Canyonlands National Park, located in Moab, Utah, has some of the most dramatic landscapes in the United States, with massive mesas towering over 1,000 feet above the desert floor below. While there’s lots of overlooks and trails to choose from in Canyonlands, the White Rim Overlook Trail is definitely a hidden gem, taking you along the rim of the canyon to one of the park’s most stunning overlooks. So if you want to experience this incredible hike for yourself, here’s everything you need to know about the White Rim Overlook Trail.
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About the White Rim Overlook Trail
- Length: 1.8 miles
- Elevation gain: 173 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Dog-friendly? Sadly, like all of the trails at Canyonlands, pups are not allowed allowed on the White Rim Overlook Trail.
- Trail map
How to Get to the White Rim Overlook Trail
We’ve hiked a LOT of the trails in Canyonlands and the White Rim Overlook is a top contender for our favorite hike in the entire park (it’s definitely between this one and the Druid Arch Trail!). That being said, it totally flies under the radar—it’s actually not even included on the official Canyonlands map that the rangers pass out at the entrance gate.
Not to worry, though—we’ll help you get where you need to be!
The White Rim Overlook Trail is located here in the Island of the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park, near Moab, Utah. The trailhead is located about an hour southwest of Moab, down paved and well-maintained roads.
You’ll need a rental car (or, if you live within driving distance, your own vehicle!) to get to and around Canyonlands—unlike some of the national parks in Utah, like Bryce Canyon or Zion, there’s no public transit in the park itself.
To enter the Island of the Sky District, it costs $30 USD per private vehicle, which is good for a week in the park. Alternatively, you can pick up an America the Beautiful Pass for just $80, which gets you unlimited access to Canyonlands, all of the U.S. National Parks, and over 2,000 other federally managed lands for an entire year!
You’ll take the main road in this section of the park, called Island in the Sky Road or Grand View Point Road, almost all the way to its very end, about 11.5 miles past the Island in the Sky Visitor Center. There’s no signage on the road to help you get to the trailhead, so I’d suggest plugging the location of the trailhead into your GPS (and downloading offline maps, as there’s no cell service here) ahead of time.
There’s only about 10 parking spots at the trailhead. There are actually a couple of trails that depart from this lot, including the more challenging Gooseberry Trail. Luckily, though, none of these trails are super popular, so you’ll have a decent chance of snagging a parking spot, unless you come during a particularly busy period, like a weekend during spring or fall. My husband, Justin, and I visited on a weekday afternoon during spring and were the only car in the whole lot!
That being said, if you are visiting during a particularly busy time, I’d suggest heading here on the earlier side so that you have a better chance of finding a parking spot.
What to Expect Along the White Rim Overlook Trail
The White Rim Overlook Trail is straightforward and mostly easy to follow, with a well-worn pathway in the red dirt, marked by cairns (i.e., small stacks of rocks).
One thing to be aware of, though, is that it actually climbs gradually downhill as you walk out to the viewpoint and back uphill on your return trip to the trailhead.
These are typically my least favorite kind of hikes—it’s really hard to gauge whether a hike is overly challenging when you’re tackling all of the elevation gain on the latter portion of the trail. That being said, the elevation gain on this particular trail is so minimal (only 173 feet total!) that you’ll barely notice the incline on your way back to the trailhead.
Along the way, you’ll pass junipers and some unique rock formations, with the rim of the canyon off in the distance. The views as you’re walking are pretty, but the real showstopper is saved for the very end.
Once you reach the White Rim Overlook, you’ll have absolutely jaw-dropping views for miles and miles of the Colorado River and Monument Basin, over 1,000 feet below. Off in the distance, you can see the snow-capped peaks of the towering La Sal Mountains. The red sandstone rock formations on the desert floor below, which have eroded over the course of millions and millions of years, look especially beautiful in the soft, glow-y afternoon sun.
The viewpoint is seriously SO gorgeous, but be extremely careful near the rim of the canyon. Some of the slickrock near its edges are very slippery and it would be a very long (and deadly) fall to the canyon floor below!
When to Hike the White Rim Overlook Trail
The best time to hike the White Rim Overlook Trail is the spring and fall, when the skies are typically clear and the weather is pleasantly warm.
The warmer months here (May through September) can be absolutely brutal, with temperatures soaring well over 100 degrees. Honestly, we visited Canyonlands once in October and it was still swelteringly hot!
There’s no shade along the trail, so, if you do hike it during the summer months, be sure to pack plenty of water. Justin and I always bring these comically enormous Nalgene bottles on every hike that we do and LOVE them.
Utah in winter can be quite chilly, with ice and snow being a surprisingly common occurrence in Canyonlands. Accordingly, I’d strongly recommend packing along microspikes if you hit the trail in the winter months, to provide extra traction if you encounter any slippery patches along the way, and not getting too close to the edge of the rim.
While you might have to exercise a bit more caution during this time of year, it’s actually quite lovely to visit Moab in winter—you’ll likely get the trail all to yourself and the red rocks here look even more stunning with a light dusting of snow.
Tips for the White Rim Overlook Trail
Bring sun protection
As mentioned above, there’s no shade along the trail. Additionally, given that the pathway heads due east, you’ll be hiking directly into the sun if you hit the trail in the morning. Accordingly, I’d strongly recommend bringing along sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat for extra protection against the harsh sun (the UV rays are INTENSE here!).
Download the trail map ahead of time
The trail traverses dirt and slickrock. It’s generally quite easy to follow the pathway that’s been worn into the dirt, but it’s definitely harder to know where you’re supposed to go on the slickrock. There are some cairns along the way to help you navigate, but, when we visited, a lot of them were knocked over and unclear. There’s also not a ton of other people on the trail (at least when we visited!) that can help you get back on the right path.
To be on the safe side, I’d recommend downloading an offline trail map on AllTrails before heading to the trailhead. You do need AllTrails+, a premium membership of AllTrails, to download offline maps, but luckily, we got the hookup for our readers, with 30% off your annual subscription. All you need to do is use this link and input the promo code “UPROOTED30” at check out!
The White Rim Overlook Trail is seriously one of the best hikes in Canyonlands National Park! Do you have any questions about this trail? Let us know in the comments below!
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