Next day, we decided to go to Canyonlands National Park. It was a steady clime out of Moab up to Canyonlands, we called at the information center first, about 1pm.
We asked about camping in the park but were told that all sites had been booked, there was some disperse camping down on White Rim Road at the bottom of the canyon but still well above the Colorado and Green rivers as this is where they both join together. There was one camp site left, but it was too late in the day to get there. We arranged a day permit for the following day to allow us to drive down Shafer Trail towards White Rim Road, you are required to have a 4×4 with high clearance and be within a certain length which we complied with even if we are close to the maximum allowable length. We left the Information Center intending to see as much as we could with what was left of the day, first stop we headed to Whale Rock which is one of the highest points within the park.
The view from the top gave us an idea of what to expect as we toured the park.
Next up was Upheaval Dome.
Then onto Green River Overlook.
Then to Grand View Point Overlook.
Finally, we stopped at an overlook looking out over Shafer Trail, this is the road that takes you down into the canyon. This gave us something to look forward to in the morning.
From here we went and found a camping spot on BLM land for the night. There were no facilities here but we did have some mountain goats visit us.
Next morning, we drove back to Canyonlands for our appointment with Shafer Trail.
At the bottom we continued along the trail for 6 miles/10km and found a spot to have some lunch then take a walk to see the river.
On the way back up we stopped to take in the view one last time.
The weekend was coming up and there was a car show in Moab so accommodation and campsites were at a premium. We decided it was time to leave and continued north, we made it to Green River where we found a campsite in town.
Green River is not much more than a main street town but was very peaceful and relaxing for the weekend after the travel we had done over the last couple of weeks.
Once the weekend was over we decided to make a dash back to Canada, stopping at Provo for a night where we went to the movies to see the latest Avengers movie. Then next day we drove up to Antilope Island for a night out on the Great Salt Lake.
It was quite cool here compared to what we were used to, there was still lots of snow in the surrounding mountains, there was also wild Buffalo (Bison) roaming around on the Island, we also had a nice sunset, this would be the last one of our trip to Baja and back.
From here we drove to Idaho Falls for the night. Next morning, we continued to Great Falls to do some quick shopping then drove north where we crossed back into Canada, staying in Lethbridge at Walmart for the night before continuing to our final destination, Calgary.
We are now back in Calgary after 18,700km/11600 miles to Baja, Mexico and back, we will probably not post for a couple of months unless we do something worth posting about, we should be back travelling late August where we will go south again but to the Mexican mainland.
Stew & Cat.
I was researching the OEV Summit and ran across your information. I would love to know more about your experience with your Truck and Camper combo. I live in Utah and enjoyed your MOAB pictures. Were you able to complete the White Rim trail?
Hi Scott,
We did some of the trail but not all of it due to there being a permit requirement, all the permits had been let for the days we were going to be in the area.
Stew & Cat
Yeah, the permitting process can require a lot of planning. Would love to know about how the truck / camper has been working out in your travels. My email is scott.hall.images@gmail.com Thanks!