Canyon Land – White Rim Road Part II
Posted on December 9, 2007
Filed Under On and Off Road w/ Your Car | Leave a Comment
After reaching White Rim Road we continue on to the south, after approximately one mile Air Port Tower campsite comes into few. We continue on, soon after you see the pinnacle of sandstone called the Monster Tower, if you look to the north side of the Monster Tower you’ll see a variety of smaller towers and you look close you can make out the Washerwoman Arch.
By faisasy
About 0.5 miles later the road crosses Buck Canyon, a heavily eroded Canyon. The road continues southward along the base of Grandview Point, roundabout the head of the Middle and South Forks of Buck Canyon and nine miles later through Gooseberry Canyon.
The road along these Canyons is very close to the rim, especially at South Fork Buck Canyon you’re only a few feet away from dropping over 200 feet. I found out later; the road is undercut by about 40 feet, leaving nothing but air under the road which makes me wonder how long the road will last.
About three miles south of South Fork Buck Canyon you pass the Gooseberry Trail and Gooseberry Campsites. Continuing south on the White Rim Road you arrive at the Monument Basin four miles after Gooseberry campsite. This is one of the most seen Basins of the Island in the Sky. There hundreds of tourist peering down from the Grandview Overlook every day fascinated by collection of geologic sculpture 2000 feet below the mesa top.
Just as you leave the Monument Basin the road turns westerly and you arrive at the sign marked the White Crack Camp. The White Crack Trail was named after a natural fracture in the White Rim Formation that was once used by cowboys and mining prospectors seeking access to the lower benches of Canyon lands. The cattle ranchers developed into a trail around 1918 to use the lower plateaus for grazing. Later in the early 1950s the crack was widened by uranium miners, constructing a jeep road near the Green River. The Jeep trail no longer is marked on the Park Service maps do too deterioration of the trail. Nonetheless the trail makes on interesting hiking trail to the old mining camp.
Now you drive westerly for about two miles to get around Junction Butte, then the road makes a sharp turn to the right turning north as it begins the long journey up the west side of the Island of the Sky district. Not long there after we arrive at the Murphy campsite, if you decide to stop you’ll see to the southwest Chimney Rock. After leaving Murphy campsite the road gets a lot steeper on its way out of Murphy Basin. At this point shift into low gear and a four-wheel drive is a necessity it’s not so much the 250 foot climb but it’s very steep. On top of the Hogback you have an incredible view of the canyon below.
by Robert Landry
Following the White Rim Road 600 feet down to the White Rim Plateau it’s twisting to the northeastern site of Soda Springs Basin. Eventually the road will turn do-west and then with a sharp left turn for a ¼ mile south and west again. Count a ½ mile after going from south to west you should stop the car and walk to the edge to see the incredible view of the Green River 150 feet below making a 180 degree loop. In the middle of this one mile lube is sitting the picturesque butte called the Turks Head.
From this point it is only a 2.5 mile drive to the Candle Stick Camp after climbing a small hill of shale.
The Candle Stick Camp was named after the Candle Stick Towers you can see in the background of the camp.
It’s starting to get dark and we decided to stay overnight at the Candle Stick Camp. The next morning after a hardy breakfast we continued on north then east on the White Rim Road. Just over two miles from the Candle Stick Camp you come across the trail marker Wilhite Trail, this trail brings you to the Island of the Sky road; it’s about a five mile hike one way. The road turns North West right after Wilhite Trail, on your left you see Valentine Bottom and Green River, and on your right you see Holeman Spring Basin.
Thereafter the White Rim Road turns southerly again and hugging the Green River toward Anderson Bottom and Bonita Bend. Albert Issac Anderson, the first settler on Anderson Bottom, lived there for three summers between 1909 and 1911. He intended to homestead the bottom, but eventually moved away because his sons didn’t want to live there. The Bonita Bend shifts the Green River from a southerly to a northerly direction in a very sharp turn. The Bonita Bend was named by Major John Wesley Powell’s first voyage down the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1869, the trip was named the First Expedition.
We continued on the White Rim Road passing Queen Ann Bottom, Beaver Bottom, Potato Bottom and Potato Bottom Camp. The camp is located just above the river within cottonwood trees. We soon arrived at a ridge you see Bighorn Mesa on your right, and the driving became very dicey with a lot of S-turns (switchbacks) and very rocky. To the top of the ridge is a 450 food climb according to our GPS which brings us to the sign marker Fort Bottom Trailhead. This Trail is six miles (round trip) long. We continued down the north side of the ridge toward Hardscrabble Campsite. Hardscrabble Campsite is a very beautiful and well sheltered campsite.
We continued north on White Rim Road along Green River which is virtually at the same level as the road, and passing Hardscrabble Bottom toward Labyrinth Camp. About one mile and halve before Labyrinth we passed the sign Upheaval Canyon Trail, this trail brings you to Syncline Camp and to the Upheaval Dome at the Island of the Sky. At the Labyrinth Camp there is a junction leading to the Taylor Camp and Zeus & Moses. We concluded this would be an interesting five mile side trip. The five mile trail is mostly flat and sandy, in order to drive to the camp you need a four wheel drive because of a very sand trail, if it wouldn’t be for the sand you could drive with a regular car to the camp.
When you arrive at the camp you can make out a rock formation and with a little bit of imagination you can see why the rock formation is called Moses. It does look like on old guy wearing a long robe slightly hunched over as he looked down upon a smaller figure named Zeus. If you like to see Moses and Zeus up close you need drive little further until you see the Alcove Spring Trail, from there you need to go by foot, it is a 500 food climb up to the base of the pinnacle.
The next morning we drove back to Labyrinth camp and continued north on White Rim Road which follows the Green River for the next 2.5 miles to the park boundary, continuing to Horsethief Bottom and the junction with Horsethief Road. At that point you need to take a right to climb up with a lot of switchbacks to the top of Horsethief Trail, Mineral Road and Highway 313.
According to the Park Rancher I talked to, the Horsethief Trail was so named because it follows a portion of the same route used by a group of horse rustlers who were operating in eastern Utah around 1890. After stealing horses from farmers and ranchers in the La Sal Mountains near the Colorado border the outlaws would drive them west across the Colorado River. They would then go up one of the canyons west of Moab and out onto Horsethief Point. At the end of the point they herded the animals down the talus slopes to the Green River, across the river, and up an old trail through Horsethief Canyon. Eventually the trail led them to a hideout about 20 miles east of Hanksville in an area now known as the Robbers Roost.
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