Wolverine Moody Loop - Garfield CO Utah

Do you ever feel that desire to go ride somewhere way out in the sticks? The kind of place you are unlikely to encounter another human? To go enjoy the West like it might have felt to a lone rider on horseback traversing a great wild land?

A place like that exists, East of Boulder Utah, South of Capitol Reef NP, and North West of Lake Powell.

The Wolverine Moody Loop is a beginner level loop trail with an optional out and back section along the Moody Creek Road. The whole trip is 77 miles long and will be an all day event lasting between five to six hours.

The trailhead is located about 19 miles east of the town of Boulder (37.92, -111.22). Staging and camping can be done on wide pull outs once you exit the paved Burr Trail road. Even large rigs that venture out this way will find a place to park or camp that wont give you too much trouble. The trail features scrubby red desert and beautiful red rock ledges and canyons.

Most of the terrain is a well maintained dirt road, but there may be sandy washes to traverse at certain points. This is a very remote area that you can get to easily thanks to the quality of the roads.

One of the unique aspects of this trail is the amount of petrified wood and petrified forests that exist along the loop. You can read about one of the many locations here: https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/geosights/wolverine-petrified-forest/.

The closest town is Boulder, which has some lodging and restaurants, but for more amenities and supplies you can visit Escalante to the west, Torrey to the north (though Notom Road may rattle your teeth loose) or Ticaboo to the east.

Safety wise – this area of the state gets very hot, so make sure you bring more water than you need, and pay attention to the weather to avoid flash floods.

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Directions From the North
Directions from the South
Facilities: Closest lodging, restaurants, gas is in Boulder, UT. More amenities can be found in Escalante, Torrey, or Ticaboo. The trail is very remote with no services. You can camp in BLM portions of the trail.
OHVs: All sizes. No width limits. ATVs, MCs, UTVs, 4x4s on most trails.
Terrain: Well maintained dirt roads. Paved road on Burr Trail Road.
Signage: Trail is well signed and areas of interest are noted.
KML File for Google Maps
GPX File for your Garmin GPS or other Apps
Emergencies: Garfield Memorial Hospital. 200 N 400 E St, Panguitch, UT 84759. Emergency room open 24 hours a day.
Garfield County Sheriff: Dial 9-1-1 for emergencies or Non-Emergency Dispatch: 435-676-2678; Utah Highway Patrol: Dial 9-1-1. We highly recommend you purchase a Utah Search and Rescue Assistant Card (USARA) learn more: https://secure.utah.gov/rescue/

GAIA

We highly recommend you get GAIA GPS for your mobile device. GAIA GPS will allow you to download this trail complete with the photos you see here so you can be sure where you are at all times. Simply install the GAIA GPS app and save this trail from the button below.

Would you like to see the trail in an animated 3D flyover map? If it appears to pause, that is likely a place I stopped for a while. It will continue, just wait a few moments. Link to 3D flyover.

Here is the 360 view at the trailhead. Feel free to tour around a bit inside Google Street Views. We have recorded the trail in 360 and it is now part of Google Street Views so you can take a virtual tour of the trail to see if it is for you. We’ve made it a bit easier to navigate, scroll down and you will see more 360 embedded tours as we encounter intersections, trail markers or interesting places along the trail.

On any image, you can click the ‘X’ in the upper right corner and the view will change to an overview map showing the Google Street View blue lines. You can click anywhere on that blue line and drop down to the 360 ground-level views at that point.

You can move the image 360 degrees, click the arrow to move further down the trail and zoom in and out to take a closer look. Clicking the box in the upper right-hand corner will enlarge to full screen for a better view.

This is the turn off from the Burr Trail Road to the Wolverine Loop. You can stage off this road down about 500 feet or so. The road is quite good for the most part. As you can see here its a smooth one so you will make good time. This section follows the ledges that run North-South along the West side of the trail. About 10 miles into the trail you'll see a stopping point and sign for Wolverine Canyon Petrified Wood Natural Area. This is a fun moment to stretch your legs and see some amazing petrified wood specimens. Please note: Collecting samples is this area is prohibited. Three miles down the trail from there is the Little Death Hollow Trailhead featuring more petrified wood, and Jacob's Arch. The hike is about six miles in to Jacob's Arch.

Twenty miles in you will reach the junction for the Wolverine Loop and Moody Canyons. Turning right will take you on an out and back adventure adding 40 miles total. Go left to complete the loop.

If you choose to to do the Moody Canyon portion, be aware that it enters Glen Canyon National Recreation Area property.

The trail also runs adjacent to several Wilderness Study Areas, so keep eyes out for signs and stay on the trail!

You will pass the old Colt Mesa Copper Mine and follow Choprock Bench (on the right in this 360) Left or right? Either is fine. The Left , Purple Hill sroad, will take you out to a dead end but the trail is fun and not to long, about a mile or so. The road on the right eventually dead ends looking down into the far reaching edges of tributaries to Escalante River and lake Powell. You are a very long way from anywhere here so be careful and embrace the felling of solitude. Feel free to explore. The beautiful view from the end of Purple Hills Road looking northeast toward Deer Point.

To complete the loop,return the way you came except don't go cak toward Wolverine canyon. Simply continue due North, the road is in great shape. Soon you can get back on to the Burr Trail Road and drive 10 miles west back to the staging area.