21 Road & Billings Canyon over Thanksgiving holiday.

[Greg]

With Thanksgiving weekend being the last big hurrah of the year for a Moab trip, and being long weekend, I'd like to throw out this idea for those who are going to be in the area.

Is anyone in here intrested in making a day trip over to Fruita & Grand Junction, for a little 21 Road or Billings Canyon action? We're 90 minutes from Moab, it's very possible to make the drive up in the morning, run one of the trails & be back to Moab in the evening. Or spend the night here & run both.

I'm mentioning this because we might take a day & come down to Moab, but I don't think we'll be there the whole weekend. We'll spend some time here & I'd like to hit the local trails. Anyone want to join us? No specific day yet, it's up to anyone coming up here. I'm off Thursday-Sunday FYI.


Trail plans-

Friday- 21 Road

Saturday- Billings Canyon

 

[Seth]

Ben and I are planning on being in Moab that weekend (fri,sat,sun). Keep me posted on what you are planning and lets do it.

Seth

 

[Shawn]

hummm... I was going to do Moab, but changed my mind. I have always wanted to do 21 road etc. I do the family T day thing, maybe fri-sun....? I will talk to the wife...:freak:

 

[Greg]

Ben and I are planning on being in Moab that weekend (fri,sat,sun). Keep me posted on what you are planning and lets do it.

Seth

Guess I'd better come up with some specific trails & days, huh?

hummm... I was going to do Moab, but changed my mind. I have always wanted to do 21 road etc. I do the family T day thing, maybe fri-sun....? I will talk to the wife...:freak:

You'll love the area Shawn, it's perfect wheelin for the Cruiser.


How about this guys?

Friday- 21 Road

Saturday- Billings Canyon

 

[Shawn]

Hotel accommodations?

 

[Greg]

Hotel accommodations?

There are a few in Fruita, plenty in Grand Junction. I've stayed at the Super 8 here in Fruita a couple times.

 

[Greg]

For those wondering, I'm going to set some limitations to ensure anyone that want's to come is prepared for the trails. I have no problem helping someone out with trouble, but I won't drag unprepared vehicles thru trails like these.

21 Road- You need at least 35's, 2 lockers, body protection & perhaps a winch.

Billings Canyon- Same as above, but bring spare parts. Tires in the 37-38" range are helpful. Be prepared for body damage.

 

[Seth]

For those wondering, I'm going to set some limitations to ensure anyone that want's to come is prepared for the trails. I have no problem helping someone out with trouble, but I won't drag unprepared vehicles thru trails like these.

21 Road- You need at least 35's, 2 lockers, body protection & perhaps a winch.

Billings Canyon- Same as above, but bring spare parts. Tires in the 37-38" range are helpful. Be prepared for body damage.

Easy fur shezy. I have extra shafts and drive lines. 40's and locked.

 

[BroncoMama]

And to add to the excitement...how about making one of the trails a poker run? We all meet and put in our "ante" of $5 which will then be donated to either RME or maybe U4WDA and everyone is dealt a card. Through out the day at the major obstacles another card will be dealt and then at the end of the trail whoever has the winning hand will get a snazzy prize. Discuss....

 

[Greg]

And to add to the excitement...how about making one of the trails a poker run? We all meet and put in our "ante" of $5 which will then be donated to either RME or maybe U4WDA and everyone is dealt a card. Through out the day at the major obstacles another card will be dealt and then at the end of the trail whoever has the winning hand will get a snazzy prize. Discuss....

I'm game, we need a prize though. How about we donate the pot to the U4WDA in the name of RME?

 

[Shawn]

I'm game, we need a prize though. How about we donate the pot to the U4WDA in the name of RME?

Cool,

See if a local vendor wants to donate a prize or two. I'm about 90% sure I will be there.

 

[BroncoMama]

I'm game, we need a prize though. How about we donate the pot to the U4WDA in the name of RME?

Excellent plan! Chris and I had talked about getting an RME t-shirt made and we would donate that for a prize.

 

[Badbuggy]

A definite Maybe! You know how I am about these trips. I'll know for sure the night before.... or the morning of.
It sounds like a lot of fun. Hoping I have enough rig.

 

[Craig S]

A few questions:
How difficult is Billings and how long to run (Moab scale)? Are both trails going to be done on one day?

For those wondering, I'm going to set some limitations to ensure anyone that want's to come is prepared for the trails. I have no problem helping someone out with trouble, but I won't drag unprepared vehicles thru trails like these.

21 Road- You need at least 35's, 2 lockers, body protection & perhaps a winch.

Billings Canyon- Same as above, but bring spare parts. Tires in the 37-38" range are helpful. Be prepared for body damage.

 

[Badbuggy]

The Moab ratings are as follows:

1 All weather dirt or gravel road. Can be passed in a 2WD car.

1.5 Graded road. Usually passable in a 2WD vehicle but 4WD may be required in poor weather.

2 Unimproved or rarely graded road. 4WD or extra clearance needed at times, with no special driving skills required.

2.5 Road rarely maintained. 4WD, extra clearance, and low gear often needed. A bit of driving experience useful.

3 Road in difficult terrain, rarely maintained or repaired. 4WD, good clearance, and low transfer case gears essential. Some driving skill required.

3.5 Road in difficult terrain, probably maintained only by occasional users. Excellent stock truck or utility vehicle required, with considerable driving skill needed.

3.5+ Not quite a 4 but usually too much for many stock vehicles.

4 Trail in difficult terrain or badly eroded, only repaired enough to get well equipped vehicles through. Modifications for improved off-road performance and top driving skills needed.

4+ Like a 4 but worse. Low gears, large tires and limber suspensions required. Limited-slip or Locking differentials strongly recommended. It's common to have as many as 10 percent of the vehicles to experience catastrophic damage (gears, axles, driveshafts) on these trails.

5 Locking differentials necessary. Winch urgently recommended. If only 10 of the vehicles suffer catastrophic damage you're lucky. Rolling your vehicle on these trails is a very real possibility.

Trail descriptions provided by Red Rock 4 Wheelers.(courtesy of some xtera site)
__________________
I'd put Billings at 4.5 I've seen one open diff (3 wheel drives) go through with winching, rock stacking an a long day. It's hard to roll on Billings but it has been done. I would agree with Greg's requirements. The last rescue I did on Billings was a Cherokee with 33's and lockers, he broke a slider off, a front axle and rear drive shaft, and took a tire off the rim,bent a tie rod,

he put dents in all four corners and sanded down the underside pretty well. on the other hand two good rigs can make it through in 2 hours or so.

 

[Badbuggy]

http://www.imagestation.com/8384255/3963374226
not sure why I can't get the picture to come up, but here is a link

 

[Craig S]

Billings and 21 Road are both 4+ trails?

 

[Badbuggy]

No, 21 road is full of bypasses. You can make it hard or easy.
Utill you get to the upper part. Then it has some hard spots for a few hundred yards, that you have to go through. If you want to make the 16 road loop. Then at the top there are some crazy lines next to what is practically a dirt road. The trail typically turns around and goes back any time. It is a dry (sometimes) creek bottom with a road above it going most of the way.
http://www.imagestation.com/8384255/3962990857
typical 21 road
http://www.imagestation.com/8384255/3962990738
this one is a difficult spot when it is wet, but you could go around it

 

[Greg]

A few questions:
How difficult is Billings and how long to run (Moab scale)? Are both trails going to be done on one day?

In addition to Jeffs info, here's a couple more answers. Billings has a handful of difficult spots, overall I'd say it's no more than 2 miles. I think you'd be challenged & have fun on the trail Craig.

I'm planning on running 21 Road on friday & Billings on saturday.

For a bunch of pics of Billings. look here-

Billings Canyon trip report by Wally

 

[yellowbronco]

Billings is callin' my name from the game room!!!