We had the great pleasure of doing this partial trip with MelloMike and C.Traveler2. We spent one night on the trail camping at the airport campground while mellomike and c.traveler2 made their way around the entire loop. Heading out to Canyonlands national park from southern California is a good 2 day drive.we met up at cowboy campground which is just outside the park entrancethe weather which was forecasted to be nice took a turn for the worse and we woke to snow falling all around us :)we were supposed to start the trail but had to postpone it by a day. We all decided to check out the park and take in some sights.with the weather clearing up the next day we set off down the shafer switchbacksour truck and camper clung to the cliff and there were a few close calls :)our rigs at the bottom of the switchbacksalex and mike chugging alongand alonglunch stop my kiddos were troopers, no complaints after 2 days commute to Canyonlands and 1 day driving around island in the sky, after the 4 day of driving so much we said goodbye to Alex and Mikeand set up camp at airport campgroundwe immediately went for a hike to stretch our legs and check out the place we also brought the bikes alongand my new Torklift Talons. I recently swapped out my fronts with Talons and love the weight savings and non corrosive aluminum. :) I also removed my rear bumper to save some weight.some of the rig shots along the way :)It was a great intro trip to the trail thanks to Alex for his expertise on the trail and Mike for the invite. We will be back...

thanks for info.and photos.nice

That's a nice trip. I did it myself with the late Don Curley, Ben Matthews and our wives many years ago in an all Outfitter trip. We even met up with the great wazhoo for a bit but he was headed somewhere else and didn't accompany us on the White Rim.While it's an easy trip as long as you pay attention, there are a couple spots that could end in death with a wrong move for a vehicle as big as our rigs. The part along the Green River being the worst but very scenic part of the trip. From inside the truck it is like you are suspended over the river far below.We spent over an hour at the car wash in Moab pressure washing off the red clay but I was still finding bits of it under my truck YEARS later.Outfitter has a picture of my truck from that trip on their website.

I've mountain biked it a few times. One time in early May the whole road was closed because of mud and snow/bad weather and everyone was stuck in whatever camp spot they'd made it to for the night. The rangers came around and told everyone to stay put. I watched a truck come down Hardscrabble Hill and almost slide off the side - made me happy I was on a bike. He obviously didn't know the road was closed.Taking big campers like yours on the White Rim would be fun except for a few bad spots, then those big rigs might get a little tippy, but maybe they've improved it since I was last on it. I also like driving Shaeffer Trail, but last time I did it I was glad I was in my FJ as it was pretty rough.Nice photos - I need to get back out there!

Did you see any wrecked units at the bottom of the canyons that went over the cliffs.... Even Fish Creek Canyon on the Apache trail near Apache Junction AZ has a few at the bottom haha... Those always made a believer out of me haha...Roy Ken

TR: First 20 miles of the White Rim Trail | Good Sam Community

jefe_4x4
Explorer
Apr 14, 2016
If you are going the usual way on the WRT, the clearance height at the very edge of the passenger side of your camper is the key. Mine is 10 foot 4 inches to clear with almost nothing on the roof. Remember too, the width matters here. Alex and I have the same footprint camper which are the narrowest ones available from Lance. I went with Alex in 2010 and we were stopped by high water in the Green River overtaking the trail and had to turn around and beat it back the way we came. I had my rear super singles which are about 4" narrower than a set of duals and and had no trouble staying on the trail.

You did have to do some picking and choosing of routes. I wouldn't have a problem taking a dually on the WRT as long as the camper was of the narrow and not-so-tall variety; it would just take careful consideration of the route right in front of you. I think 10 feet 6 inch clearance on the passenger side would be the absolute max on the river portion of the trail. This rock overhang was the only, 'close call' we had on the trail. Still, there was about 6 inches of minimum clearance:

Here's the same obstacle coming back; you can see the lack of flora where some tall vehicles skirted well to the right:

I would say this section going back up Murphy's was the other narrow part of the trail.

jefe
anutami
Explorer III
Apr 14, 2016
Steve_in_29 wrote:
Just so it is perfectly clear in everyone's mind, you DO NOT want to find out you are too big when you get to the overhang. If there is ANY doubt DO NOT attempt this trail.

Or you could pack a generator and a roto hammer, possibly some sticks of dynamite :)
Steve_in_29
Explorer
Apr 14, 2016
Just so it is perfectly clear in everyone's mind, you DO NOT want to find out you are too big when you get to the overhang. If there is ANY doubt DO NOT attempt this trail.
c_traveler2
Nomad
Apr 14, 2016
kohldad wrote:
I have wanted to know what the height of that overhang is for a long time. Do you know what that clearance height limit is? I have visions of getting through there in my F-250 and S&S TC.

Alex has made the trips several times. From previous trip reports, his Lance 815 clears by only a few inches. If you look in trip reports in the sticky at the top or search the archives for "White Rim Trail" you should find a report where he posted a picture of how close it was to the overhang.

To help you with height issue on this trail my camper (Lance 815) is 10 foot at the roof edge on my truck, I do have a cargo rack on top of my camper that's another 6 inches on the passager side of the camper only and my camper is only 86.5 inches wide.
kohldad
Explorer III
Apr 14, 2016
I have wanted to know what the height of that overhang is for a long time. Do you know what that clearance height limit is? I have visions of getting through there in my F-250 and S&S TC.

Alex has made the trips several times. From previous trip reports, his Lance 815 clears by only a few inches. If you look in trip reports in the sticky at the top or search the archives for "White Rim Trail" you should find a report where he posted a picture of how close it was to the overhang.
Camper_Jeff___K
Nomad III
Apr 14, 2016
Steve_in_29 wrote:
anutami wrote:
Fish mojo wrote:
Bucket list trip, for sure. I went thru Canyonlands (and the rest of the "Big 5") in 2014. Looked down on the trails and dreamed of that full trip. Can this be done in a dually?

not really, I struggled with my SRW and ended up scrapping my rear jack against a rock. That said a support vehicle a mountain bike outfitter group uses (that does the entire loop) is a dually, but it has a custom flat bed with some racks on it. can't remember the name of the outfitter.
A dually with a TC is NOT a good idea on this trail. The trail itself isn't much worse then a graded Forest Service road and things like Subarus drive it all the time. In something smaller such as that it is really just a scenic drive.

However the part of the trail that runs along above the Green River is VERY narrow BARELY ONE LANE dirt trail cut into the canyon wall (cliff wall on inboard side and drop off on outboard) that has a spot with an overhang that limits height clearance at that point as well. At the overhang you either make it OR damage your camper getting through (as The Turtle Expedition did in their EarthRoamer) as there is NO WAY to turn around and backing up the several miles until you could do so would be a superhuman accomplishment.

If you drop a tire off the edge (or it happens to give way) it will be a quick E-Ticket ride over the cliff into the Green River hundreds of feet below and most likely result in death for all involved.

That support vehicle is not as wide as a dually/TC combo and has no height to worry about but even so I doubt they let just anyone drive it along that part of the trail. When driving along that part of the trail you CAN'T see the edge of the road out your side window. At on point I stuck my head way out my window (we were stopped) and with me as hugged up against the inboard wall as I could there was probably less then 2 feet of dirt from my tires to the edge of the cliff.

I have wanted to know what the height of that overhang is for a long time. Do you know what that clearance height limit is? I have visions of getting through there in my F-250 and S&S TC.

The pictures are wonderful. What an adventure.
Naio
Explorer II
Apr 14, 2016
In a forum full of beautiful photos, yours stand out. Amazing work.
Kavoom
Explorer
Apr 14, 2016
On my list of dream trips Sans trailer. Doing Magruder here in MT/ID this year. Yes I will, Yes I will...
bka0721
Explorer II
Apr 14, 2016
Thanks Anutami!! What wonderful photos and sharing of what I can see a most wonderful adventure. Thanks for all those that went and for the time you spent putting this together for all of to enjoy.

Always the best to you!

b
Steve_in_29
Explorer
Apr 13, 2016
anutami wrote:
Fish mojo wrote:
Bucket list trip, for sure. I went thru Canyonlands (and the rest of the "Big 5") in 2014. Looked down on the trails and dreamed of that full trip. Can this be done in a dually?

not really, I struggled with my SRW and ended up scrapping my rear jack against a rock. That said a support vehicle a mountain bike outfitter group uses (that does the entire loop) is a dually, but it has a custom flat bed with some racks on it. can't remember the name of the outfitter.
A dually with a TC is NOT a good idea on this trail. The trail itself isn't much worse then a graded Forest Service road and things like Subarus drive it all the time. In something smaller such as that it is really just a scenic drive.

However the part of the trail that runs along above the Green River is VERY narrow BARELY ONE LANE dirt trail cut into the canyon wall (cliff wall on inboard side and drop off on outboard) that has a spot with an overhang that limits height clearance at that point as well. At the overhang you either make it OR damage your camper getting through (as The Turtle Expedition did in their EarthRoamer) as there is NO WAY to turn around and backing up the several miles until you could do so would be a superhuman accomplishment.

If you drop a tire off the edge (or it happens to give way) it will be a quick E-Ticket ride over the cliff into the Green River hundreds of feet below and most likely result in death for all involved.

That support vehicle is not as wide as a dually/TC combo and has no height to worry about but even so I doubt they let just anyone drive it along that part of the trail. When driving along that part of the trail you CAN'T see the edge of the road out your side window. At on point I stuck my head way out my window (we were stopped) and with me as hugged up against the inboard wall as I could there was probably less then 2 feet of dirt from my tires to the edge of the cliff.