A couple stands on a rocky cliff overlooking a scenic canyon with a winding river. They are smiling and celebrating, one person raising their arm in excitement. In the background, the colorful rock formations and greenery contrast against the clear blue sky. A pair of mountain bikes is resting nearby. Porcupine Rim mountain bike trail.
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Tags:
Level: Advanced
Length: 3.4 mi (5.5 km)
Surface: Other
Configuration: One-way
Elevation: +383/ -1,031 ft
Total: 592 riders
 

Mountain Biking Porcupine Rim

*****   Add a review
#12 of 710 mountain bike trails in Utah
#137 in the world

To put this ride down in words would do it no justice!! You must ride Porcupine Rim and see it first hand for yourself! It is an extremely technical downhill with some of the most amazing singletrack anywhere! One of the riders in our group, Steve, put it perfectly...."That was the most technical singletrack I've ever walked!!" And Steve is an excellent rider, so may that be a warning to the beginner/intermediate riders out there!!

First added by alvin.santoy on Dec 31, 2002. Last updated Dec 10, 2020. → add an update
Before you go
  • Drinking water: no
  • Lift service: no
  • Night riding: yes
  • Pump track: no
  • Restrooms: no
  • Fat bike grooming: no
  • E-bikes allowed: no
  • Fee required: no
This trail information is user-generated. Help improve this information by suggesting a correction.
Getting there
The trailhead is located on Sand Flats Road, the same road as the World famous Slickrock Bike Trail. 6 1/2 miles past Slickrock is the trailhead for Porcupine Rim. It is a dirt/gravel road from Slickrock on, but you should have no problem in a car. From their, take the Porcupine Doubletrack down to the Porcupine Singletrack.
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Porcupine Rim Trail map

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DKRK279 (3 weeks ago)
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Dusty (Jun 21, 2019)
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Porcupine Rim videos

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Porcupine Rim Trail- Moab, UT
 
Porcupine Rim - Dan Corley
 
Moab - Porcupine Rim
 
Porcupine Rim Trail
 
Porcupine Rim Single Track
 
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Mountain Bike Trails Near Moab, Utah

****
Intermediate | 15 mi
****
Intermediate | 20 mi
***
Beginner | 0.8 mi
***
Advanced | 10 mi

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Reviews

  • abegold
    *****

    The climb at the beginning is around 1000' and you'll descend twice that to the highway. The trail is around 15 miles so all the numbers on this page are wrong! At the top the view is great so take your time. You quickly descend with drops as big as 3'. Bucket list ride for any mountain biker. Sandstone makes for great traction.

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  • Formzerog
    ****

    The first half of the trail, even though it says only 3 miles of uphill on the map, is sandy boulder filled 4x4 track. once you get to the top you've already passed many great views. The downhill is lots of rock gardens and alot less sand. Its doable on a hardtail but even on my enduro full it was brutally bumpy being 5 miles lf downhill rocks. Don't get me wrong it was still fun just putting it out as a word of caution. the singletrack along the cliff is the most technical part and is just as fun in its own way. really glad i hit this trail.

    Its a must ride in moab

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  • Richard Hespen
    *****

    Amazing. I rode this as part of the Whole Enchilada. UPS and LPS are amazing and unique. The Rim Road can be as difficult as you want. Take the easy route around obstacles or hit the big drops. The final singletrack section is great riding with epic red rock views of the Colorado River and puckering exposure. Great ride!

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  • Kristyne
    *****

    Road the Porcupine Rim 4/29/17. It was snowing on our way up and snow covered the ground but not the trail. The trail was tacky and perfect in my estimation, just burr-ass cold! At the bottom the temperatures were in low 60s-high 50's.

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  • jhilyard
    *****

    Amazing ride. Big mix of most everything: Solid uphill, fast arm-pumping doubletrack, technical singletrack with high exposure areas. The drop-offs are a blast to manual through. I'd rate myself an intermediate rider, but I only had to hike-a-bike a couple of places and only "stepped off" the bike once.

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  • rpm389
    *****

    awesome!!

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  • Matthew Bonner
    ****

    This is a great, technical trail. The double track portion is a blast. On the doubletrack, when you're not picking over the uber technical parts, you're slipping through the high speed sandy sections. Once you're on the singletrack it gets extremely fun. At first, the fun, relatively fast slick rock riding is a joyride. Then comes the exposed, super technical, low speed gnar fest. Don't be fooled by the end being so close at the end, there's a small canyon. :)

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  • GTXC4
    *****

    Bomb of a ride. Like Marcus S said, "spandex stay away" lol. Did see a few of those guys taking breaks and in the back. This ride is a must, best deal is hitting it up through The Whole Enchilada! You'll be thanking us and will be warmed up for this. Take Knotch trail that is spliced in, you'll be glad that you did. The speed and drops, completed me this week. If you go to Moab, ride this, it will change your life, well ...it should do something! Keep the seat down and float on those flats (I run flats), you'll make that meal count tonight!

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  • Marcus S
    *****

    Rode the whole enchilada and this was definitely the one of the best parts! What a ride!
    I was smiling the whole way down, I hardly noticed the cliff off my right hand side flying down the ridge. I passed a lot of people on the way down, and I can see that the draw but be warned this technical, adrenaline, non-XC ride. Spandex folks stay away.
    It's fun, but be prepared, it's no cake walk. The bus tours up should be warning the un-initiated.

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  • dgh911t
    *****

    Simply Amazing! Bring a full suspension bike and plenty of water and food!

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  • heckmanlloyd
    *****

    This was 15 miles of sandy goodness. by far the best trail I have been on, not that I have ridden a lot of them. My recommendation is to either ride tubeless or bring multiple tubes or patch kits. I passed no less than 6 riders stopped with flats. When I got to the bottom, I noticed that I had several holes in my tires that the Stan's fluid had sealed.

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  • Fernierocks
    ****

    I rode it because of all the hype I heard about it and although it was really fun I think it is over rated. The rock jeep road just went on and on without variety. I loved UPS above it and the bottom single track closer to the bottom was also great. Great trail but there are lots of better trails around. The town of Moab was a huge disappointment as it is basically a bunch of stores, etc... on a highway. I road Phil's World in Cortez, Colorado the day before and liked it a lot more.

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  • Chris Daniels
    *****

    What else can be said about PR? A Classic Moab ride. Open it up and get rowdy! Interestingly enough, a couple buddy first-timers didn't find it that great, but their expectation was that this was a super flowy singletrack. It's not. It's sort of like an old jeep trail that's super rugged and fast. Yes, there is singletrack, but a lot of it is not. They didn't care for it but it is what it is.

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  • ****

    Rode over Thanksgiving Friday. Great trail, tests your ability and confidence in many sections. Koko (from Mtn Pass Rd.) and small part of UPS had snow but overall a fantastic ride. Moab is quickly becomming THE spot with great new trails, many more planned, and great classics!

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  • tarheelmountainbiker
    *****

    We did this after Klondike Bluffs and Slickrock. Our starting point was UPS but I wished we had done the Whole Enchilada. This is truly the best mountain bike epic in the world. If you are half decent do it and do not be hesitant because of certain reviews. However you must be in shape and allow plenty of time. There are good shuttles in Moab. Coyote Express is my recommendation. Make sure you have a map, food, and tools. The views are awesome.

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  • Blaine
    *****

    Just rode the trail today, 5/18, and it is in wonderful this time of year. Not to hot yet, completely dry and insane Terrian. Definitely a must do in Moab.

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  • Greg Heil   ✓ supporter
    *****

    Um, I'm not really sure where you get off by saying "this is all you have for Moab," as we have the Whole Enchilada listed here: http://www.singletracks.com/bike-trails/the-whole-enchilada.html Burro Pass listed here: http://www.singletracks.com/bike-trails/burrow-pass.html Hazard County listed here: http://www.singletracks.com/bike-trails/hazard-county.html UPS and LPS listed here: http://www.singletracks.com/bike-trails/kokopelli-ups-lps.html and dozens more Moab trails listed here: http://www.singletracks.com/Mountain-Bike-Trails-bike-trails_0.html?sortBy=field167:ASC&filterBy=|loc:38.573333~-109.549167~25~Moab, UT Also, I've covered the Whole Enchilada in detail here: http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-trails/i-ate-the-whole-enchilada-in-moab/ and even chose it as my favorite ride ever here: http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-trails/the-pros-weigh-in-whats-your-favorite-trail-part-1/ So, before you say we don't give The Whole Enchilada its due, do your homework please. Also, please note that this list wasn't chosen by our editors... it was rated by the users. However, with the recent trail developments, it might be best to rank all of these trails as sub-trails of The Whole Enchilada... I'll consider this. Also, in reference to new trails, we would LOVE for some locals to add new Moab trails to our database as they are built! You can add new trails using this form: http://www.singletracks.com/add.php?type=i&c=1 As it stands, it seems like new trails have been slowly added by out of town guests. In fact, I'm actually sitting here in Moab right now working, and working to check out and document all of the new trails that haven't been added to the database yet. But since the database is totally a community effort, we would LOVE to have y'all help us out by contributing trail listings! :)
    Happy trails!

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  • Will Kelley
    ****

    Living in Moab I find rating Porcupine as a stand alone trail behind the times. Now, in April, we are riding Kokopellis, UPS, and LPS, the latter two sublime single track before even touching the Jeep road section. No one rides just, "Porky" down any more unless your still living in the 1990's. Not only that we have so much new single track here it will make your head spin. Get with times and give Moab the credit it deserves. Almost no where gives you the, "Whole Enchilada", a seven thousand foot descent over 27 miles from high alpine to the desert and the Colorado river. Can't believe just Porcupine was covered in this Poll. Get with it boys.

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