Gunny's Arapeen Trail ATV Trip

[Gunny]

I don’t see any rid’in trip reports here for the U.S. state of Utah … so I’ll go ahead & post a report on my most current trip which I took from 27 Jul thru 02 Aug 08.

However, I've been waiting for my riding partner to send me some of the pic's he took on this trip ... but alas ... total disappointment ! So, I'm gonna go ahead & get the thread started.

I will say ... I do not have those "Special" ones, one always wants to take while riding, but never stops & executes the picture taking task while moving down an awesome trail ! .... But I hope you enjoy what I post.

The Arapeen (Air-a-peen) OHV trail system in broken down to a North area & a South area. I rode the Southern trails. One drives to a small town named "Gunnison" on Hwy 89 ... at the high school (which is on Hwy 89) one make a turn going East, towards "Them Thar Hills" ... you follow the road around going by an Elk Ranch (my partner has those pic’s) ... until you enter an even smaller town named "Mayfield". Continue East out of Mayfield up "12 Mile Canyon Rd". We drove up that road 18 miles to the "Gunnison Flat Camp Ground". 12 Mile Canyon Rd connects to the "Great Western Trail" (GWT) which is also called the "Skyline Trail" in some areas. At some points while on this road we were at 10,900 ft.

We rode five days, putting 212 miles on the ATV's with an average speed of 8.8 mph. That should tell you, there was some very technical trails. On the GWT & some others, we rode at 20 to 35 mph or more, which tells you again ... to only average 8.8mph for the entire trip we drove pretty darn slow most the time.

As mentioned, we rode at a high elevation of 10,900 ft & as low as 6,400 ft ... from windblown ridges ... to dark forest trails ... to sagebrush flat with deep canyon gorges .... What a blast !!!

We saw Elk, deer, grouse, dove, ducks, & rock chucks (we don't count squirrels & chipmunks ... and one caught a ride home to my house ... someplace on the truck. The little bast&A% !) ... we got rained on the first nite, the third nite & the last nite. So the weather was perfect & the roads not to dusty !

OK, enough chat .... view some of the pic's I took .... there will be several post as I want to share as many pic's as I can with everyone ...Enjoy ...

Later ...

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

Great info on the trip and awesome photos, looks like some beautiful country.

 

[Gunny]

Here's a few more .....

 

[Gunny]

And more ....

 

[Gunny]

And some more ....

 

[Gunny]

And the last one .... my rid'in partner looks kinda lost huh ?? .... LOL !!!!

Well, I hope you enjoy the pic's .... and this is a great place to plan a trip if anyone is think'in about rid'in down this way ....

Later ...

 

[rknight111]

Wow, nice country. Is that snow? A glacier?

The hill in the snowandmud header is hill in Utah, may be right in your backyard. If you have any directions to a staging area there please add as much as you can to the trail maps and staging area section.

You have designated OHV trails there?

 

[Murminator]

Nice pics....but I gotta see some pics of that Ford wheelin :d

 

[Gunny]

rknight111 ... no glacier ... yet .... They just got a LOT of snow last year & even I was amazed at how much snow was still around. But hey, if they are lucky enough to get large amounts of snow for a few years in a row .... well, a glacier has to start somehow ... right ?? :d

As for directions for a staging area .... a few miles up the 12 mile canyon I mentioned, one can start to unload there .... there are numerous places along the road one can pull over, setup camp, or unload for the day & ride until you've had enough. Ummm ... I've never looked at the map & staging area section ... I'll give it a peek.

Yup, we have designated OHV trails as well as just ATV trails ... machines under 50" wide. So side by sides aren't allowed on those trails .... but a Ploaris Razr is becasue it's just barely under or is 50" wide.

Murminator ... LOL !!!! ... Yeah, I use to wheel the tires off the Big Bad Boy ... had Dana 60 axles with 4-wheel disc brakes made & ARB lockers front & rear, & have a PTO winch up front .... but since I bought the Grizz .... I don't take it out much to get it muddy just for fun like I use too ... Hell, I don't take my Jeep out much either ... & I have tons of money in that Little Bad Boy too !!! .... and the Grizzly gets MUCH better mileage ...... LOL !!!!


Later ....

 

[northstar23]

Looks like a great area to go to

 

[Gunny]

northstar23, It is a great place to go ... and I'm already plann'in a another week long trip for next year. I may go someplace on the Piute trail, but it'll be a week trip for sure.

If you, or anyone else should plan a trip in theat area, let me know, & I'll try & give more detailed instructions.

I do need to do what rknight111 suggested & get all that info into the Maps Staging Area section.

Later ...

 

[Powerstroke2000]

Heading down this way from western Canada in mid May, and I've been trying to find just how much riding (below snow level) might be available from mid May on? We'll initially be heading to the Moab region to start our riding, and then we're open to ride other regions, so hopefully this one (Arapeen) is as well! We'll have our RV's with atv's in tow, and have ridden for the good part of a decade or more, and this will be with 2 other couples as well. We've ridden the Moab area three times now, and there are still some we haven't gotten to yet, so hopefully we'll succeed this year!
We also have a atv trip planned for Alaska later as well, so we're definitely planning on some good 'seat' time this year.

My initial curiosity on you mentioning you covered 212 miles over 5 days seemed confusing, as often we would do this in a couple of days, but you did mention you where on rides where you where going excessively slow, so I'll assume you rode mainly 'technical' rides?
I personally like longer rides over shorter ones, and have gone on rides where it's dark in the morning when we start....and we return again in the dark at night, abeit, my wife won't be keen on that on 'this' ride. The more country one can see, the better is the way I look at it! The last several years, our vacation time is with other couples that love to ride as well, so we plan on at least one 'long' drive to get to a 'ride destination' per year, albeit this year it will be two obviously. Future rides we are hoping to include New Mexico and Colorado at some point.
I tried finding 'weather conditions' within the Arapreen trail region with no luck (weather cam?) as it looks on their long term weather conditions, that it can get pretty hot in June and July, thus our plan this year to try to get there in mid May. Not sure on what elevation that will allow us, but hopefully others may know, and can pass on this information with advice?

Hope to see/meet some of you folks out on the trails!