Top Of The World Trail
The Top of the World viewpoint is worth the trip even without the other good stuff. This trail will go down Rose Garden Hill, but that is an interesting ride either way.
"Top of the World" is a viewpoint on Waring Mesa. It has a spectacular view of Fisher Valley, Onion Creek, and the La Sal Mountains, but this view is only part of a variety of landscapes seen from this trail. Waring Mesa is east of Moab and south of the Dewey Bridge crossing of the Colorado River. In addition to the 7,000-foot viewpoint at Top of the World, the route sometimes includes Sevenmile Mesa, the canyon of Fisher Creek, Fisher Valley, and Onion Creek with its unusual, narrow canyon. Above Fisher Creek is possibly the longest of the steep and rocky hills (called "Rose Garden Hill"). There are 32 miles of pavement at one end of the off-road trail and 22 miles at the other with about 40 miles off-highway in between.
Scenery
The Entrada Sandstone is beautiful wherever it is exposed, and you will travel the base of a long stretch of its cliffs near the rivers. The Top of the World viewpoint is a cliff edge above Fisher Valley and Onion Creek with the La Sal Mountains in the southern background, but there are vistas of distant plains and the Book Cliffs to the north. Narrow Onion Creek canyon is different from anything else in the area.
Road Surface
There is some graded road, but most is broken layered rock.
Obstacles
The Top of the World viewpoint is worth the trip even without the other good stuff. This trail will go down Rose Garden Hill, but that is an interesting ride either way. Onion Creek has spectacular narrows either from the county-road route or the older creek-bottom option.
Rose Garden Hill Trail, rated 4, is a shorter and more difficult version of the Top of the World route. It travels Rose Garden Hill both up and down. Remaining are the marvelous experience of squeezing into the Onion Creek narrows and the thrill of a short cliff-hanging section above the deep Cottonwood Canyon that drains from Fisher Valley. The trail climbs onto the southern part of Waring Mesa and views the Dolores River canyon in the near distance, and it includes all of the challenging sections of the parent route. It will go out and return the same way with a scenic loop at the top. Total travel distance is 81 miles with 37 miles off highway.
Trailhead
(38.68887, -109.22037)