The beginning of the Shafer Trail was a footpath to move cattle up and down the canyon. It name from the Shafer Brothers who ran cattle up and down it at the turn of the century. However, with the Uranium boom in the early 1950’s years, the trail was widened out to a “road”.

Bike out to it! It is a short 1/4 mile diversion.

The Colorado River and the surrounding canyons were home to many different indigenous peoples dating back to over 10,000 years ago, notably the Fremont culture which flourished from the 7th century to the 13th century. The Fremont were semi-nomadic people who lived in pithouses and are best known for the rock art on canyon walls and in sheltered overhangs. The recent indigenous cultures included the Utes, Paiutes, and Navajos. [National Park Service]

Walk out to it, but do not walk on it!

Ross Musselman and his brother ran a dude ranch in the Moab area in the 1940s in addition to a successful guiding operation. He was responsible for many people getting their first glimpses of this gorgeous, expansive territory. This arch is also known as the Walking Bridge. Did not discover the arch. Kind of strange that and innocuous that an arch is named for him. [Photo Credit: Greg Willis]

Views, Views, Views! (Picture from the summit of the Hogback.)

A hogback is a ridge with a sharp summit, and steep sloping sides. Murphy’s Hogback is named for the Murphy’s who were cattleman of the area in the late 1910s.

Turks Head Tower, across the river, marks the site of black crack. Black crack is a 1700 foot long fracture that is about a foot to two feet wide and very, very deep. It about a 5-minute walk out to the black crack, but it is an amazing sight to see!

The status of the Green River as a tributary of the Colorado River came about mainly for political reasons. In earlier nomenclature, the Colorado River began at its confluence with the Green River. Above the confluence, Colorado was called the Grand River. In 1921, the U.S. Representative of Colorado petitioned Congress to rename the Grand River as the Colorado River over the objections of representatives from Wyoming and Utah, which noted that the drainage basin of the Green River was more extensive than that of the Grand River, although the Grand carried a higher volume of water at its confluence with the Green. On July 25, 1921, the name change was made official in House Joint Resolution 460. [Wikipedia]

Under a rock overhang, you will see and old chest. It was supposedly used to keep supplies for cattleman who frequented the area. This site was the last good watering hole and along the Green River before heading up river.

Use these GPS coordinates to find the location: 38.41744, -110.00191

This section is sometimes called Walker Cut, for Mark Walker who widened this narrow cattle trail with dynamite in the 1890s. Scrabble is from Middle Dutch “encompassing the concepts of barrenness, effort at the edges of one’s ability, and a desperate groping around to find purchase.” Expect exactly that.

From Hardscrabble Hill you cut through the Chinle Formation of rock. This layer contains vast amounts of petrified wood and volcanic ash. We found several pieces of petrified wood in the area. One piece directly on the climb.

This section of trail highlights a horizontal green streaking layer with red and purplish hues of siltstones and sandstones. This is the Chinle Formation, dating back 208 to 245 million years. Uranium was found in the lowest part of this layer called the Moss Back Member. This is the layer that was mined during the uranium boom era of the 1950s.

This is an easy to miss highlight. Just up the wash and a short hike in (~ 1/4 mile) is an ancient granary (~ 1200 to 2000 years old) that was used by the native american people who inhabited the area to store corn, beans, and squash. Corn provides a tall stalk for the beans to climb, while the beans fix nitrogen in the soil, benefiting both themselves and the other plants. The squash plants, with their broad leaves, create a natural ground cover that helps suppress weed growth, conserves moisture, and shades the soil, reducing evaporation.

This is also a great spot to rest and catch a bit of shade!

Lat/Long: 38.462974, -110.004237

This can be one of the trickiest parts of the ride. The wash floods in from the Green River. In 2023, ~ May 9 the Green River flow was at 21,000 cubic feet per second (CFS). We crossed with the water just below waist level. Later, that month the flow was at 26,000+ CFS, making the crossing almost impossible. Note, the bottom of the wash can be slippery and develop soft quick-sand type depressions. You can check the flow here.

Here are the remnants of an old cowboy camp and corral. Another great spot to rest and get out of the sun! It is interesting to note that circular feature of the rock walls making up the camp that provide shade cover most of the day. Just beyond this camp, look up and to your right for the remnants of an old uranium mine.

(Note – if you know of more history regarding this camp, we would love to hear about it. Drop us an email, using the address at the bottom of this page.)

Just west of the route at mile X, lies Mineral Canyon, site of a small uranium mine opened by the Excalibur Mining Co. in the early 50s during the uranium “gold-rush” in the 4-corsners region of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona (ie. the Colorado Plateau). As promising sites were identified, the arduous task of cutting dirt roads and bringing in heavy excavating machinery to begin the mining process commenced. Thus, the creation of Mineral Bottom road. Excalibur mine like all others in area failed to remain profitable and ultimately closed.

The last miles have you riding on top of the plateau. Here you will see an array of pinyon pine and juniper trees – the most common trees in the park. The trees grow very, very slowly due to extremes of heat and cold, lack of water (less than 10″ per year) and an elevation of nearly 6000 feet. A pinyon pine will produce its first pine cone at about 100 years and live to 300 years. The junipers will live to 700 years old, maybe 1000 years old.

In the picture, there is a juniper to the left and a two-needle pinyon pine to the right.