This is page 2 of this article. To start at the beginning, click here.
THE SHAFER TRAIL
Your adventure begins on perhaps the most intimidating sections of the Shafer Trail. This road descends the canyon walls via a few steep switchbacks, with stunning views of the lower section of Island in the Sky.
Going down the switchbacks to the bottom of the Shafer Trail isn’t as scary as it looks! The road is kept in good condition, and it’s wide enough in many places to pass oncoming vehicles if needed.
Enjoy the views as you drive along the majestic canyon walls.
When you’ve completed the switchbacks, the road will straighten out and take you closer to the next layer of canyons.
Look for the pit toilet on this straight section of the road. At this point, you’ve got a decision to make. Going left at this intersection will take you to the Potash Road, which ultimately leads back into the town of Moab. Going right will begin your journey on the White Rim Road (permit required), which travels deeper into Canyonlands Island in the Sky.
Click NEXT to continue your adventure on the White Rim Road!
Hi Ash!!
Thank you for such a specific, detailed account of how to do an abridged version of this! it sounds really great, and I know this is going to nerdy, but I also really want to drive to Thelma & Louise Point, so thank you for putting that in! My basic question for you is: if me and my friend aren’t really experienced Jeep drivers, but go ahead and rent the Jeep from Twisted jeeps and just take our time and go slow, do you think we’re still qualified to do this??Or… do you have to have substantial 4×4 driving Experience to do it?
Thanks for your time!
– Matt
You should be fine :) It’s not a very technical trail!
Hi Ash! Thank you for this post! I’m trying to figure out how many hours to budget for this drive. How long did it take you to do the drive as you’ve detailed it?
Thank you!
We stopped a lot, but it took us about 8 hours to cover that much ground, stop and take photos, get out and hike, etc. It’s easily my favorite thing to do in the Island of the Sky District of Canyonlands, so it’s well worth your time!
Great! Thank you!
Hi Ash,
I love your information! I used the Grand Teton and Yellowstone posts to plan our vacation in 2018. We did almost everything in your recommendations and it worked out very well. Thank you!
Now we are planning a trip to Glacier National Park for Sept. 2020. It looks like I’m already too late to get reservations for the first week, so I’m, wondering if there is another way other than direct contact for reservations for a family of five adults. Also, I like to be close to whatever we are seeing, so am wondering if booking in 2 places (like we did for tetons/yellowstone) would be the way to go.
And any info you could recommend, including your itinerary I would be happy to purchase. As for hiking, we love short hikes (usually under 3 miles, but will do up to 6 if the view is worth it!) and not much more that 400 – 500 feet elevation.
I love just reading your info as it is very interesting and informative!
Margaret
Sounds like fun! If you’ll be staying in Glacier longer than 3 days or so, I’d definitely recommend splitting your time between the St. Mary/Many Glacier area and West Glacier. That will cut out a lot of drive time and will help you cover more ground. You can find my Glacier itinerary here: https://www.dirtinmyshoes.com/national-park-trip-itineraries/ Have a great trip!! — Ash
We drove Shafer Trail to Potash Rd this summer. Awesome experience. Canyonlands is so vast and this drive allows you to keep getting deeper and deeper into the canyon. Around every turn that was another spectacular site. The total drive took us about 3 hours as you can only drive about 5-10 mph. We stopped a lot to take pictures as well. Not a busy drive as we only saw about 10 other cars in the full 3 hours.
Isn’t it amazing?! It’s nice that you can’t drive too fast so that you can soak everything in. Glad you enjoyed it!
I love this blog and the beautiful pictures. I just have one personal question. You say that you are a “former” park ranger. You look very young to be retired. What made you decide to quit/leave such an exciting and rewarding job?
I had a baby and wanted to stay at home with him :) It was a fun job and I hope to go back to it sometime in the future!