Trip Report: Rattlesnake Canyon & more…
July 1st, 2007 by Solihull Soceity,
All photos are of Rattle Snake and the Colorado National Monument
On the weekend of June 23-24 several club members met to pre run some trails in the Grand Junction area. Jim (66 Series IIa) and Pete (70 Series IIa) linked up on I70 outside of Denver and drove over the ‘hill’ to Grand Junction. After dinner they met up with Neil (96 Disco) near the Bangs Canyon trail head. The three discovered that overnight camping was not allowed at the trail head so followed the Billings Canyon trail about a mile and a have until they found a good spot to set up for the night.
In the morning the three went to Starbucks to meet up with anyone else that wanted to run some trails. Gem (2002 D-II) arrived and after waiting for a while to ensure that no one else was coming the four trucks made their way towards the Colorado National Monument and the mornings first trail.
After crossing the bridge over the CO River there are plenty of signs marking the way to the Monument. At the first turn there is a gas station that had the lowest priced gas/diesel in town. They also have a quarter operated air pump. This is also on the way to the Bangs Canyon OHV area.
The entrance to the CO National Monument is just a few miles further down the road. At the Ranger Station you need to pay $10 per vehicle if you are going to be stopping in the park, but it’s free if you are passing straight through. We just went straight through but for the Rally we will be stopping at all of the scenic overlooks. On the far side of the park is West Glade road, two lane gravel. A short distance down this is the entrance to the trail with a sign Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Area. Turn right here.
There is a large parking area with a map board explaining about the area, this is a good spot to air down a little, 20-25psi should be fine. There are a few areas on the trail that have some small rocks and a couple loose gravel climbs. Airing down isn’t really needed for these areas, but it does help to smooth out the bumps. The signs posted here explain how the canyon is two different trails. One that follows the rim prior to August 15th and the second follows the canyon after August 15th. So we had to take the upper trail, while for the Rally we will be using the lower. The lower is going to be the more difficult of the two, but still only rates a 4 and is passable by any stock Rover.
When the upper and lower trails meet back together you are now at the beginning of Rattle Snake Canyon trail itself. The trail follows on a finger point of land sticking out into the canyon. About half way down the trail there is a pull off on the right. As long as everyone parks tight there will be enough room to get a dozen trucks off the main trail. This pull off is on the canyon rim and has some great views.
At the end of he trail is a large parking lot. There is a hiking trail that leads ½ mile out to a point with good views of the arches. This area is second only to Arches National Park in Utah as far as number of arches, but it does involve a short hike to get to them. It is not a rugged trail but people should still be wearing sneakers or boots. And make sure to have sunscreen, brimmed hat, and at least a liter of water. Oh and don’t forget to bring your camera.
Since our goal was to scout and map as many trails for the Rally as possible we elected not to hike out to the view point. So we mounted up and headed back to the trail head. At the trail head instead of turning left to go back into the park we turned right and followed Glade around the southern edge of the park and then turned on Park Rd which led us to the Bangs Canyon OHV area. After a short lunch at the large parking lot, with no shade, we headed out on Tabeguache trail. This trail basically runs due south to the border of the OHV area.
Very shortly the trail turns to bare rock with trail markers painted in white on the face of the rock. Follow the marks until you come to a V painted in the rock and take the right hand trail. This leads down a series of easy steps and finally to a wide open rock area. There are a number of steep steps on the left side of the trail here and we stopped for a while so people could take turns climbing them.
After this the trail continues down hill and turns to the east. It does a 180 on a point over looking the Rough Canyon Falls. Only there was no water running on the day we were there so not much to see.
Just past the falls the trail climbs south. Approximately ½ mile down the trail will be the turn off to the east to the Rough Canyon trail. Continue another mile and half on Tabeguache and you will come to the turn off to the east for Bangs Canyon. Another 3.7 miles and you come to a T intersection. At the intersection the trail will continue east for 8 miles. The BLM map available online shows this trail dead ending at private land just short of highway 141. However the map posted at the trail head showed this trail going all the way to the main road. Due to the time of day we elected to turn around and backtrack to the canyon trail head. We need to contact BLM prior to the rally and determine if the trail goes through or not.
Tabeguache Trail featured some nice large rocks, steep climbs, and the ledges area. I would agree with the 7 rating. It does have a number of tight areas were the tree branches have grown out into the trail. Neal with his roof top tent was able to make it through but this trail can leave some pin striping on vehicles.
Back at the trail head Gem headed home for the evening and Neal, Jim, and Pete headed into town to find some dinner. After dinner the three headed back to Bangs Canyon OHV and did about 90% of the Billings Bypass Loop before finding a spot for the night to set up camp. The three found a good area to set up camp with a nice view of the lights from Grand Junction.
The Billings Bypass Loop is a 6 rated trail that goes around Billings Canyon itself. Taking the loop clockwise will present the most challenge. There is a steep step at one point and then some rocky climbs. The trail also goes out to a dead end overlooking the Colorado River.
The next morning after a quick breakfast at the Black Bear the three linked back up with Gem and his wife Fara and headed east towards Coal Canyon. You must drive through the coal plant to reach the trail head, but otherwise the area is very easy to find. Coal Canyon is part of the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range. The area is crisscrossed with a network of trails and it is a multi-use area, with horses, motocross bikes, atvs, mountain bikers, and wheelers using the area. The group followed Coal Creek for about 2-3 miles before stopping. So far it was pretty boring and Pete was considering throwing in the towel. Jim ran over to talk to a group of motocrossers that informed him that the area does become more difficult and that the dry wash is a valid trail. So the group continued on. They found a couple nice obstacles in the wash then took a turn to the south. The path climbed up onto the cliff tops overlooking Palisade and the Colorado River. The trail dropped back down to the canyon floor and then climbed back up to an even higher cliff top. This will make an excellent spot for lunch. Dropping back down to the canyon floor the group continued further up the canyon. Alternating between the trail and the dry wash a couple more obstacles were encountered. There are sections of the trail that got tight and pin stripes are unavoidable. The hardest obstacles encountered are all bypassable, though all four Rovers were able to get through them. This trail is very enjoyable, but it really needs to be prerun for the Rally so that the Trail Leader knows which areas of the wash are blocked in order to avoid having to back track. Pete needed to head back to the Springs so the group turned around and headed back out. The way out is straight forward and quick. The group was able to make it back to the highway right at an hour. For the Rally a good plan is to just go as far as you can get by 2:30 and then turn around and head out. This will leave enough time to make it back to Montrose.
Everyone enjoyed the weekend. Some fun trails and great company. Plans are already being made for the next trip West for more preruns.
