Slickrock Trail Mountain Bike Survey:
Implications for Resource Managers and Area Communities
January 1999 No. NR/RF/005
Introduction
The Moab Slickrock Trail was the first trail designated pri-
marily for mountain bike use and is one of the most popular
mountain bike trails in the world. It was established as a
motorcycle trail in 1969, but by the mid 1980s, it was prima-
rily used by mountain bikers. The trail is located on a sand-
stone plateau overlooking the Colorado River, Moab Valley,
and Arches National Park. The trail, parking lot, and sur-
rounding campsites (Sand Flats area) is on land adminis-
tered by the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Land
Management (BLM). BLM figures indicate that the use of
the Slickrock Trail increased from 1,000 bikers in 1983 to
over 103,000 in 1994.
The Slickrock Trail consists of two primary loops: a short
two mile "practice" loop and a 10.3 mile main loop. Both
loops are physically and technically demanding. While most
of the trail is on "slickrock" (Navajo sandstone worn smooth
by erosion), there are many steep inclines and pockets of
sand and soil that make biking difficult. And while the trail is
recommended only for experienced bikers, many novice
mountain bikers can be seen struggling with the difficult ter-
rain. Other problems confronting Slickrock managers include:
crowding, vegetation trampling, soil compaction and erosion,
safety, litter, and vandalism. These problems are exacer-
bated because about 90 % of the trail's use is concentrated
in just two seasons, spring and fall.
A five-page intercept survey was developed by BLM,
Canyonlands Field Institute, and recreation researchers at
Utah State University. The survey sample consisted of 650
randomly selected mountain bikers who had just completed
riding the Slickrock Trail. Distribution of the surveys during
Douglas K. Reiter and Dale J. Blahna
Mountain bikers enjoy the Slickrock Trail at Moab, Utah.
the year was timed to be roughly proportional to total trail
use: 400 surveys were distributed in the spring, 50 during
the summer, and 200 in fall. Research assistants approached
riders as they left the trail and asked one rider from each
group to complete the survey on the spot. Of the 650 sur-
veys distributed, 579 were completed and returned for a
response rate of 89%. Reasons given for refusing to partici-
pate included lack of energy after the ride, minor injuries,
extreme thirst, lack of time, and inadequate English.
Background and Trip Characteristics
Mountain bikers on the Slickrock Trail tend to be males (79%)
between the ages of 21 and 35 (67%), although 29% were
over the age of 34. Mean household income for 1992 was
$42,000, and while the modal income category was $80,000
or more, about 26% had incomes of less than $20,000. Our
bikers are highly educated (86% had at least some college
education) and 41% have a professional occupation while
13% indicated they were students. These results suggest
April 2002 No. NR/RF/012
Figure 1. Current level of use.
Figure 2. Physical impacts from recreation in the Moab area.
that there are two prevalent mountain biker groups at the
Slickrock Trail: relatively affluent young to middle age pro-
fessional people and college students.
More bikers were from Colorado (37%) than from Utah
(20%), while 10% were from California and about 11%
came from states east of the Mississippi River. There were
53 respondents (10%) that were international visitors with
32 coming from Canada and the remaining 21 coming from
Europe (mostly Germany, Austria, and Switzerland). Only
12 (2%) indicated that they resided in Grand County, Utah
where the trail is located.
For most respondents, it was their first (50%) or second
(16%) trip to Moab, and 65% indicated that mountain biking
was their primary reason for visiting the Moab area. Nearly
90% said that they expected to spend more than one day
biking on this trip yet, despite this investment in time, re-
spondents bike relatively few other trails in the Moab area.
(Nearly one-third had ridden no other trails and another third
had ridden only one or two other trails.) The most common
source of information about Moab as a destination for moun-
tain biking was word of mouth; about three-quarters said
they heard about Moab from family and friends.
Management Problems and Preferences
While public land resource managers may feel that both
resource impacts and crowding are problems, attitudes of
the survey respondents were mixed. Over two-thirds felt
that the number of people they saw was acceptable, 15%
said they would not mind seeing more people, and only 17%
indicated they saw too many people.
When we asked about the physical impacts resulting from
outdoor recreation in the slickrock/sandflats area, 37% of
the respondents indicated that the impacts were moderately
or extremely high, 38% felt the impacts were acceptable,
and 25% indicated that they were low (Figure 2). Thus,
while most respondents are comfortable with the number of
other mountain bikers they see, the physical impacts cause
greater concern.
Respondent attitudes toward physical impacts may be a re-
action to other types of recreation uses in addition to moun-
tain biking. A list of general recreation problems in the Moab
area, however, resulted in only two items that were viewed
as problems: "vehicle travel off designated routes" and "hu-
man waste and garbage disposal." Thus, mountain bikers
view vehicles going off designated routes and human gar-
bage and waste as being bigger problems than biking; camp-
ing is felt to have about the same impact as biking; and
livestock use, hiking, and available automobile parking are
viewed as less problematic.
On a question regarding general management orientation,
respondents were asked if they would prefer to see more
focus on providing visitor services, more focus on land pro-
tection, or an even mix of protection and services. While an
even mix of protection and services was the preferred choice
for over half of the respondents, most of the rest opted for
resource protection (39%) over providing services (6%)
(Figure 3). This result is supported by the findings from a
separate question that asked how important the mountain
bikers thought it was that managers provide nine different
services at the Slickrock trailhead. Only two of the nine,
providing drinking water and toilets, had mean scores that
rated them as being important, while other concessions --
firewood sales, bike repairs, picnic tables, showers, more
auto parking, and shade structures -- were rated as not im-
portant.
Sources of Funding for Trail Management
Most mountain bikers (over 80%) support using fees to help
fund Slickrock Trail management, and a daily use fee is the
preferred collection method (Figure 4). The modal category
for a daily fee is $2.00 per person (37%), $10.00 for a weekly
fee (26%), and $20.00 for an annual fee (51%)( Figure 5).
Moderately
High, 28.9%
Extrem ely
High, 8.2%
Extremely
Low , 7.0%
Moderately
Low , 18.2%
Currently
Acceptable,
37.7%
Could
Increase a
Little, 10.1%
Could
Increase a
Lot, 4.8%
Now Far too
High, 2.5%
Now Slightly
High, 14.9%
Currently
Acceptable,
67.8%
Figure 3. Preferred focus of land managers.
Figure 4. Preferred funding method.
Figure 5. Reasonable daily use fee. Average fee amount: $1.96
Seventy-nine percent of the respondents were willing to pay
at least $4.00 for an annual fee.
Discussion and Conclusions
Information gathered from bikers on the Slickrock Trail can-
not be considered representative of mountain bikers in gen-
eral for several reasons. First, the trail is a highly publicized,
tourism destination trail. Second, the mountain bikers ap-
peared to be more experienced than the "average" biker.
And third, the surveys were completed by representatives
of the group, not a random sample of all bikers. While the
data are not generalizable beyond the Slickrock Trail, they
do provide some important insights into Slickrock Trail users
and management.
The Slickrock Trail is obviously a tourism destination trail;
almost 98% of the respondents live outside of Grand
County, Utah, and most were visiting Moab primarily to go
mountain biking and to use the Slickrock Trail. The trail ap-
pears to be a single focus attraction that rivals certain high
visibility areas like national parks and wilderness
areas. For some, this represents good economic news for
Moab which has floundered in the past due to the boom and
bust cycles of mining and oil and gas exploration. And most
of the money spent in the Moab area comes from other
regions, especially the Colorado Front Range, the Wasatch
Front, and California. For those who feel that the mountain
biking boom has gone too far in Moab, the news may not be
so good. Information about mountain biking opportunities
near Moab mostly travels by word of mouth; even if adver-
tising efforts are curtailed, bikers will most likely continue to
flock to the area.
These results, however, are encouraging for land manag-
ers. Over 82% of the respondents felt that the number of
other people they saw on the trail was acceptable or could
even increase without affecting their experience. Less than
3% felt the number of people they saw was "far too high,"
and this could be the result of the specific day they were on
the trail (e.g., the Memorial Day weekend). Anti-crowding
measures, such as use restrictions, are not necessary at this
time, but managers may want to post locations and charac-
teristics of alternative trails at the trailhead to accommo-
date the few users bothered by crowded conditions.
Respondents indicated that they were aware of impacts re-
sulting from mountain biking and support a management
emphasis on protecting resources rather than providing ad-
ditional services. This would indicate that visitors would sup-
port restrictions implemented to protect natural resources,
such as closing trail spurs or overlooks, but informational
signs and brochures are necessary to explain the reasons
for management actions while also emphasizing impacts
caused by inappropriate activities. Additional services re-
spondents would appreciate are water and toilet facilities at
trailheads.
Finally, respondents recognized that Slickrock Trail man-
agement requires funding; they do not expect a free ride for
use of the trail, and appear willing to support modest fees
for the opportunity to bike on the trail. Other land manage-
Weekly Use
Fee, 16.3%
Annual Use
Fee, 6.0%
Annual
Statew ide
Fee, 5.4%
Not Willing to
Pay, 14.5%
Other
Sources,
5.6%
Daily Use
Fee, 52.2%
14.3%
22.1%
36.9%
14.5%
3.8%
8.30%
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0%
No Fee
$1
$2
$3
$4
$5
More Focus on
Services, 5.1%
Mix Protection
and Services,
54.4%
Much More
Focus on
Services, 1.3%
More Focus on
Protection,
29.9%
Much More
Focus on
Protection,
9.3%
Utah State University Extension is an affirmative action/equal employment opportunity employer and educational organization. We offer our
programs to persons regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, or disability.
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Robert L. Gilliland, Vice-President and Director, Cooperative Extension Service, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. Published June 1998.
Acknowledgments:
The authors would like to thank Debbie Chavez and Pat Winter
of the USDA Forest Service Southwest Experiment Station,
Mike Price and Karla Vanderzanden of the Canyonlands Field
Institute, and Russ Von Koch of the BLM Moab Field Office
for their assistance and support for this project. They would
also like to thank the research assistants who gathered and
helped organize the data including Scott Dawson, Todd Thorn,
Susan Van Patten, and James Vilter.
Contributing Authors:
Douglas Reiter is a Graduate Research Assistant in the
Department of Forest Resources at Utah State University,
Logan, Utah 84322-5215.
Dale Blahna is an Associate Professor in the Department
of Forest Resources at Utah State University, Logan, Utah
84322-5215.
ment agencies should take note and investigate the possibil-
ity of charging fees for other popular trails and attractions to
supplement existing funding.
1999 Status
The Slickrock Trail continues to attract large numbers of
mountain bikers: there were nearly 120,000 bike trips in
1998. Results from this research and a companion study
that surveyed mountain bikers in the Moab area in general
influenced several management changes. A fee collection
system has been implemented that charges a modest daily
use fee of $5.00 per car for 3 days use of the Slickrock Trail
area. Fees collected go toward improvements and mainte-
nance on the trail itself, direct support facilities (such as the
parking lot and toilets), and indirect facilities (e.g., camp-
grounds). Partnerships with non-government organizations
have also been initiated. Local bikers (Moab Bike Patrol)
assist in patrolling the trail and collecting user fees while
service organizations have provided manpower in helping
the BLM build and improve camping facilities.