Lockhart Basin Trail — Moab to Needles Overlook via Bears Ears Country

Lockhart Basin is what Moab used to be before the Instagram crowds — remote, unforgiving, and absolutely stunning. The route drops south from Moab off Kane Creek Road, following the Colorado River canyon wall before plunging into the basin proper. The notorious Hatch Point section involves a long shelf road cut into the canyon rim where one tire is uncomfortably close to several hundred feet of nothing. Midway through, the trail crosses Lockhart Canyon’s wash bottom repeatedly, and after any rain that clay turns to axle-sucking slick. The payoff is complete solitude in red canyon country that few people ever see from ground level.

Difficulty sits at Difficult to Expert depending on conditions — in dry weather a stock high-clearance 4WD with a locker can manage most of it, but wet conditions elevate every obstacle significantly. Plan for two to three days and bring everything you need because there is zero infrastructure out here. The nearest fuel and services are in Moab, roughly 30 miles from the northern trailhead. No permit is currently required for the trail itself, though you’re skirting Bears Ears National Monument boundaries so carry your Leave No Trace ethic hard. Cell service drops to nothing within the first five miles and doesn’t come back.