Kokopelli 4×4 Trail
The famous Kokopelli Trail was the first trail put together by the Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail Association in 1989 as a link between Loma, Colorado and Moab, Utah. I have set out with a number of guys at ExpeditionUtah to put together a comprehensive trail guide to the Kokopelli 4×4 Trail bypassing the few singletrack sections of the trail.
Who was Kokopelli? Here’s a short explanation provided by COPMBA:
The trail was named after Kokopelli, a magical being recognized by many Native American Groups of the Colorado Plateau. Kokopelli is the humped back flute player and is associate with the Flute Clan of the Hopi Indians. Legend holds he was able to drive back winter with his flute playing. He wandered from village to village with a bag of songs on his back, and, as a symbol of fertility, was welcome during spring planting.
The figure of Kokopelli appears in many forms across the Colorado Plateau. He also appears painted on Hohokam and Mimbres pottery and as the Hopi Kachina-Kokopelli.
The trail was named for Kokopelli out of respect for our native American heritage, and symbolizes the wandering of the Colorado Plateau mountain bike trail system.
This route can be traveled in either direction, but the most common way to drive it is by starting in Loma and ending in Moab. This way you are driving down Rose Garden Hill, which is a little easier than driving up it. I have also included the short spur trail to Top of the World. While this is not part of the official Kokopelli 4×4 Trail, it makes a great side trip and is a nice place to camp if you are driving this trail over two days. The bike trail is signed very well at the important intersections and was easy to follow, however, you will need to get off of the bike trail to bypass the singletrack sections, which are obviously not signed. I will shortly describe each section of the trail starting in Loma at the official Kokopelli trailhead. All sections with an * are optional and can be added to the main route to travel more of the official route and to extend the trip.
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