Behind The Reef Road

Trail Run on May 24, 2015
Report and photos by Monica I., Trail Leader

Matt K.

White 2016 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon

Monica I.

Red 2010 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

Walt S.

Gold 2004 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

This trail ended up being the only confusing one of the trip, which was good. When we were up on the Hidden Splendor trail, we passed what we believed to be the end of the Behind The Reef Road. We were going to drive by the cool slot canyon hikes and maybe even wander into them if we had time. However, the maps lied to us a bit and we weren't going to get very far.

Like Temple Mountain Road, Behind The Reef Road was filled with people and their toys. Nearly every camping spot had an RV or tent in it. This was obviously the trail that serves as a jumping off point to lots of other adventures, and we passed many slot canyons and a singletrack trail along the way.

When we got to Behind The Reef Trail marked with a sign, we turned up it. Monica was in the lead, and she soon radioed back to the group that it had definitely turned into an ATV trail. The trail ahead of her was suddenly narrow, eroded, and something that would challenge any rider. It wasn't going to work for us, so we backed down to the main, easy trail.

The road kept going, and so did we. We passed the sign noting that maintenance was ending, and we took that as a good sign that the trail was going to get a lot more fun. We stopped where a bunch of ATVs were parked and got out. The trail just went down into a wash clogged with rocks, and then it went into trees. It was Chute Canyon, and it was supposed to go a bit farther, but it was the end for us.

Monica got stuck on the only rock in the trail because she backed over it, and Matt had to pull her off of it. Then she noticed that her sway bar was dangling, so she started working on it. In the meantime, Matt went to play on the rest of the trail before it disappeared, and Walt and Georgina went to explore. It looked like the old trail had been on the side of the canyon but had washed out long ago.

We went back to the ATV trail kiosk and looked at the map. It didn't say it turned into an ATV trail, so it was no wonder we were confused. It was also a bummer, because we were a little way from the main slot canyons.

That messed our plans up a bit, but we're used to that. No problem! We went back to the main trail to decide what to do, and we picked Molly's Castle for the way out before heading back to Green River.