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THE POTASH ROAD
When you reach the pit toilet (don’t you love how a toilet is the main landmark on this day trip ;)), look for the sign that points to the Potash Road/Moab. Turn here and follow the road down past the small campground and into the bottom of the wash.
As your jeep climbs out of the wash, look for a large pullout on the curve. From here, you’ll be rewarded with marvelous views of the Gooseneck. This is the same Gooseneck you saw from the White Rim Road, just from the other side of the river.
Just beyond that, look for a wide, well-traveled road on your right. This road isn’t marked, but it leads to Thelma and Louise Point. This spot was made famous in the final scene of the movie (when they drive their car off the cliff). I adore the views of the river from out here, and I think you will, too!
At this point, you’ll actually be driving right below the famous Dead Horse Point Overlook, which offers commanding views of this famous bend in the Colorado River.
Continue on, driving along a narrow edge with the river below. Beyond this, the road winds through a mostly flat landscape with lovely views of the La Sal Mountains. You’ll pass by the Potash Evaporation Ponds before meeting up with Highway 279.
Take this highway back into Moab. Along the way, you’ll pass by the Corona Arch Trailhead, a few roadside petroglyphs, and Wall Street (a favorite spot for rock climbers).
You’ve made it back into Moab after an epic adventure on the White Rim Road in Canyonlands National Park! For more exciting things to do in the area, take a look at the 10 things you can’t miss in Canyonlands, the Ultimate Guide to Arches National Park, or Jeeping in Arches.
Click NEXT to start planning your trip with the Ultimate Guide to Canyonlands National Park!
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!