Bikepacking The White Rim Path: A self-supported journey

The White Rim Path was one in every of my first-ever bikepacking journeys and it’s nonetheless one in every of my favorites to this point. The route is unimaginable. It skirts the northern fringe of Canyonlands Nationwide Park exterior of Moab and passes via among the most jaw-dropping landscapes within the West. We pedaled underneath towering purple rock bluffs, handed pure stone arches, gazed up at skinny spires reaching to the sky, and gawked at enormous canyon vistas that rivaled these of the Grand Canyon.

Many individuals drive the 104-mile loop in a rugged 4×4 automobile, however my boyfriend and I did it as a two-night absolutely self-supported bikepacking journey. I wouldn’t name it straightforward (though some individuals experience the entire loop in a day), but it surely was undoubtedly memorable and I beloved each second of it.

There are steep switchbacked climbs (a few of them hike-a-bikes), lengthy winding descents, extremely scenic campgrounds, and loads of publicity to maintain you in your toes. The remoteness of this path makes it much more spectacular and thrilling!

Should you’re on the lookout for a problem and are prepared for some robust pedaling on a heavy bike, this can be a bucket-list experience for certain. On this submit, I cowl all the things you should find out about planning your individual self-supported White Rim Path bikepacking experience.

What’s the White Rim Path?

The White Rim Path is a 72-mile unpaved doubletrack street that follows a slim band of white sandstone above Canyonlands Nationwide Park and the Colorado River. The street sits under the Island within the Sky Mesa and affords wonderful views out of the canyons and spires of Utah’s largest Nationwide Park.

Enjoyable reality: The White Rim Highway was constructed in 1950 by the Atomic Power Fee to offer entry to uranium miners so they might mine deposits for nuclear weapon manufacturing in the course of the Chilly Conflict. The mines have lengthy since been closed, however the street stays open to 4×4 automobiles and mountain bikers.

The White Rim Path Map

This map simply exhibits the White Rim Path, which is 72 miles lengthy. The total 104-mile loop additionally contains Mineral Canyon Highway, Island within the Sky Highway, and Shafer Path. (I dive into the complete route under).

Watch a video of our White Rim Bikepacking journey!

White Rim Path Permits

Getting an in a single day White Rim Path allow will be very aggressive. There are 19 campsites (20 for those who embrace the distant Taylor campsite which isn’t actually an possibility for bikepacking). Every campsite can accommodate 15 individuals and three automobiles per day.

Day-use permits are additionally granted for 50 automobiles and 50 mountain bikers, however biking the White Rim in a day is intense, to say the least.

Permits are REQUIRED for day and in a single day use for each bikes and automobiles and so they get snatched up rapidly, so mark the dates under in your calendar.

Allow Seasons

In a single day permits are damaged up into 4 ‘seasons’ and permits will be reserved 4 months prematurely of every season:

• March 10-June 9 (opens November 10)
• June 10 – September 9 (opens February 10)
• September 10 – December 9 (opens Could 10)
• December 10 – March 9 (opens August 10)

So for instance, for those who needed to plan a bikepacking journey in April, you’ll wish to be on-line to order your dates on November tenth.

Allow Course of

1. To order a allow for the White Rim Path, head to the Canyonlands In a single day Backcountry Permits Web page and click on on the ‘examine availability’ button. Then choose ‘Island within the Sky – 4WD/Mountain Bike’ and the variety of individuals in your group.

2. You’ll see an inventory of accessible campsites pop up. The difficult half is discovering campsites that work properly collectively for an in a single day bikepacking journey. We stayed at Shafer our first evening and Murphy C the subsequent evening. See extra information about how we did our two-night journey in addition to totally different itinerary choices within the subsequent part under.

3. When you’ve chosen your dates, click on the ‘e-book now’ button and also you’ll be prompted via a number of extra questions. You’ll want to decide on an entry and exit level – for our journey we began and ended on the high of the Mineral Backside Switchbacks. You’ll additionally want to present details about your automobile, emergency contact, and basic contact info.

4. When you’ve stuffed out all the data and checked the field saying that you simply’ve learn all of the Must Know stuff, click on ‘Proceed to Cart’ and end trying out. It’s a one-time charge of $36 per allow, which incorporates all campsites and group members. You don’t want to do separate bookings for every evening or campsite.

5. The White Rim in a single day allow doesn’t embrace the entry charge into Canyonlands Nationwide Park, so that you’ll have to buy a person park go, which is required for every particular person. These passes are good for 9 consecutive days, so that you’ll wish to purchase them as near your departure date as you possibly can, ideally the day of or the day earlier than your journey. You should buy particular person passes on-line or on the entrance gate or the Island within the Sky Customer’s Heart. Every particular person go for mountain bikers is $15.

Vital issues to remember relating to your permits:

My 3-day White Rim Bikepacking Itinerary

There are a selection of the way to place collectively a bikepacking route alongside the White Rim Path. There are 9 campgrounds with 19 campsites accessible and the loop will be ridden in both path.

Under is the itinerary we did and I believed it was rattling close to good. I truly don’t suppose I might change a factor about it! Every day’s mileage was unfold out fairly evenly as was the climbing/elevation achieve. The one ‘bummer’ is that we ended days 2 and three with hefty climbs.

Day 1: Prime of Mineral Backside switchbacks to Shafer campground

We began our bikepacking journey on the high of the Mineral Backside switchbacks the place we might depart our automobile. It may be tempting to start out on the backside of the switchbacks so that you don’t have to finish the loop with an enormous climb, however for those who do this, you’ll should climb up the huge cliff on the primary day with absolutely loaded bikes. It’s actually higher to do that on the finish while you’re not as weighed down. It’s additionally a enjoyable remaining problem! (Professional-tip: have chilly drinks ready for you).

Shafer canyon street

The primary day wasn’t too thrilling till we bought to Shafer Canyon Highway. We began our pedal alongside the grated Mineral Backside Canyon Highway, which had a slight incline. Simply preserve pedaling stored going via my head… After we bought to the intersection of Route 313, we turned proper and adopted the paved Island within the Sky street till we bought to the doorway gate of Canyonlands Nationwide Park.

Observe: Should you didn’t purchase an entrance charge (see allow part above) you’ll have to get one on the gate or on the Customer’s Heart a mile down the street.

The Shafer Switchbacks

Simply after the doorway gate, we got here to the turn-off to Shafer Canyon Highway on the left. This was the beginning of the enjoyable stuff! I pulled on an additional layer and readied myself for a 6-mile descent all the way down to Shafer Campground. As I descended, I began to catch glimpses of the unimaginable views of the White Rim off to the left and bought a primary style of the publicity to come back.

Tip: Take your time on the descent and go sluggish. There are about half a dozen loopy switchbacks all the way down to the underside of the Shafer descent and it will not be good for those who go over the sting.

As soon as I bought to the underside of the Shafer Canyon Highway switchbacks, it was a fast roll to Shafer Campground. Sadly, we did lose a little bit of elevation that we needed to regain within the morning, but it surely was warm-up for the legs 🙂

Observe: There is no such thing as a signal for Shafer Campground, however take a left onto Potash Highway with indicators towards Moab.

Additionally, leep an eye fixed out for bighorn sheep and deer scrambling round on the rocks and canyon partitions surrounding the campground!

Day 2: Shafer to Murphy Campground

Day 2 was an enormous day – don’t underestimate it! It was simply over 41 miles from Shafer Campground to Murphy Campground and we stopped quite a bit for images and movies. There have been additionally a number of side-stops like river overlooks and the Musselman Arch that I believed had been price trying out. However since that is such an enormous day with a number of miles to cowl, it’s finest to maintain transferring slowly.

We winded our approach alongside the sting of the White Rim with a number of zigzags out and in of canyons and epic views the whole approach. For essentially the most half, the terrain rolled fairly properly, however there was undoubtedly a slight upward trajectory. I consoled myself and my legs by realizing that tomorrow would have a slight downward pattern.

Murphy’s Hogback

As soon as we bought to the turn-off for White Crack Campground, we had been about 8 miles from camp on the high of Murphey’s (which is ahhh-mazing!). The clincher, although, was a actual tough hike-a-bike as much as the highest of the Murphey’s Hogback Mesa. It was brutal, particularly with a 60-70lb bike. My technique? Take 10 steps and relaxation. Repeat till I crested the summit then thank the celebs that the toughest a part of the journey is over.

As soon as we arrange camp and had a moist wipe bathtub, we loved on of essentially the most scenic dehydrated dinners I’ve ever had (or at the least high 5).

Day 3: Murphy Campground again to your automobile

Day 3 – the final day – was most likely each my favourite and least favourite day. The beginning from camp was an excellent enjoyable and reasonably technical (at the least with luggage strapped to your body) descent from Murphey’s Campground and from there, it’s a number of rolling doubletrack all the way down to the Inexperienced River.

There have been nonetheless loads of scenic vistas of Canyonlands and some climbs, however total the beginning of day 3 concerned a number of rolling hills and a few good pedaling alongside the Inexperienced River.

Hardscrabble Climb

There have been two large climbs to deal with, although. The primary was Hardscabble, which began out mellow however rapidly became a steep hike-a-bike beast. It wasn’t as onerous because the Murphy climb, but it surely was nonetheless a problem and I for certain set free a number of curse phrases. The descent down the opposite aspect was lengthy, sandy, and enjoyable, although, after which it was extra pedaling above the river with an important spot to get pleasure from lunch.

The previous couple of miles after we handed the Labyrinth Campsite was a little bit of a psychological battle. It was about 5 miles to the bottom of Mineral Backside and the Horsethief Path that took us again to our automobile. Simply preserve pedaling 🙂

Horsethief Path

This remaining climb appeared far more brutal than it truly was. I actually loved this ascent as a result of it’s 100% rideable (in contrast to Murpheys and Hardscrabble) and it was the ultimate problem to the 100 miles that we simply rode on a loaded bike. I took my time, put my bike in its lowest gear, and simply stored spinning my method to the highest the place we had a chilly beverage ready for us!

Tip: take your time on this final day so that you simply climb up Horsethief within the shade. We began our climb round 3pm and about half of it was gloriously shaded.

Suggestions for planning your White Rim Bikepacking journey

Various tenting/Route Choices

As I discussed above, there are 9 campgrounds alongside the White Rim, so there are many totally different choices for creating your individual route. Personally, I believe using the loop clockwise and tenting at Shafer and Murphy is the most effective combo, however for those who can’t get a allow for these campsites, listed here are two different first rate choices:

• Make it a one-nighter and camp at White Crack campsite. This may make every day about 54 miles.
• Park on the Customer Heart and do the loop counterclockwise. Camp at Labriynth, Hardscrabble, or Potato Backside for the primary evening (good campsites by the river with shade) after which White Crack the second evening. Should you select Potato Backside, you’ll do the Hardscrabble climb/hike-a-bike on the primary day.

Tip: I might attempt to keep away from tenting at Airport, Gooseberry, or Candlestick. Whereas these campsites have nice views, they’re tremendous uncovered and don’t have any safety from the solar or wind.

Finest time of 12 months to Bikepack the White Rim

If you’re doing a self-supported bikepacking journey alongside the White Rim, I HIGHLY advocate planning it within the cooler spring and fall months. Summer time can get extraordinarily scorching within the Canyonlands (over 100°) and it will be onerous – even harmful – to try a self-supported journey throughout this time.

Spring

We rode the White Rim in early March and lucked out with the climate. It could actually nonetheless be chilly, moist, and windy in March, however we discovered the day temps to be good (50s-60s) and the evening temps manageable (mid-30s). March is iffy, although, so for those who get a allow for early spring be ready to cancel your journey if the climate isn’t cooperating.

After we rode it in March, we principally had the place to ourselves and the snow was nonetheless capping the La Sal Mountains within the distance, making for much more dramatic landscapes.

Later spring – like April or early Could – might need extra dependable climate.

Fall

Mid-September to early November are additionally prime months for bikepacking the White Rim. This additionally signifies that you’ll be sharing it with a number of different vacationers, although – primarily 4×4 day-trippers and supported bike journeys, so be ready for visitors.

What to pack for the White Rim

Water

The most important concern when packing for a White Rim bikepacking journey is water. There is no such thing as a water alongside nearly all of the route, so you will have to hold all of the water that you simply’ll want. There’s the opportunity of getting water on the final day (or first day relying on which path you experience) while you’re down by the Inexperienced River, but it surely’s very silty and will solely be relied on in case of emergencies.

We carried 12L of water EACH for our three-day, two-night bikepacking journey. That’s 26.5lbs of additional weight in simply water. We each had about 3L to spare on the base of the ultimate climb up Horsethief Path, however I’m very hesitant to say that we carried an excessive amount of water.

The Park Service recommends a gallon of water a day per particular person (which is mainly what we had) and if our second day hadn’t been chilly and windy I’m certain we’d have consumed nearly all of it.

Don’t underestimate how a lot water you’ll want, particularly for those who plan your journey throughout hotter climate.

Bikes & Gear

We rode the route on our Santa Cruz Chameleon hardtail bikes. You’ll need at the least a hardtail for this experience if not a short-travel full suspension bike. Despite the fact that it’s on a ‘grime’ street, there are stretches which might be fairly tough, and even I felt a bit of under-biked on my Chameleon.

So far as bikepacking luggage and kit, you’ll additionally have to suppose this via as properly as a result of you should carry all the things. This contains all of your water, meals, and tenting gear. We opted to make use of rear racks and panniers so we feature all the things extra comfortably. It could be onerous to hold all the things you want with out utilizing racks, but it surely could possibly be potential when you’ve got the proper setup.

I can’t stress sufficient that there’s nothing on the market and you should carry all the things you want. Deliver sufficient water!

For particular gear suggestions, head over to my Bikepacking Gear Guidelines.

Extra Information

Bogs & Trash

Every campground has at the least one – generally two – pit bathrooms which might be glowing clear and (often) stocked with bathroom paper. Please don’t throw your trash into the bathrooms – you should pack out your entire trash.

Caching Water

Should you don’t wish to (or can’t) carry all of the water you want, you possibly can cache water alongside the White Rim with prior approval. This isn’t preferrred as a result of a part of the enchantment of bikepacking the White Rim is using it blind! Should you cache water you’ll get a glimpse of the views and gorgeous landscapes forward of time.

However for those who do have to cache water to make your journey work, contact the Backcountry Allow Workplace and permit for ample time for cache approval. You’ll additionally want a 4×4, high-clearance automobile to drive the White Rim.

Cell Service

There’s truly intermittent cell service alongside the White Rim. I switched my telephone off of airplane mode on the White Crack campground junction and had two bars of LTE. I don’t suppose there’s full service all the best way round, however when you’ve got an emergency, there’s spotty cell service to name for assist.

Wildlife

We noticed fairly a number of bighorn sheep and deer throughout our pedal alongside the White Rim, so preserve your eyes peeled! The bighorn sheep are wonderful to look at for those who can spot them climbing round on the purple cliffs and bluffs.

We additionally made a kangaroo rat very (briefly) completely happy when he dived headfirst into my pannier full of meals. Hold your luggage zipped up and secured at evening otherwise you discover them ravaged by rodents within the morning.

Health & Using skill

Doing a self-supported bikepacking journey alongside the White Rim Path is not any joke due to its remoteness and lack of water so it shouldn’t be taken calmly. If using 35+ miles and day with a 70-80lb bike sounds out of your league, then think about doing this journey with a 4×4 assist automobile or signing up for a tour.

A lot of individuals bike the White Rim as a supported journey and it’s arguably extra nice as a result of you possibly can journey calmly, get a experience for those who’re feeling drained, and discover aspect journeys just like the Holman Slot Canyon. To study extra a couple of vehicle-supported journey, take a look at my pal Kristen’s 4-day White Rim journey.

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I hope this submit evokes you to start out planning your bikepacking journey across the White Rim Path. What questions do you continue to have? Would you do a self-supported journey or have a sag automobile? Depart a remark under!