Monitor & Merrimac/Courthouse Pasture

Fun, fun slickrock riding. The entrance trail through Mill Canyon sucks, though. This would be better done on a fat bike because of all the sand. Instead I would recommend going in via the east leg, playing around on the slickrock then come out the same way.

I took the trail clockwise, and it worked well. The sand on the Jeep road sucks, but probably half the ride or more is on slickrock. It was pretty deserted - saw two other people the whole time. The girl at the bike shop hadn't even ridden it. I thought it was a great introduction to riding on slickrock - different than I expected and I can see why it's such a big deal. There wasn't anything too scary, maybe a couple spots where you could pull of a pinch flat if you were trying really hard. Wish I'd have brought the bug spray as the last bit was in a mucky wash. Puddles. In Moab. If you want the crazy techie stuff, skip this one, but if you want easy slickrock this is a great option.

The slickrock and the views on this trail are pretty fantastic! Overall this trail is pretty easy, but it's a great introduction to Moab. Think of this as Moab lite... if you can't handle this, I wouldn't suggest riding much else in Moab. Head back to Fruita and ride 18 Road.

Note: the jeep trail isn't worth riding. Be sure to ride the bike trail with the singletrack and the slickrock!

the route is a little bit of beginer slick rock some pot holes and a bit of sand. a lot of fun just to play on

Very nice area with very few people. I found it was easier to ride this loop in reverse, parking at Thrasher Canyon parking lot, (.5 miles off of highway 191) riding south on the jeep road and then climbing up the E side of the Courthouse (all pretty easy to find) Then across a mile or so of slickrock to the Lower Merimac. This whole area has a lot of slickrock to play on, once around the Merimac butte and headed back the trail gets sandy in places but is completely do-able.

This trailhead is about 15 miles north of town, past the road that takes you to Canyonlands. It's easy to miss the trailhead entrance, but just keep looking to the left.
Riding out from the trailhead, you'll be on a jeep road that is alternatively sandy and hard packed. About a half mile or so, you come to a junction where the jeep road goes straight or left. Go straight. A little bit further and you get to the Halfway Stage station, which is an old stopping point for the first passenger trains that went through Thompson to Salt Lake City.
Contining on for about another 3/4 mile and ylou finally get to the slickrock. You could stay on slickrock all day here. The trail cuts across some smooth slickrock out to Courthouse (something), which is a massive rock feature that looks a bit like an amphitheatre. You can continue on the unmarked trail out to the Merrimac and Monitor Buttes, which were named after Civil War ships and look like them too.
This is a fun easy ride and really shows you how much fun riding on slickrock can be. It's not very crowded because people usually go for the more famous Moab trails, like Slickrock and Porcupine, but this is a fun trail with many opportunities to hone your slickrock skills. Getting to the slickrock is rather tedious, with the deep sand on the boring jeep road, but once there, it's a blast. Riding out to Monitor and Merrimac can also be an all-day affair, so bring LOTS of water and some food. The views are spectacular of course, but what else would you expect from a Moab trail? * Review edited 4/20/2007