by Matt Konkle
Torque Editor-in-Chief
All you need to know about Moab, Utah can be summed up in the expression of someone visiting for the first time.
Like our 2018 Fly and Drive winner Ed Tripp and his family having to pull over and stop on the way into town because the scenery was simply overwhelming, and demanded some undivided attention.
Or the myriad of one- and two-word social media posts from those who trailer up their Jeeps and drive out to the Utah desert. Dispatches simply reading ‘breathtaking’, ‘awe-inspiring’, ‘captivating’, or some other colorful adjective, with pictures of rich, red rocks contrasting with the deep blue Colorado River.
Sure, there are some great spots around the country that feature amazing off-road trails, but put up the history, scenery and off-road possibilities of Moab, and you have one perfect vacation location.
And this year’s 56th annual Easter Jeep Safari from April 11-17 offers us a chance, once again, to head out to southeastern Utah and experience it all — as well as a chance to document it so those at home can get a taste of what it means to experience EJS.
So here are some of the things we are looking forward to seeing and doing during this year’s event.
Meeting Up With Old Friends
EJS annually brings thousands of Jeeps and people into Moab, and while the town can get a bit crowded during the week, it is always great to see friends come together who live in different parts of the country.
There are plenty who register for the event each year to socialize as well as trail ride, along with many in the aftermarket Jeep industry and media, as well as Jeep employees and local residents.
We have some of those in every category. Additionally, after numerous years working with Tread Lightly! doing various trail restoration events, we always look forward to seeing them during EJS.
Sometimes those meetings involve grabbing a bit to eat or joining up for an unscheduled trail ride. Perhaps some time catching up and helping work on someone’s vehicle after a long day. Maybe it means stopping by the huge Jeep concept display when it opens Wednesday and looking at the latest vehicles and products the brand has to offer.
You never know who from the past you’ll bump into under the Utah stars.
Moab Diner
Speaking of a bite to eat, there is one place on the main road through town that just begs for some time out of your day. The Moab Diner.
This popular place has been around, in one form or another, since the early 1960s when it offered 29 cent hamburgers carried directly to your vehicle by full-service car hops. Over the years, the site turned into an ice cream parlor and then coffee shop before the diner as we know it now came to fruition.
During EJS, this spot is a constant blur of motion from open to close and even contains several Jeep-themed items including table place mats and mugs.
For us, an EJS-week trip to the diner means squeezing in some moments before a trail run because the diner’s Sweetwater Skillet, with green chili sauce, is an excellent source of pre-trail nourishment. But the diner has all kinds of other food for breakfast, lunch and dinner so you are sure to find something that appeals to your appetite.
La Sal Mountain Range View
These mountains may be 20 miles away as the crow flies, but the La Sals rising from the earth south of Moab often feel close enough to touch when you are on the trails.
With a maximum height reaching around 13,000 feet, these mountains usually display brilliant white caps of snow this time of year which makes a beautiful contrast against the pale blue sky, or otherwise surrounding red rocks.
The La Sals are the second-highest mountain range in Utah and feature loads of hiking and mountain biking trails, along with numerous camping sites and fishing locations.
We normally take a day and head out into the mountains on La Sal Loop Road as it quickly rises up into the sky and provides a majestic view of the Colorado River, Castle Valley and the town of Moab.
Trails
Trails are to Moab as, what, sand is to a beach? Peanut butter to chocolate? The point is, the trails around Moab are something special. Besides plenty of adrenaline-inducing obstacles, many of which sport names that have long become synonymous with their respective trails, these trips into the desert get you off US191 and into the wilderness — where you can experience the unbelievable almost around any turn.
It doesn’t take long before phone service cuts out and it is just you, a vehicle and the trail group against nature. That may feel a bit un-nerving the first time you see zero bars on your phone, but it does grow on you.
It also allows full concentration towards the landscape around you, as well as your fellow travelers.
An unplugged lunchtime really becomes an event where you can interact with the trail group and learn some new things. You can also take plenty of photos to document your trip and all the new friends you’ve just made.
We’ve been on plenty of rides over the years and no matter which ones appear on the schedule — whether Moab Rim, Steelbender, Fins and Things, Seven Mile Rim, or wherever, we’ll enjoy the entire experience like it was our first trip in Moab.
Annual Tread Lightly! Trail Cleanup
While trail riding is the penultimate thing to do during EJS, we always manage to carve out a day with our friends from Tread Lightly! and do some important trail maintenance. After all, if a trail (or trails) cannot be safely navigated, then it really takes away from the whole EJS experience.
Imagine signing up for a trail event you really like, only to find out it was suddenly axed from the schedule right before the event because of some kind of trail maintenance issue.
So over the past several years, we’ve helped Tread Lightly! perform work on numerous Moab trails including Hells Revenge, Hey Joe Canyon and Poison Spider Mesa. Some years that meant adding signage or repairing fence line. Others, it was trimming back invasive brush like Tamarask to keep a trail active for riders.
All of it meant doing our part to help maintain important trails. And we’re excited to be helping out again.
This year, we’ll be joining Tread Lightly!, along with over a dozen other friends, on Wednesday for a maintenance day on Kane Creek.
The goal this year is help protect a rock art site from vandalism by building out some buck and rail fencing. Additionally, we’ll also delineate a foot trail leading to the site so people can responsibly enjoy that location.
We’ll also have a special announcement that Wednesday as well.
Concepts
Part of EJS’ lure is the promise of gazing at something you’ve never seen before. This is why Jeep makes a big production about revealing concept vehicles one at a time in the weeks leading up to the event.
In year’s past, that meant one-off trucks like the Crew Chief 715 or two-door Gladiator. Or other concept icons such as Commando Beach, Quicksand, Shortcut and FC150.
You may think concepts are just something that Jeep designers love creating, but they also serve as a place to house and display new Jeep Performance Products, as well as to potentially show off new cues for upcoming vehicles. All this also allows designers to gather feedback from the audience which they can potentially use in future production vehicles.
For example, the year Jeep brought along the Crew Chief 715, it had several design elements that made their way into the Jeep Gladiator. Kind of a ‘hidden in plain sight’ kind of thing.
This year, the brand has seven new concept vehicles it is taking to EJS. These include a revamped all-electric Wrangler, dubbed the Magneto 2.0, that purportedly upgrades last year’s Magneto concept; a 20th anniversary Wrangler Rubicon, an open-air Wrangler hybrid, some kind of Wrangler/Gladiator mash-up, military-inspired 4xe hybrid Wrangler, as well as a Grand Cherokee 4xe hybrid and potentially a Gladiator 4xe.
All these concepts are normally revealed in the few remaining days leading up to the start of EJS week, meaning they should all be out shortly, and then Jeep will have every one of their 2022 concept crop on display at their huge location right in the heart of Moab at the Walker Drug parking lot.
Milt’s Stop & Eat
The Moab diner may have our attention for at least one breakfast before a trail ride during EJS week, but Milt’s Stop & Eat is pretty much a guaranteed, ehm, stop and eat on the way back from either Hells Revenge or Fins & Things.
And we know plenty of you who have been to Moab feel the same way.
After all, just look at the crowd stretching out form the ordering window most times during the week. Spoiler — it’s a long line. So give yourself plenty of time to pick up an order.
Milt’s has been around since 1954 and boasts the title of ‘Moab’s Oldest Restaurant’. It also hasn’t changed much over the years, and still offers burgers with fresh ground beef and hand-crafted milk shakes in a variety of flavors.
Of course, you don’t have to get a burger when you stop because Milt’s has plenty of other offerings. But take it from us, you’d be remiss not to grab one and sit down on one of the picnic tables to enjoy.
Photo Credit: Outlaw Jeep Rentals
Hells Revenge Sunset Ride
Even if you haven’t been out to Moab to try this trail, you’ve probably seen part of it at least once somewhere on social media. That’s because one of its obstacles, Hell’s Gate, is prominently featured on many a trail rider's account.
But this run is so much more than obstacles and slickrock ledges.
Almost right at the start is a stopping point overlooking the old Lions Back obstacle. While that makes a great view, this stopping point also contains numerous dinosaur footprints that turns it into important historical lesson for the group as well.
Now, as you gaze over the red rock cliffs and take in the La Sal mountains off in the distance, imagine this view as the sun is setting. It really turns everything around you into something all the more impressive.
Outlaw Adventure Tours’ owner Jeremy Rowan has been guiding these sunset trips for years and it makes for a great way to spend a few sunset hours outside the town.
Chris Collard’s Expedicion de las Americas Jeep CJ-7
Imagine heading out on an epic 21,500-mile adventure stretching out across two continents from Tierra del Fuego, Chile to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Fun, right?
Now imagine doing it back in 1978. In a CJ-7 that featured just about all stock stuff except new 31-inch tires and a Ramsey winch.
That’s what Jeep Jamboree USA founder Mark Smith and friends did all those years ago, enjoying adventure for its own sake, and traversing unforgiving terrain one machete swing at a time.
Needless to say, they completed the trip — setting a Guinness World Record in the process when they made it to Alaska.
Collard's vehicle is one of five from that trip still in service and it is definitely a beauty to behold.
We got a chance for a quick glance at it during last year’s Dixie Off-Road Expo during EJS. And we’re looking forward to getting a better view this go-around.
Arches National Park
No trip out to Moab would really be complete without spending at least some time visiting one of the best National Parks in the country. After all, one of the attractions in this place even inspired a license plate.
Arches National Park, just to the north of Moab.
This national park attracts over 1.5 million visitors each year, and you can really tell its popularity because the line to get into the place often stretches out onto US191. In fact, the traffic to get in can be so lengthy that the park now requires a timed ticked during certain portions of the year. That’s right, you need to order a ticket ahead of time to get in. Otherwise, don’t bother waiting in line.
The place is home to the Delicate Arch — arguably the most popular arch in the world and something that adorns many a Utah license plate. It is so impressive that just a regular hike to the thing wouldn’t do it justice.
Instead, it is a three-mile roundtrip jaunt that climbs 480 feet into the desert. So make sure to bring appropriate clothing and footwear for the conditions, as well as plenty of water to hydration.
While Delicate Arch is the most famous of the park’s attractions, there are plenty of other amazing things dotting its landscape. These include Landscape Arch, Fiery Furnace, Balanced Rock, Corona Arch and Double Arch.
One of the Arches National Park brochures reads “Going to Moab and not visiting the park is like going to the moon and just sitting inside the rocket,” and that’s definitely true. We’ll certainly be out there again this year.
