The famous Kokopelli’s Trail connects Fruita to Moab - two of the world’s best, and best known, mountain bike destinations. The guidebook for this extremely varied and scenic trail is in its second, improved printing as of July 2015.
This guide includes camping information, water sources, lots of history and trivia, and information about the towns at each end. Although the book is mountain-bike centric, information is included for motorcycle and 4x4 trips on the trail and what changes they need to make to run the trail safely and legally. You’ll also find alternate routes, side trails, and even hiking trails in the area.
The entire trail, and many side trails and options, are shown in great detail across nine full-color pages with integrated elevation and mileage. Hiking trails for non-riding members of your group are included as well as legal alternate routes for those doing the trail on motorcycles or 4x4s. Additionally you’ll find beautiful color maps of Fruita and Moab showing restaurants, hotels, gas, camping, and more.
You’ll find a list of private tour companies that offer supported trail trips as well as a map for your support driver to help find all of the points where you can meet your support vehicle - a great section to pore over in the planning stages if you’ve new to the trail. Keeping a happy support driver is key to having more awesome trips in the future!
The needs of a large group of inexperienced riders is completely different from strong riders on solo efforts. Whether you’re pushing yourself on an unsupported time trial or meeting your support vehicle for the keg each afternoon, this guide has all the info you’ll need to plan a fun & safe trip and even learn a little history of the area. It also includes detailed maps and elevation chart as well as details on all the camping areas and how to deal with the lack of water.
If you write for a mountain bike blog, manage a bike shop, are a BLM employee, or for any other reason think that I should send you a free copy, please ask me.
Neil BeltchenkoBeing a huge fan of this trail, it was an easy decision to use this book for my trips on the KOKO. You can tell Rad has done his homework in the detail of the route description. He added recommend camp locations based on the amount of time you want to be on the trail. If you want to do it self supported - no problem, the guide shares when and where you can expect to see the goodness of water. Not only is this book perfect for cyclist. Its great for folks planning on traveling in motor vehicles. The books shares where the technical sections are, and where you will need to detour for singletrack.
I highly recommend this guide for your next adventure on the Koko.
IYANKASAVery impressed with the time and end-product effort that was put into this guide. It is up -to-date (2013-2014), and has great graphics with narrative that is easy to follow. I have been on segments of the trail, and look forward to running the full route (thanks to this guide). Nice job, authors!
TKRad has done a great job here. I have ridden the trail numerous times, and I would say this is the most comprehensive and most accurate view of the trail. Definitely recommended for the new riders!
Bill HarrisAs an author of a mountain bike trail guide and "Outdoors" columnist I tend to read other guides with a critical eye in mind. When Rad contacted me while writing his guide for Kokopelli's Trail I was impressed with his quest for the history of the trail and any and all insider information. The real test was to see if he followed through with including a true view of what it's like to ride the trail, let alone providing useful organizational hints for those wanting to do a multi-day trip. He accomplished those goals nicely. Descriptors include well-organized, comprehensive and useful. Lacks some map detail, but that information is included in the guide.
MSI was one of the many Kickstarter supporters for this trail book and I have to say it completely exceeded my expectations!
First of all, Kokopelli (Fruita to Moab) is obviously a long trail 142 miles, so breaking it down is critical. To that end, the detailed descriptions of the various approaches in the Trip Planning chapter help those who want to do it on their own or those who will have support. And it's not a bike only book....it is helpful to motorcycle or 4x4 drivers too.
The trail is broken down into 9 sections, each with detail descriptions of the section, a color map with great detail (some of the unique icons include water, steep climb, ghost town), elevation, mileage, I70 exits and 128 (really useful for the support team).
I'll try to list all the things that make this trail book unique and/or useful to me:
- spiral bound (more practical on the trail compared to bound books or big maps)
- water considerations (eg. Onion Creek is polluted with arsenic)
- the planning guide and various models (mapping your experience level to how many days riding the whole trail will take; supported/unsupported; commercial trip).
- sample itineraries
- nice descriptions of the campgrounds in the area along with the towns of Moab and Fruita
- finally, the history and trivia are great
While there aren't many trails like Kokopelli, I hope Rad authors more trail books...I'm in!
| Page | Description | Error | Correction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | middle of page | Kokepelli | Kokopelli |
| 5 | Very first line | The Kokopelli Trail | Kokopelli's Trail |
| 13-29 | All Section maps | No scale bars | |
| 14 | Mary’s Loop description | "onto to” | “onto" |
| 14 | Troy Built Loop description | “the Kokopelli” | “Kokopelli’s Trail" |
| 14 | Troy Built Loop description | “up and down and down” | “up and down” |
| 35 | Moab Map | Chili Pepper | Chile Pepper |
| 55 | 3rd paragraph | full-suspenions bikes | full-suspenion bikes. |
| 57 | Sidewinder Road | Not typically usefed | Not typically used |
If you find any other errors, please email me at the email printed inside the book. Thanks!
I helped fund the first edition using Kickstarter. It was a great success, and connecting me with several great people.
On the table in the bus, you'll see the other Kokopelli's Trail guides, all of which are out of print and, if you find a copy, have a lot less information and are mostly out of date. The trail has changed significantly since its inception due to land use issues.
I would love to help you create a successful and fun trip on Kokopelli's Trail! Contact me if you're interested in hiring me to provide support for your trip of any size. I can help plan, haul your gear, provide transportation, cook hot meals at the campsite, and much more.
I don't anticipate updating the printed guide book until 2024-2025.
