➡ Milt’s Stop and Eat is a great place for old school burgers, fries, and shakes. For breakfast, Jailhouse Cafe offers delicious Western eggs Benedict. For health-conscious people, Moonflower is an organic food store with a variety of options. Moab also has a food court with diverse food options, and the Lions Hub is a great place to relax, with free Wi-Fi, water, and a rock climbing practice area.

➡ Poison Spider is a great mountain bike shop in Moab with a wide range of bikes and gear. Moab also offers excellent opportunities for astrophotography due to minimal light pollution. The Archway Inn is a recommended place to stay, offering good facilities and negotiable prices. Lastly, it’s advised to wash your vehicle after off-roading to prevent damage from dirt and dust.

Sam it so being an off road enthusiast, etc, I enjoy going to Moab. I usually try to get there between September and January because to me it’s the best weather. But here’s the thing. I wasted so much time not knowing where to go, not knowing who was who, etc when I first got out there that I decided it was time to make an insider’s guide, so to speak. So I’m going to show you places to get water, I’m going to show you trails that won’t destroy your vehicle, I’m going to show you places to eat, places to get organic food and I’m going to show you the companies that you can rely on because I’ve interacted with them over the years and they’ve never done me wrong.

So this is going to be a good video, especially for the first timers. Now before we get into this, do me a solid and hit that like share and subscribe and then hit the little button for the notifications. We’re trying to beat the algorithm here on YouTube and I need a little help. So obviously Moab is about off roading, but there’s so much more that you would never notice if you were on a time schedule and you wanted to get things done. That’s where I’m going to help you out. Now seeing that this is an off roading overlanding channel, I’m going to show you two trails that you can take your vehicle and the probability of damaging your vehicle is incredibly low.

But the scenery and the thrills you’ll experience are truly Moab. We’re going to start with Onion Creek Trail. So here’s a funny story. I’m on my way to Onion Creek because it’s going to be in a video that I’m making and a subscriber hit me up yesterday one way, Instagram or YouTube or something like that and said hey, I’ll be in town. I said well so, so when I he’s out here with his, I’m going to guess, 75 or 80 year old father, they’re from Texas and they were going exactly where I was going anyways. So now I’m going to give them a tour of Onion Creek.

One of the it’s a really good trail and there’s a low probability of getting yourself in trouble and the scenery on this trail is awesome. Well you’ll see getting to Onion Creek is easy. You simply take the intersection next to the Colorado river and you take 89 north towards Cisco. 89 north off of 191. You travel about 12 miles and up on your right hand side, you’ll see a sign for Onion Creek Trail and campground. And then you’re there. And also, 89 itself is an amazingly picturesque road, but it does get a little curvy, so pay attention.

But again, 12 miles in, up on your right hand side, Onion Creek Trail. Okay, so I’m on Onion Creek right now and I’m taking two of my subscribers. One of them’s 53 and the other one’s 83. And the 83 year old has a Dodge Power wagon that he’s going to put a camper on and go full time overlanding. Because when you’re 83, come on, man, get it while you can. Two packs a day, since he was 15, healthy as a horse out here in Moab trying to get some. So I’m gonna take them to a camping spot that I know of on Onion Creek that is absolutely amazing.

So I’ll see you there. The Onion Creek Trail starts out with a series of washboards that are a little bit bone jarring, but nothing dangerous. But the trail has a variety of scenery. Trees, desert, tons of water crossings, hence the name. And you’re traveling in canyons for a lot of the time. The only danger you have is oncoming traffic as far as side by sides. But that’s the same thing on every trail. If you come to a blind corner, either get out and take a peek or beep your horn, letting anyone that may be coming know you’re coming as well.

But the, the scenery on Onion Creek Trail is Moab condensed. You’ve got a little bit of everything, including mountain ranges, and it’s truly amazing. And again, you really have to go out of your way to try to damage your vehicle. So for a first timer that wants a real taste of Moab without the danger of rocks bending body panels, this is the trail for you. One of them it foreign. This was the campsite. I ended up dropping these guys off and they loved it. Okay, so next up on our list of the two best trails that you won’t damage your car on is Hurrah Pass.

And this is easy to get to. You simply go down Main street, heading southbound till you come to the McDonald’s on your left, your right hand side, you take a right and you follow this hot top road all the way down to the canyons. And it brings you to Cane Creek Road. Now you keep following this road and it will take you to a shelf road that brings you down into the valley. And you travel on this for about a mile or so and it’s incredibly picturesque. There’s lots of pull offs and things to do on both sides.

Just be cautious of other drivers, motorcycles and mountain bikers because they’re all up there. Once you come to this sign, you’re looking straight at Hurrah Pass. Do not take a right. Go straight ahead and it’ll bring you right up to Hoorah, a really cool trail. The road leading you up to Hoorah is relatively flat with some rock and some ledge on it. But eventually you start climbing and heading up. And once you head up, the views you’re going to see are like nowhere else except maybe the Grand Canyon. That is the trail that you’ll be riding once you come up the several switchbacks, which are incredibly easy.

Just don’t be silly and you’ll be fine. Once you’re up there, you’re treated to absolutely epic views. Like I’m showing you right now. That’s the actual track that. That will bring you to Chicken Corners. And I forget the name of the flats that’s out there, but another trail. But this in on its own is a great trail. It gives you an entire flavor of Moab. You get to overlook Kane Creek and the entire canyons. And unless you’re a fool, your vehicle will stay in one piece. So there is that. Moving on. Now let’s say you get to Moab and you don’t want to drive your vehicle.

You want to take a vehicle. Well, there’s only two real options in town in my opinion, and I know these guys personally. There’s navtec, that’ll take you out in a Land Cruiser like mine on an Expedition. And then there’s Davo, that’ll take you out on an extreme off road expedition. It’s all about how much you can handle. Basically we’re going to start with navtec because this is one of the oldest expedition companies in Moab, period. The owner, John, is the reason I drive a Land Cruiser actually. And he has the biggest, well maintained personal fleet of Land Cruiser FJ 80s than anyone I believe.

But they don’t just do. They won’t just take you out there in the Land Cruiser. You can also rent. You can go down river with them. They can take you out on the Expedition buses. There’s a lot of things that they have to offer and I have zero affiliation other than I know them. It’s a good shop. They hire really well trained guides that can take you out into the back country. They can take you out for a long time. A Short time, you can go out with others, you can go out in the vehicle alone, and then they can take you up and down the Colorado River.

If this is the type of stuff that interests you, you’d rather pay than risk your own equipment. This is the way to go. But for those that are a little more extreme again, there’s Davo. And when it comes to Dave and Extreme 4×4 tours, he’ll take you to the edge and still bring you back in one piece as opposed to a backcountry expedition. He’ll take you in one of these monster built rigs and do the toughest tracks in Moab and bring you back safely. But he’s expanded his shop exponentially to the point where you can rent vehicles and follow a guide while you’re driving one of them, or you can rent a paddle board, or you can rent a raft, or they can set you up with a petroglyph tour, a nighttime astrophotography tour, or parachuting.

Anything you could possibly want to do in Moab. Extreme 4×4 Tours basically has you covered, and that’s a big thing. And they maintain everything. And all the people that work for Dave know their business straight up. So there is that. If you want to take an expedition or you want to scare yourself silly and still make it home, These are the two guys you want to talk to. Either NavTech or Extreme Tours 4×4. Moving on, let’s talk about food, huh? There’s a ton of places to eat in Moab, and I’ve eaten at them all. But if you want to eat for real, on the corner of 400 east and Locust Lane is the famous Milt’s Stop and Eat.

This is old school hamburgers, French fries, and milkshakes that you don’t see any place anymore at all. When you’re done eating, you feel bad because you just want to order again, Period. Best place in the world to eat. 13 bucks and you’re good to go. I highly recommend it, and I have no affiliation with anyone in this video. I’m telling you straight up. And for breakfast, the only place in town that matters is the Jailhouse Cafe. These guys have Western eggs Benedict that is to die for, or in this case, to kill for. But it’s the only place that matters.

It’s the only place that I eat. As far as eating dinner, there’s a lot of places to choose from. That’s up to you. But for cheeseburgers, fries and shakes, go to Milt’s for an incredible breakfast. Go to the Jailhouse Cafe. Now, for those people that are very health conscious, I did not forget you. I’ve included the only natural food store that you would never find called Moonflowers. So for those that have a gluten free problem or issue, there isn’t just a city market in Utah or Moab, I should say. There’s also a place called Moonflower and it’s organic foods and they have pretty much everything you would expect at an organic food shop.

Gluten free, fresh produce, and they have the best mangoes ever. It’s like heroin. Once you try them, you have to keep going back over and over and over. Maybe not like heroin, but you get my point. At any rate, now Moab, right off of Main street also has a large food court with every type of diverse food you could ever want coming off trucks. This is really good food. And they go from Asian to Mexican, etc. Etc. So that’s where you want to eat. Except at night there’s a lot of different restaurants. You’d have to pick those on your own.

But this is where you want to be and hopefully you don’t pass it right by. Moving on. Okay, you’ve got to Moab, you’ve eaten and now you want to find a place to either shack up for the night or find a place where you can refuel, recharge, maybe grab a WI Fi signal and not be hassled by anybody. Well, Moab’s got you covered on that. It’s called the Lions Hub. And as soon as you roll into Moab, the first set of lights you come to, it’s right there on your left hand side. You see me in videos many times drying out my tent here you have a parking lot on your right hand side and on your left hand side right after you take this left right here, Free WI Fi, free water, there’s rock climbing, there’s all sorts of stuff and it just lets you recharge and figure out what you’re going to do for the day.

So it’s Thursday morning and it’s rained here for the last three nights and it’s incredibly overcast right now. My main purpose of being in Moab was getting night shots as well as other things. But I was out here for a few days and I’ve been out here for almost two weeks again. So I think it’s time to shove towards Arizona, go meet a few people out there. But here’s something else I wanted to show you at the Lions Hub in Moab. I already told you about the world class cliff walls that you can, you can climb, rock crawl.

Rock climbers from all over the country, country come out here. But at Lions Hub you can practice. And that’s badass and it’s free. You see what I’m saying? They’ve got this set up right here. So not only do you have a place to rest, you’re right next to the Colorado River. You’ve got a men’s room, a women’s room, you got a place to get water, you’ve got a mountain bike access right here, parking, and you have a rock climbing practice area with a rubber floor, man. Like I’m walking on rubber right now, which is really badass.

Not that I believe you’d get hurt from falling from eight feet or whatever, but they still gave you a rubber floor. That’s pretty badass. Thank you, Moab. That was very, very thoughtful. These look like real rocks, but I can’t tell, man. I can’t tell at all. I think they are real rock. They are real rocks that they placed here and pieced together. But still, it’s a good place to come and chill, Gather your thoughts. And I mean, if you’re into this stuff, there’s no, there’s no bad views in Moab, Just bad weather for the last couple of days.

So when I want to go someplace and just figure out what direction I’m heading for the day I go up to Lions Hub, you’ve got WI fi, you’ve got free filtered water, and you have men and women facilities. Plus it’s at the hub of everything. It sends you in all good directions. So I highly recommend this as a source. Plus, you can jump on your mountain bike right at Lion’s Hub and head down the trail that is centrally hubbed from this location. It takes you through some tunnels right down the side of the Colorado river and you can go either north or south.

Both ways are awesome. And it’s a great trail. And the scenery on a mountain bike is totally next level, totally different than being in a vehicle. And I did a lot of this at night time, but I also did it during the day, obviously. But that’s another benefit of that. Looks crazy, doesn’t it? I don’t know why it’s like that. Whatever. It’s another benefit of Lions Hub. Utah did a good thing by setting that up right at the beginning of the main street going down to Moab, because the views on this, in a car, on a mountain bike, or just walking are absolutely epic.

So there, as they say, is that okay so Lion’s Hub does all those different things for you. Plus there’s free water there. Another source of free filtered water is Gearheads, which is right on Main Street. You simply walk in the back door and use your receptacle to fill it with free filtered water. You need a hand, Ask to help this the staff for help and they’ll help you out. The reason I know about this is because Gearheads happens to have pretty much everything you would ever need to do anything you would ever do whilst you are in Moab.

Don’t believe me? Well, look at this. Camping expedition, overlanding, etc. Etc. They’ve even got a few things for stuff that I don’t even know what it is. And unlike many places, their staff is literally stoked to be there. I’m fairly certain that every single person in their staff participates in pretty much everything that anybody that would go into that store would do. Do you see what I’m saying? Plus they’ve got binoculars, they’ve got camelback, they’ve got everything. And I am not affiliated in any way whatsoever at all. They’ve also got inflatable kayaks, which are badass. These people have been in Moab since I’ve been going to Moab.

They moved their shop a couple of times, but the variety and the amount of things they have and the quality of the gear they carry is pretty much phenomenal. You can’t beat that with a stick. You don’t want to go off into the Moab with budget gear. I am not a believer in budget gear that when the goes sideways is going to save your life because budget gear breaks. Ask me how I know. At any rate, there’s one more source of water I could turn you on to and it’s right here. I’m just kidding. It’s actually right here.

As soon as you leave Lion’s Hub heading towards Cisco, you’ll see a sign on your right hand side. Right after that there’s a pullover spot and you’ll find this. Now this is well water or mineral water or some such. But it’s been here for time immemorial. It comes right out of the mountain and everybody that’s anybody knows where it is. It’s supposed to be fresh, clean spring well water. I cannot deny or verify. It just is what it is and it’s been there forever. So that’s three sources of water. When you’re out in Moab. I don’t care if it’s December, carry water with you.

So now that you’ve Eaten. Now that you’ve sat around at Lion’s Hub on Wi Fi getting fat, it’s time to hit the trails on your mountain bike. So let’s go to the best mountain bike bike shops that I found in Moab. Now, there’s all sorts of cool ways to get around when you’re in Moab. There’s all sorts of different wacky, overbuilt, insane modes of transportation to get you up over and around. Everything in Moab, even this thing, whatever this is, I have no clue. But it’s always on Main Street. It’s disgusting, but it’s a vehicle. But this is what you want to do.

Mountain biking, especially at night in Moab, is phenomenal. But the minute you go off the pavement, you’re going to discover goat heads. And that’s just what I discovered. And the next day I had 73 punctures in my tires and I had to go to a mountain bike shop. And Poison Spider was pretty much the only choice. If you want a mountain bike, if you need to fix your mountain bike, if you, if you need somebody to fix your mountain bike or you want to rent a mountain bike or an E bike, Poison Spider basically has you covered.

The shop is pretty badass. The mechanics were badass. And the people that work there are riders, so that makes them by proxy badass. They carry all the sick bikes. They’ve got yeti, they’ve got Trek, they’ve got E bikes, they’ve got full suspension and they’ve got crazy amounts of gear, gear stuffed into that building. Somehow. I walked out of there with a brand new Fox helmet because my helmet sucked. Either that my head got really big, one of the two, but I needed a new helmet and I gave my old helmet to somebody else because that’s what you’re supposed to do.

But it was amazing how much gear they had in one particular building. They’ve got Schwa Blade tires, they’ve got Trek bikes, Yetis. They had pretty much a little bit of everything and tons of really tight fitting, colorful clothes. If that’s your idea of looking clever, not mine. But I digress. At any rate, that covers that particular aspect of Moab. There’s several bike shops in town, but this was the one that I checked out. I checked them all out. This is the one that worked best for me. So hopefully it’ll work best for you. Or it won’t.

I don’t know. Moving on, let’s talk astrophotography. I have just got into astrophotography recently and one of the best places I found it at night in Moab is up on Sand Hill Flats, where Hell’s Revenge is. You can pay 10 bucks to camp up there, and the night skies are awesome. And you can also do other things like this. That lit right up. Nice. Stoked. Okay, now what I’m cooking is some really fresh corn on the cob I hope that I got from the organic hippie store. And I gotta cook it because I don’t want it to go bad.

Plus, it hogs all the space in my, in my, my fridge. So not only can you get awesome astrophotography, Milky Way, full moon, new moon shots, etc, but you can camp up there. But bear in mind, when you’re camping up high, it can get windy in the middle of the night. Big time. You see what I’m saying? But it’s a good place to cook, it’s a good place to unwind, and the night skies are just absolutely epic. But here’s the deal. This is where I go. There’s a million places to find epic night skies in Moab because light pollution is at a bare minimum in most places, for the most part.

Moving on, let’s talk hotels, motels. Now, I’ve stayed at pretty much every place in Moab over the years, and I’ll tell you what, this last time around, I spent several days at the Archway Inn. This place is right across from the Lion’s Hub. It’s right next to the Colorado River. It’s off roader friendly and regular people friendly. And they have the best breakfast in the world. And their air conditioning was freezing, which was a pleasant surprise because usually when you’re out in the desert, they’re using swamp coolers and they don’t work all that well. This place had a massive courtyard.

It had wooded area out back, tons of parking. If you’re pulling a trailer, they got an entirely separate parking lot just for that. And here’s the secret sauce. If they quote you a price of like 349, just tell them you can’t do it and they’ll drop it to like 199. Don’t tell them I said so or you’ll ruin it for everybody. But that happened. That is a fact. It was a great, great place. Great staff, great grounds, great price, great wi fi and great ac. And the pool was also great. No affiliation. They even have a special place for your pets to stop and play.

Literally. Complete with lights, AstroTurf. And I’m surprised there isn’t a fight. There is a fire hydrant in here. So that pretty much covers the gamut. And like this little lizard, I gotta run. But here’s the deal. Here’s one more pro tip I’ll give you before I sign off. If you’re one of these guys that really needs people to know that he actually went off roading, and they leave the dirt all over the side of the truck so you can see that they’ve been off roading, you might want to rethink it. And I say that because you don’t want to be a donkey, do you? The dirt that you will get all over, under, and around your vehicle will never come off if you do not wash your truck.

I must have. I must have washed my truck seven times, and I still have red dirt under it. I have red dirt back home in Boston that I brought home from Moab. Not only does it weigh your truck down, it also eats bushings and bearings. It just sits in there and grinds them. So don’t be a donkey and wash your truck. You’ll be glad that you did. Trust me. At any rate, I may do a part two on this if I’ve got enough material material left. If not, if you enjoyed this video, make sure you hit that, like, share and subscribe and hit that little bell next to the subscribe button because YouTube hates us.

I am out.
[tr:tra].

See more of JailBreak Overlander on their Public Channel and the MPN JailBreak Overlander channel.