Behind the Reef 4WD trail San Rafael Swell, Utah - includes the difficult 858 loop trail

Behind the Reef Loop trail: This 30+mile long trail, ranges from easy to moderate to difficult, it has everything the offroad adventurer wants; narrow shelf roads, rough and rocky technical stretches, and massive amounts of beautiful scenery. The trail travels the rim of spectacular canyons with views that go on forever and for the overlander there are a number of nice campsites along the route. The trail also offers a bailout option. If you don’t want to take the more difficult ‘858’ loop trail back to Behind the Reef Road, you can exit on well-maintained Emory County 6761 and make your way back to Temple Mountain Road, where you can either return to Temple Mountain or head north to I-70. Along with the scenery, this challenging trail is replete with mining history, and artifacts left behind from the uranium exploration boom of the nineteen forties and 50’s. And, Behind the Reef trail has made a major jump up, in my trail rankings, to one of the top three or four best trails that I have explored in the San Rafael Swell.