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Arapeen Trail
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600 Miles. High Country. All Yours.
The Arapeen UTV Trail System — Manti-La Sal National Forest, Ephraim, Utah.
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Everything you need to
plan a great ride: -Trail Maps -Ride Suggestions -Riding Season -OHV Laws -Trail Widths -Stay & Eat -Difficulty Level -Rentals “We had a blast riding in a wonderful OHV riding area. The beauty and challenging trails blew us away. You have a gem there”. -G. Biggs, San Diego, CA
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Why the Arapeen TrailYou’ve put in the years. Now put in the miles.
The Arapeen Trail System sprawls across 350,000 acres of Manti-La Sal National Forest, with more than 600 miles of UTV-friendly routes threading through aspen groves, past mountain lakes, and along the high ridgeline called Skyline Drive. The trails are wide, well-marked, and built for riders who know what they’re doing and want room to actually use it.
Sanpete Valley sits two hours south of Salt Lake City — without the crowds. Ride up one canyon in the morning, cross the ridge, drop into a different canyon by afternoon, and be back in town for a real dinner. The trail system is free to explore. Lodging, fuel, and rentals are available right in town. There is nothing left to figure out. Decide when you’re going. Most trail systems send you out and bring you back the same way you came. The Arapeen doesn’t work like that. You ride up Ephraim Canyon in the morning, reach the Skyline by midday, and by afternoon you’re dropping into Manti Canyon — a different drainage, a different landscape, a different town for dinner. The next morning you do it again in a new direction. After three days you have crossed the mountain range three times and seen a version of this country that most people driving Highway 89 below don’t know exists above them. |
Outdoor TV shows
The Arapeen has been featured on AT YOUR LEISURE and HOOKED ON UTAH.
Watch the episodes and see the trails before you ride them.
Watch the episodes and see the trails before you ride them.
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AT YOUR LEISURE Show
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HOOKED ON UTAH Show (more shows)
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arapeen trail Maps
The Map That Comes Out at Dinner
Every evening on a good Arapeen trip, somebody spreads the map out on the table. The day gets talked through — where the trail opened up, where it got interesting, where the lake was that nobody planned on stopping at. Then tomorrow gets planned. Which canyon. Which side trails are worth the detour. Where to be at first light if the elk were moving this morning.
That is the Deluxe Arapeen Trail Map doing its job. At 24" x 36" it is large enough to anchor a dinner table conversation and detailed enough to settle most arguments about what is up the next ridge. Difficulty ratings, machine width designations, suggested rides, points of interest, fishing locations, campgrounds, and trailhead access — all on one sheet of paper that works whether you have cell service or not.
Three map formats are available below.
That is the Deluxe Arapeen Trail Map doing its job. At 24" x 36" it is large enough to anchor a dinner table conversation and detailed enough to settle most arguments about what is up the next ridge. Difficulty ratings, machine width designations, suggested rides, points of interest, fishing locations, campgrounds, and trailhead access — all on one sheet of paper that works whether you have cell service or not.
Three map formats are available below.
Standard Map
$9.00
Size: 11.75" x 16" Basic Paper Map |
Deluxe Trail Map Best Offer
$9.99- Order Now
Amazon.com w/ shipping $14.49
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Economy Map
$2.00
Size: 10" x 13" Discount Paper Map |
Watch video to learn about the Deluxe map
“The trail is fabulous. Our entire family loves it.” -Ed from Sandy, UT
Where is the Arapeen Trail?
Two hours south of Salt Lake City. A world away from the crowds.
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The Arapeen Trail is accessed from seven canyons along the Sanpete Valley, including the towns of Fairview, Ephraim, and Manti — all on U.S. Highway 89. The canyons connect at the top, so most days you can ride up one drainage and down another into a different town entirely.
Out-of-state machines require a non-resident OHV permit, available online at OHV.Utah.Gov before your ride. |
Trail season & elevation
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“I … have found this trail system to be one of the most beautiful rides I have been on. You can take short rides or go all day long. Connecting with towns that let you use city streets to access gas and goodies is very convenient.” -Linda, Riverton, UT
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The Arapeen climbs from the Sanpete Valley floor at 6,000 feet to nearly 11,000 feet along Skyline Drive. The season is real and worth respecting. Upper trails typically clear snow by July 1, though there are no guarantees. Early access routes are available Memorial Day through June 30 and are marked on the map.
Skyline Drive — Trail #1, the ridgeline route that reaches 10,897 feet — is the last trail to open and the first reason riders come back. |
There is a moment on every Arapeen ride when the aspen break and the ridge opens up. On one side, the Sanpete Valley stretches out below — the towns, the farms, the highway you drove in on that morning — looking small and quiet from 10,000 feet. On the other side, the next canyon falls away into timber and shadow, with a different town waiting at the bottom of it. You are standing on the spine of the mountain with the whole day ahead of you. That is Skyline Drive. That is why people come back.
Trail Scenery
Two seasons are worth planning around specifically.
The wildflowers don't wait. By July 1st the canyon routes are already lined with color — meadows and hillsides that unfold mile after mile as you ride. There is no single overlook to stop at. The whole trail is the view. The fall window runs September 20 through October 5, when those same canyons fill with orange and gold aspen. Riders who have been here before tend to book those two windows first and fill in the rest of the summer around them.
Wildlife is most active in the first and last two hours of daylight.
The middle of the day, you will see very little. Plan your longer high-country sections for midday and save the canyon routes for early morning and evening when elk, deer, and eagles are moving.
Bears and mountain lions move through the area. You are unlikely to see either. Knowing they are there is part of what makes this feel like a real mountain, not a park. Sheep and cattle graze the high meadows in summer — slow down and let them set the pace for a few minutes.
Bears and mountain lions move through the area. You are unlikely to see either. Knowing they are there is part of what makes this feel like a real mountain, not a park. Sheep and cattle graze the high meadows in summer — slow down and let them set the pace for a few minutes.
trail difficulty
There is a route for you right now.
(Simple, Rugged, Muddy)
(Simple, Rugged, Muddy)
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Not every trail on the Arapeen rides the same. Smooth forest roads are open to any machine and any experience level. Rugged routes add rocks, ruts, mud, and technical sections that reward riders who want more. Trail difficulty is marked on the map and on signage throughout the system: circles for easy, squares for moderate, diamonds for most difficult.
Trail conditions change after rain. What rode smooth on Friday may be a different trail on Saturday. The map tells you what to expect — ride with some margin. |
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“One of the things I appreciate about the Arapeen system is the diversity. You have everything from roads to trails with great technical sections. The black/expert trails are what keeps me coming back... The amount of riding out of a central area is great." -Stan, Idaho
Trail signage & Width
Finding your way across 600 miles.
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“We spent 5 days riding your trails, best time ever- great lodging, great food, coming back soon… two very happy couples.” -Larry, Victorville, CA
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Trail marker signs are placed throughout the system and correspond directly to trail numbers on the map. For a system this size and this remote, a GPS unit or a phone loaded with the Avenza mobile map is a smart backup. Carry both.
Most trails are open to machines of any width. Designated narrower routes accommodate 50” and 66” machines, totaling roughly 62 and 80 miles respectively. Size gates at trailheads on narrower routes manage this automatically. Limited singletrack is available for motorcycles. |
Most riders who come once come back. Not because they did not see enough the first time — but because they did, and they already know what they want to do differently next time. Three days gives you a real ride. It also gives you a list.
More Info - page 2 >
Ride Suggestions
Utah OHV Laws
Where to Stay, Eat
UTV Rentals
Trail Fun
Chief Arapeen...
Ride Suggestions
Utah OHV Laws
Where to Stay, Eat
UTV Rentals
Trail Fun
Chief Arapeen...
Sanpete County travel
