Easter Jeep Safari

The 60th Easter Jeep Safari runs March 28 through April 5, 2026, in Moab, Utah, marking six decades of the event that began in 1967 when the Moab Chamber of Commerce organised a one-day trail ride on the Behind the Rocks trail, with ice cream packages dropped by airplane to participants at lunch. That founding edition has evolved into a nine-day event drawing over 20,000 participants and spectators annually, hosted and managed by the Red Rock 4-Wheelers Inc., the local four-wheel-drive club that took over event management from the Chamber in the early 1980s when Bureau of Land Management permit requirements exceeded what a civic organisation could administer. Registration and check-in operate at the Spanish Trail Arena, seven miles south of Moab on the east side of US-191, from 7 AM to 10 AM Saturday through Wednesday and 7 AM to 6 PM Thursday and Friday. The event does not register participants on Big Saturday (the Saturday of Easter weekend) or Easter Sunday.

Sixty Years of Trail History and the 2026 Field

The Easter Jeep Safari uses trails that predate the event by decades, originally blazed by livestock herders and mining operations whose exploration of the canyon country terrain established the route network that recreational four-wheeling subsequently adopted. Trail difficulty across the nine-day schedule spans from gentle scenic routes accessible to nearly stock four-wheel-drive vehicles to technically demanding crawls requiring significant suspension modification, skid plate protection, and recovery gear. Each trail day costs $75 per vehicle, with fees funding BLM and National Park Service land access permits that in recent years have reached tens of thousands of dollars in aggregate. Jeep Brand presents concept vehicles each year as part of the official EJS programme, providing a glimpse at the manufacturer’s design and engineering direction that draws automotive press coverage alongside the community participation that defines the event’s character.

Good to Know: Moab’s accommodation fills months in advance for Easter Jeep Safari; plan lodging before any other logistical detail. Associate membership in the Red Rock 4-Wheelers provides early access to trail registration, which matters in a year when trails fill quickly against a 60th-anniversary attendance surge. Participants must provide their own four-wheel-drive vehicle with a metal top or roll bar and current street-legal registration from their home state. Food and non-alcoholic beverages are the participant’s responsibility for each trail day. Drones require separate BLM permits and are not permitted on trails during the event without them.

The Vendor Expo and the Community Beyond the Trails

The Vendor Expo at the Spanish Trail Arena on Thursday and Friday of the second week draws major off-road industry brands with new product launches, prototype gear, and trade-only deals unavailable at retail. The official event raffle on Friday evening distributes prizes worth hundreds to thousands of dollars, and the raffle ticket is included in each participant’s registration packet. The Friday raffle is one of the better-attended evening events of the full nine-day programme for participants who are not on trail that day. For visitors and families staying in Moab through the Safari window, Lake.com lists the Utah County Lake View Retreat as a vacation rental base in the greater Utah canyon country corridor.