Before NAHBS coverage engulfed this site, our Moab crew was looking for another ride to undertake before uprooting and driving to Salt Lake City for the convention show. Porcupine was closed, due to snow and as a consequence, mud. Other trails like Portal might be too rowdy for our group and we’d already explored a lot of the other trails in the area. That’s when Josh, a local, and part owner of the Robber’s Roost condo we rented, recommended we do his favorite shuttle ride in the area: Navajo Nascar.

This trail boasts 21 miles of downhill and has it all, from sandy, swoopy singletrack to technical, old-school Moab doubletrack, filled with ledges and drops. Navajo Nascar gets its name from Navajo Rocks, the trail network area, and the fact that at every intersection, you go left, to link all the downhill segments together. All left turns = NASCAR racing.

Much like its automotive counterpart, Navajo Nascar is a fast track, filled with plenty of opportunities for spills and thrills. Yet, the terrain ultimately becomes the grounds for entertainment, whereas NASCAR is all about the wrecks. On Navajo Nascar, you’re constantly trying not to take a spill while your brain is trying to comprehend just how “those rocks look like that!” The geology is mind-numbing…

We finished the ride, after almost five hours, totaling around 21 miles and 1,200′ of climbing. You could technically climb the highway back to the starting point and your vehicle, but we opted to shuttle, with good reason, as we all were exhausted.

The next morning, the builders all packed up their show bikes, fresh with red dust and headed to Salt Lake City for NAHBS.