Steel Bender Trail

by Flatlander

Please visit our Sponsor, CLICK on the Banner above

Summary: The 3.5 rated Steel Bender trail follows a historic wagon road that works its way up from a beautiful canyon to elevations above 6,000 feet. It features 2 creek crossings, numerous steep ledges, and two challenging rocky climbs that have bypasses.

Location: Steel Bender starts on private land immediately northeast of the Moab Golf Course. It lies between Highway 191 and the La Sal mountains.

Scenery: Panoramic vistas of rock canyons and mesas mixed with serene creek canyons and up-close views of the snow covered La Sal mountains.

4X4NOW Same Day
Jeep Safari Trail Report
Friday, April 10, 1998

I've done all the Moab 4+ trails several times.   But I've never know real fear until I took Sharon's ZJ out on Steel Bender.   She loves her new stock Orvis and always parks it away from other cars in parking lots to avoid door dings.  I had to be careful.

There were over 80 vehicles signed up for Steel bender so we knew it was going to be a long day.  Jeramey McElhaney led the long line out of the Spanish Arena parking lot.   The trail starts out in the bottom of Mill Creek Canyon crossing Mill Creek a few times with easy wheeling and lovely vistas.  But Once you climb out it is rough difficult rock for much of the rest of the trail.

  Irregular rock steps are generously mixed in along the way.  Every rock reaching for the ZJs rocker panels.  I was very glad the Gene Ferris AKA Lizard was in front of me to spot and Dave Pool AKA Cracker was behind to try to help keep me out of trouble and insure my continued loving relationship with my wife.  Both are excellent 4-wheelers that know what they are doing.

The ledges got bigger and meaner until we approached one that looked like a 10 foot wall.  We watched as one 4-wheeler failed to climb it after repeated attempts and even stopping to air down his tires some more.  Lizard is seen toping the obstacle in the photo to the right with the Orvis in the background.   Could the bone stock Orvis surmount this obstacle?  I was worried.

But I had the opportunity to watch several 4Xs attempt the wall before me.  I noticed that the ones that choose the left side of the obstacle seemed to have little trouble.  So I eased the Orvis' gas peddle down and headed up.  I was pleasantly surprised as it easily walked up and over the obstacle.

We continued on the rough rocky trail to more challenges.  The scenery is quite nice throughout the trail.

I very much appreciated Lizard's ground guiding when the Orvis came to this drop off.  Everything was still going smoothly.   Occasionally I would spin a tire and have to back up a few feet to utilize momentum, but not very often.

Then we came to the main obstacle, the Dragon's Tail.   There was a bypass I should have used.  But I hate bypasses and the part of the obstacle I could see from the bottom looked doable for the Orvis.  But at the top there is a hard right.  You can't see how bad it is until you get there.  With ledges and holes it wasn't something to be tackled with a stock ZJ.  Many driver's with open axles were using a lot of momentum to get through the obstacle.  The driver in the photo to the right had all 4 tires off the ground just after this photo was taken.   I wasn't about to do that in Sharon's Orvis so out came the tow strap.

Cracker walks the obstacle with little difficulty.

We completed the trail and I headed for the car wash.  It looked like the ZJ had made it through without any noticeable scratches.  But Sharon noticed a pair of scratches in the right rear panel behind the tires just where it rolls under.  It will not be difficult to fix but, at least until it is, I'm definitely on probation with the Orvis.

1997 Steel Bender Trail Report

34th Annual Easter Jeep Safari (2000)
33rd Annual Easter Jeep Safari (1999)
32nd Annual Easter Jeep Safari (1998)
31st Annual Easter Jeep Safari (1997)
30th Annual Easter Jeep Safari (1996)
Moab, Utah, 4WD Trails Map with Links to all 30 Trails
Trail Difficulty Ratings

Utah Trail Guidebooks, Trail Maps, and Trail Videos

4X4NOW Feature Page
4X4NOW Trail Reports | Moab 4WD Trails
4X4NOW "How-To"  | 4X4NOW Buildups
4X4BOOKS | MAPNOW

get Garmin at GPSNOW - Order by 5pm and have it Tomorrow!
Choosing | for Laptop/Pocket PC | Basic | Handheld Mapping | 2-way Radio | Automotive | Motorcycle | RV/Truck/Bus | Land & Water
Accessories
eTrex H | Legend | Vista | Venture HC | Summit HC | Legend HCx | Vista HCx
GPS 18 DLX | 60
Mobile 10 | Mobile 10 for smartphones
GPSMAP 60 | 60Cx | 60CSx | 76S | 76Cx | 76CSx | 276C | 376C | 378 | 478
MapSource City Navigator North America | US Topo | BlueChart
nüvi 200 | 270 | 350 | 360 | 370 | 650 | 660 | 670 | 680
Quest | Quest 2
Rino 110 | 120 | 130 | 520 | 530 | 520HCx | 530HCx
StreetPilot 2820 | 7200/7500 | c330 | c340 | c530 | c550 | c580
Astro GPS dog tracking system
zūmo 450 / 550
© 4X4NOW