Sovereign - Salt Wash Combo

North of Moab, UT near Dalton Wells Road sits the Sovereign Trail Network, featuring more than 16 miles of desert singletrack.

The heart of the Sovereign system offers multiple loops and experiences from sandy jeep roads to technical slickrock.

The Sovereign trail itself links Willow Springs Road with Cedar Mountain and links to many other connector trails. There are a myriad of rides to be done in the area including the Sovereign - Cedar Mountain Loop and this Sovereign - Salt Wash Combo.

The Sovereign Trail system is open to hikers, horses, mountain bikes and motorcycles. Be prepared to yield the right away and dont be surprised to see some motorcyles riding some impossible looking rock ledges.

The Sovereign - Slickrock Combo is a challenging introduction to the slickrock and singletrack that includes an easy-ish warm up.

Starting from the inner Sovereign trailhead, ride east on a Jeep road. At the first intersection, turn right onto Copper Ridge Jeep Road. The route is often sandy and your legs will certainly be loosened up by the time you hit Willow Springs Road. Copper Ridge has a few short punchy climbs and some ledgy rocks slabs, but for the most part is just a series of gentle up and downs.

At Willow Springs Rd take a left. Ride the well traveled packed road towards the Sovereign Trailhead and then bear left onto Pipeline, a two-track that leads you to the Sovereign trail itself. As Pipeline bends right, you'll stay left and pass through a low wooden gate.

Here's where the slickrock and singletrack fun begins. You'll pedal your way over numerous fields of slickrock and coast through several sections of flowy singletrack. There's climbing, descending and flat riding along the way.

At the fourth link to the Salt Wash trail, turn left to avoid the huge climb in front of you. The L4 Sovereign Connect will skirt along the cliff edge and then interesect with Salt Wash before dropping you down and across a large wash. Unfortunately, you'll still have a big climb to tackle, but you get to ride more singletrack before the start of the grind.

After pedaling (and probably pushing) your bike up the hill, you'll top out on another slickrock shelf and continue to the north. Salt Wash has a tighter feel to it with more obstacles to navigate from side to side rather than just up and down.

After passing L5 Sovereign Connect, Salt Wash winds around the edge of the mesa to reconnect with Sovereign. Stay left here and then left again to descend down to Dalton Wells Road.

At the bottom bear left to return to the start of the route along the doubletrack road. To continue on Sovereign, ride straight down into the wash. The trail will head towards Cedar Mountain.