01.(4130ft,mile00) START-END EAST: turnoff to Sandflats road, south of Moab 02.(5840ft,mile09) Kokopelli Trail, here also called Porcupine Rim Trail leaves Sandlfats Road on left. But profile continues straight on Sandflats road. 03.(7362ft,mile18) trail on left leads to Porcupine Rim. Profile continues right. 04.(7880ft,mile)20 Sandlfats road joins paved La Sal Loop road. Continue left. 05.(8320ft,mile22) TOP: high point on La Sal Loop road, Kokopelli Trail summit(u):m124 06.(6490ft,mile28) La Sal Loop road joins road to Castleton. Kokopelli Trail goes back uphill to right, while profile continues down valley to Castleton. 07.(4060ft,mile38) START-END WEST: junction Ut128 and road to Castleton

Approaches

From West. From Moab the route on Sandflats road leads past the slickrock bike trail area. What was once an impromptu camping area is now an organized fee campground, complete with toll booth, where an amazing variety of bikes can be seen mounted high on rooftop racks before going into slickrock action. The route described here constitutes a different kind of cycling. No technical expertise is required, just a little stamina, and possibly resistance to heat exhaustion. The road makes its way gently and smoothly between sandstone fins to the junction with the Porcupine Rim trail. The quickest way to the summit is longer of the two. It continues on the Sandflats road, which is intermittently paved along the steeper sections. Then the road flattens out to contour along the plateau and draw closer to the La Sal peaks. The route turns left on the La Sal loop road, which is paved and leads to the summit in an almost straight line. Here the Porcupine Rim trail rejoins the loop road. The summit is a shoulder from where the first views of Castleton Valley appear.

From East. The route is described in a downward direction. The entire approach is paved. A surprising set of switchbacks after the summit give the road an alpine character, in spite of the fact that the views below are unmistakable Utah red canyon country. The traverse between this alpine world and the red rocks below make these miles some of my favorite Utah paved cycling. The La Sal Loop road joins the Castleton Valley road, which is described in the Kokopelli Trail summit(u): m114. The Kokopelli Trail heads back into the hills at this point. But the profile continues downvalley to facilitate the dayride description.

Tours

Dayrides. A loop ride along the Colorado River to Moab, climbing the summit via Sandflats road and descending through Castleton Valley back to the starting point, measured 65 miles with 5700 feet of climbing in 6 hours, on a very hot day, including a couple of extra circles around Moab looking for a lunch spot (m3:6.5.24).