Onion Creek

4.8/5 (28 reviews)
Moab, Utah (Grand County)
Last Updated: 10/15/2022

Trail Information

Highlights

Desert
Iconic
Overland
Wash
Slightly stinky to the nose but super pleasant on the eyes, Onion Creek is a must-do trail in the Moab area. No matter what your wheeling style is, the drive is sensory overload as you meander through several different rock formations formed hundreds of millions of years ago. The contrasts from the start of the trail to its end are simply startling.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

The Onion Creek Road surface is mostly compacted dirt with multiple shallow creek crossings. It is narrow in spots with no passing, and it climbs in elevation roughly 1,500' to Fisher Valley where it connects to the more difficult Rose Garden Hill and Thompson Canyon. There can be hidden washouts along the ridge that require extra attention and eyes on the road. Avoid in rain or ice. Note: the creek crossings are frequent, but playing off the designated route and attempting to drive in the creek is strictly prohibited. This trail is suitable for any high clearance SUV when dry.
Impassable when wet or icy.

Trail Reviews

4.8/5 (29)
This trail guide's difficulty was changed on 10/14/2022
1700
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 10/08/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Easier

This was my second time running Onion Creek. It's always a great time, but this time the water was incredibly low. Rather than the fun creek crossings it was more like crossing trickles. Still very scenic, but lacked the power of my previous visit. Also, both times on this trail I'd say it's about a 1 in difficulty; I have no clue where the 3 comes from, it's quite easy. No significant shelves, no crawling, just winding canyon roads that can be steep at times.
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 09/18/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Easier

Definitely a very scenic trail. A great ride on sunny days with no flash flooding which would make it impassable. I think we counted over 30 stream crossings. A nice place to fly drones. Just down the road from Fisher Towers which is a must stop on your route. They are currently filming Kevin Costner's movie called Horizon here. Does not affect any driving.
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 06/12/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Easier

This trail is ridiculously beautiful, and the water crossings really added an extra layer (pun intended) to Onion Creek. The trail was very smooth when I went. By Trailsoffroad standards, I would say this would be rated a level 1 out of 10. I guess if water levels were really high, there would be much more of a challenge. We took our sweet time driving through this trail, I highly recommend it!
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 05/30/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Easier

This is a beautiful and easy trail so long as it's not raining and/or the creek is running higher than normal. Driving this trail puts you in some of the most beautiful scenery in Moab for very little effort. On a normal day any passenger sedan should be able to navigate this trail with no issue. I would rate this trail a 1 with maybe a couple of spots being a 2 but that's it. You'll cross Onion Creek 27 times with most spots only a few inches deep. Clearance was never an issue and I can't think of a single memorable obstacle at all. Portions of the drive are on a shelf road above the creek, but the height is nowhere near as high as many you'll encounter around Moab and the road is plenty wide so even those with a fear of heights shouldn't have a problem. There are numerous places to stop along the trail to get out and take some pictures, walk around and explore, or just sit back and take it all in. This truly is one of the most beautiful trails in Moab and is absolutely worth the time it takes to run it. As an aside, if you have a vehicle capable of level 3-4 terrain you can drive a very cool loop that will continue on from where this trail ends that takes you across Fischer Valley, up into the Manti-La Sal National Forest where you'll end up in cool air, pine trees and snow capped mountains, and then proceed back down through Castle Valley eventually linking back up with Highway 128. In total it was about 51 miles and took us about five - six hours with stops. It was one of the coolest "roll your own" off-road excursions my wife and I have ever been on.

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