your dirt driveway. I'm not one of those maniacal fourweelers with the giant tires and portable welding kits, but I was surprised by how much of this book I don't really need.

Want my advice? Skip this one and check out the Guide To Moab, UT Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails by Charles A. Wells, Shelley Mayer.

This book like the first one, is a comprehensive guide to the Utah back roads. Anyone who is interested in driving the back roads must have this book.

So far I have enjoyed this book. If you are mostly interested in rock crawling Moab's famous slick rock trails and pushing your rig to its limits this is not the book for your. There are much better books and trail maps for that purpose.

If you are looking for a book that will take you exploring all the fabulous back country and scenic places of Utah this book is great. Not perfect but great. The narratives are usefull. The histories add color to the trip. The details get you in and out without too much trouble. I bought this for our last scenic trip and I only had to lock in my 4WD hubs once or twice so this tells you about the kind of book it is. Dont get me wrong. We often find ourselves on steep clift with sheer drops on one side. However, many of the trails can be done with any high clearance vehicle. Some of the trails that it covers are the Moab slick rock or rock crawling kind of trails but this book is about exploring a vast variety of places. We used it to explore Robbers Roost area (known for Butch Cassady and the Wild Bunch). We have also used the book to explore Cathedral Valley and Capital Reef area. I have only had it for a short while so I am still getting familiar with it but many others in our group have owned this book for years. The book covers all of Utah and breaks the state into 4 regions. There are very brief histories and pictures about some of the places. It talks about mines in the area, ghost towns and the figures that are part of the history.