This is page 3 of this article. To start at the beginning, click here.
THE WHITE RIM ROAD
A PERMIT IS REQUIRED TO DRIVE THIS SECTION OF ROAD — EVEN FOR DAY USE ONLY.
IF YOU HAVEN’T SECURED A DAY-USE PERMIT FOR THE WHITE RIM ROAD, YOU MUST SKIP THIS SECTION AND DRIVE STRAIGHT TO THE POTASH ROAD.
Congratulations on securing a permit and making it onto the White Rim Road. This road is phenomenal!
Conditions along this road are mild-moderate as far as jeeping trails are concerned. You’ll encounter a few rough spots, cliffside drop-offs, and narrow sections along this route. You don’t need to be a seasoned jeeper to conquer this road, so if you’re a beginner, just drive slowly, stay alert, and have fun!
The White Rim Road is popular for mountain biking. Mountain bikers often bike this route with a support vehicle, so take care and exercise patience when you come upon these groups.
After exiting the Shafer Trail and staying right at the intersection, you’ll soon reach the Goosenecks Overlook. Park here, take the short 0.6-mile hike (follow the cairns, or stacks of rocks), and admire the views of this dramatic bend of the Colorado River.
Continuing on, you’ll drive along a stunning (but slightly uncomfortable) stretch of narrow road along the cliffside. The river is beautiful from here!
Look for a small spur road on the left that leads to another river overlook. This spur road (which looks more like a hiking trail than a place to drive your jeep) is short and bumpy, but it leads to a great place to catch a view of the Colorado River. Get as close to the edge (with extreme caution, of course) as you dare!
Return to the White Rim Road and continue on. After a few seconds of driving, you’ll reach the parking area for Musselman Arch on your left. Park here and walk to the edge of the canyon to find the arch. It can be hard to see — it blends right in with the canyon walls!
After you visit the arch, continue driving. You’ll want to have a detailed map of the road (with mile markers) to keep track of where you are. This section of the road is mild and mostly flat. Look for the fields of wildflowers if you’re visiting during the spring months!
The road begins to travel up the hill and through a narrow saddle. As you descend the hill, a dramatic view of Airport Tower comes into view straight ahead.
The road continues toward Airport Tower, skirting the northern edge of Lathrop Canyon. This canyon is the next step of your adventure! If you choose to take the scenic drive on the spur trail down to the bottom of Lathrop Canyon, you’ll reach the shores of the mighty Colorado River.
As you round the top of Lathrop Canyon, you’ll see a sign on your right. This is the hiking trail that leads to the top of the Island in the Sky. Continue driving until you see a sign on your left, marking the jeep trail that descends into Lathrop Canyon.
The descent is steep and narrow, but it doesn’t take very long to reach the canyon floor. You’ll want a detailed map for the drive along the bottom of the canyon — the trail can get washed out after heavy rains. I recommend this book because it provides detailed instructions and points out landmarks along the way.
The trail dead-ends at a pit toilet and picnic area along the shores of the Colorado River. Soak in the views as you stand along the banks of the river. You made it to the very bottom of Canyonlands!
Return the way you came to rejoin the White Rim Road.
At this point, it’s time to start thinking about turning around so that you have ample time to get back to Moab before the sun goes down.
Many people turn around after completing the drive down Lathrop Canyon Road. If you’re not quite ready to turn around, there are a few more things to see nearby.
As you continue past Airport Tower, you’ll come to the Monster Towers area. There is a short, slightly challenging section of rocks to navigate along this section, but the views are stunning.
And a few miles after Monster Towers, you’ll reach the edge of Buck Canyon. Yikes!
Beyond Buck Canyon, you’ll find the Gooseberry area and campground. I don’t recommend driving any further than this during your day trip on the White Rim Road. The scenery flattens out after the campground, and while it’s still a beautiful area, it takes a while to get to another area with notable views.
What if you want to drive the entire White Rim Road in one day?
While it is possible, I don’t recommend it. At this point, it’s been a long day, and you’re not even halfway done! It’s a grueling 100-mile drive that is better appreciated spread out over 2 or 3 days. Next time, try to get an overnight backcountry permit to split up the journey. That’s a whole other experience that’s well worth the effort!
When you’re ready, turn around and return to the intersection with the pit toilet at the bottom of the Shafer Switchbacks. Now it’s time to take a fun drive back into Moab!
Click NEXT to finish up your adventure on the Potash 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!