Dome Plateau
This was a new trail for the group and we were excited to see what it had in store for us. We knew it was going to be a long trail, and we hoped to see lots of different scenery. We weren't disappointed!
The trailhead was easy to find, and we were soon aired down, disconnected and ready to go. The trail was easy to find and we were soon traveling over rocky sections with ledges and bits of slickrock in the sand. We had barely gotten started and the trail was already fun.
After lots of play sections we ended up on sand. Thankfully, we had the intersection for the first overlook marked on the GPS -- otherwise we wouldn't have found it. The road to the overlook was straight and easy, and we bypassed a shelf section on the way there. We did it on the way back, which was fun.
The overlook itself was okay, though it didn't get us all the way to the edge of the cliff. You could see a bit of the river, but we were still pretty far from the edge and the ability to see the whole thing. It looked like a hike to the edge would be challenging, and we skipped it to save the time. The views of the Dewey Bridge on the way back were pretty cool.
Again and Again Hill snuck up on us. It is a downhill trip, and there are two very distinct trips down it. Everyone took the right side on the way down, and then the other side on the way up. We all went down it again and parked at the bottom, thinking this would be a good place for lunch. It was a great lunch, and as soon as we started up again it started raining.
Luckily, the rain didn't last long. The sun came back out and we found ourselves on a wide, maintained road. We followed the road briefly and then we all had to look for a little while until we found the intersection for the next section of trail. The wide road is maintained well enough to leave berms on the edges of the road, so the trail intersection was difficult to find.
It was worth the effort, though. We all really enjoyed this next part of the trail. It felt like people hadn't been on it in a long time, and that maybe only a few see it every year. We followed some ATV tracks, but that's all we saw. It was really cool.
Soon we came out on a wide road again and turned left at the 5-way intersection. We followed the fence all the way to the second overlook.
The second overlook was absolutely amazing and nothing like the first one. We could walk up to the edge and see all of the valley below us. Fisher Towers were directly across from us, and we couldn't get enough of the views. This point was the "midway" point for the trail and we were all awe-struck.
We followed an easy trail back, covered with lots of different vehicle tracks. This is a popular section. It must be, with an overlook like that.
When we got to the intersection with Dome Wash, we went down that optional way (of course). It seemed like we lost the route at times, so sometimes we had to walk ahead to find it again. It ended up being pretty obvious, following the bottom of the wash all the way through.
The obstacles in the wash were a blast. It would have been even more fun to go up them, actually. We'll have to try that next time.
When we intersected with the main trail again, we went back up it to see the mining buildings and the mine. It was some good scenery, but we didn't stay long.
We soon found ourselves at the end of the trail and back at the highway. We turned to go check out Delores River on the way back to Moab. Dome Plateau ended up being a great time, with one of the best overlooks out there.
Reports from Other Days: 2
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Dome Plateau. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
