Canyonlands National Park is divided into 3 distinct districts; The Maze, Needles, and Island in the Sky. Each district offers back country camping via four wheel drive roads. Having spent time in the Maze and Needles visiting White Rim Trail would complete our visits to all of the back country four wheel drive areas in Canyonlands. With time available thanksgiving week LJ and I chose to spend 4 days on The White Rim Trail.
Our plan was to take the White Rim Trail counter clockwise with 3 nights and 4 days on the trail. This would allow us to make plenty of stops and take the trip at a leisurely pace.
Entering Canyonlands
We had an early 6:00 AM start on Sunday from Colorado Springs knowing that we had to make the Island in the Sky ranger station before 3:00 PM to pickup our back country camping permit. With an easy drive we made Island in the Sky by 1:30 which left us with plenty of sun to make our first camp.
My FJ Cruiser of the Mineral Bottom Dugway
Leaving the ranger station we headed back north and then left onto the Mineral Bottom road. The road is a graded access to the Green river that drops down from the cliff top on a classic Utah Dugway.
Once at the bottom, we headed south on White Rim trail and into Canyonlands. The road shows signs of having recently been wet with deep ruts, an indication of how hard these roads can get after storms.
Camp is set
We made our camp at Labyrinth by about 3:00 pm getting setup and our meal cooked before darkness descended on us. With the cold evening it was early to bed hoping for a good night’s sleep.