Upper Porcupine Rim

Scout Route
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The Upper Porcupine Rim trail is an extremely scenic forest road that is also part of the Kokopelli Trail. It connects Sand Flats Road and the La Sal Loop Road, following the upper portion of Porcupine Rim with spectacular views of the La Sal Mountains and Castle Valley. It is best driven east to west, so the views along the rim are on the driver's side. It is also heavily used by bikes to access the Upper Porcupine Singletrack (UPS) trail, which is part of the Whole Enchilada bike trail.

The hardest part of the road is near the beginning, where it climbs steeply up to the rim from the intersection with Sand Flats Road. This section is heavily rutted dirt interspersed with short sections of slickrock, which would likely be impassable in wet conditions as it looks like it can get extremely muddy. Once on top of the mesa, the trail levels out and becomes smoother, passing through a wide-open flat meadow, which would be great for camping. About halfway into the trail, it reaches the rim of the mesa at an overlook with amazing views of Castle Valley to the west and Green Mountain and Mount Waas to the east. From here, the road follows along the rim for about a mile and a half before turning inland and intersecting the La Sal Loop Road next to the Jimmy Keen trailhead.

Though there are no obvious established campsites along this road, dispersed camping is allowed per the MVUM, and the meadow just before reaching the rim would make for a gorgeous location for camping. There are also multiple established campsites along Sand Flats Road near the beginning of this trail.