This trail is located west of Moab and, you guessed it, is very scenic. But besides that it is a challenging trip with plenty of obstacles. The terrain is rock, sand and some pretty nice dirt roads in between.

We leave Moab heading north and after about one mile we turn west, another 6 miles and we hit the trail which inclines with some rough switchbacks. There are rock ledges and boulders and, to make matters worse, there is sand in between. We miss the rocky chute because the bypass is obviously more traveled but we tackle it on the way back. The first major challenge is the so-called waterfall which is not as steep as it sounds but still tricky. It steps uphill in an angle and if you get too far to the left you might just drag yourself further into the ledge which increases in size towards the left. The rock is black from tire marks and therefore very slippery. Once this obstacle is tackled the trail becomes a walk in the park - at least for a while. On the top of the mesa there is a series of "whoop-ti-dos" (quote Charles A. Wells) which are - literally - a pain in the neck...
Then we get on the highspeed mesa, a dirt road in good condition and you can make pretty good time until you get to a rockier section again. At one point there is the trail head of the Golden Spike Trail but we go straight to make the Poison Spider Loop. We climb some slickrock and get to an extremely tippy section. Magdalena has to spot me because tire placement is crucial. I don't want to roll down the hill. Right after the tippy part we park the car and walk to the Little Arch which is somewhat hidden. We take the spur road to the lookout point from where we enjoy a gorgeous view onto Moab and the Colorado River. Over more sand and slickrock we finish the loop and return on the main trail.

The Poison Spider Trail is a challenging, fun road with some good obstacles. It is also the main connector to the Golden Spike Trail which cannot be accessed from any paved road.

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Directions: From Moab take Highway 191 north and turn left on Highway 279 (sign for Potash Road). Follow 279 for about 6 miles and turn right at the sign for Poison Spider Mesa.