99Discovery
Adventurer
So we just completed a mini-traverse of the San Rafael Swell in Utah, starting at Huntington State Park and finished at I70 after crossing the Devil's Racetrack. Since we have young kids, we camped with the trailers at Huntington State Park and did this route in a single long day (10am to 10:45pm). It would be a lot of fun to take this route again and camp at the San Rafael river crossing and spent some more time hiking/exploring.Our route connected 5 major "day trip" trails: Hadden Flat, The Wedge, Fuller Bottom, Coal Wash, and Devil's Racetrack. I'm recording each trail as a separate short video review and I'll post the links as I process them.
The first trail was Hadden Flat. The best description of this trail I read from a comment on TrailDamage: "Sometimes routes exist just to connect Point A to Point B. "
Hadden flat is pretty bland as far as scenery is concerned, and quite boring from a technical perspective. It'd be rated a 1/10 if it weren't for a few washes that could be in various states of erosion/decay. When we crossed this path, I wouldn't hesitate to take a non-trail rated Jeep Renegade on it. Not difficult at all. Although it could be quite formidable if caught in a torrential storm (flash flood issues, sticky mud, etc).
The primary draw of this route for the potential explorer is an "off-the path" connection between the county road Buffalo just south of Huntington to the county road Green River Cutoff out of Castle Dale. The only alternate to get to The Wedge and other trails from the north is to take pavement from Huntington south to Castle Dale and then east across the Cutoff Road. Having Hadden Flat allows the traveler to get off the pavement significantly quicker; which is why it is reviewed below.
Enjoy!