100 miles of adventure, 160 kilometers of challenges. Welcome to the White Rim Road. Travel Along a green river, breathtaking canyons, over steep mountains, through a national park, and find a remote and challenging ride you will always remember. We experienced heat, a terrible fall, and endless views, that burnt themselves in our memories forever. Join the ride in this video with a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and a Yamaha Tenere 700.
Your guide to the White Rim Trail: .To Access the White Rim Trail the city Moab is a perfect place to stay .You need to apply for a permit for the trail in advance. If you want to split up the ride you have to book a campsite several weeks ahead - but if you are not a big planner you can apply for a day permit for the trail early in the morning a day in advance. First come first serves. . You need a 4x4 vehicle or a motorcycle with offroad tires to ride the trail . Plan 12 hours travel time (without calculating your stops) if you want to do all of the White Rim Trail in one day. . Most people ride the White Rim Trail clockwise, starting with the Shafer Trail Road. But we had decided to drive it counter clockwise - because we were told that the most difficult parts of the trail are in the first half of our direction - and we wanted to them as rested as possible.
Here are the Highlights of the Trail: . Mineral Bottom is the easiest part of the trail. Enjoy the first amazing views from the Mineral Bottom switchbacks! . After a while the trail enters Canyonlands National Park. Over 330,000 acres are filled with arches, buttes, mesas, canyons, hiking trails, dirt roads, campgrounds, and overlooks . The Bottom of Hardscrabble Hill is quite sandy . The climb to Hardscrabble Hill is steep and narrow - one of the more difficult parts of the trail! Watch out for oncoming traffic! . The next 25 kilometers you see all the things that you came here to see. Canyon after canyon, one amazing view chasing the other. You will drive by Coleman Canyon Viewpoint, Candlestick Viewpoint, Soda Springs Basin Viewpoint. . After Soda Springs Basin you will start to drive up Murphy Hogback - and the ride will become much more technical. This is probably the most difficult part of the whole white rim road (and the part where we crashed with our motorcycle badly!) . After Murphy Hogback the trail takes you along several scenic canyons again. The Monument Basin Canyon, Gooseberry Canyon and South Fork of Buck Canyon. And from here you will be looking out over the Colorado River for the rest of the trip. . You are close to the end of the White Rim Road, when you spot the Shafer Trail to the top of the Island in the Sky. The Shafer Trail is a 28 kilometer long road and even though it has countless steep switchbacks, it is one of the most easy and fastest parts of the white rim trail. There are even plenty of pullouts to allow for an oncoming vehicle to pass. But you should defiantly not be scared of heights, as there are no guardrails or any other barriers.
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Video Summary
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A group of adventurers tackle the 100-mile (160 km) White Rim Trail near Moab, Utah. Using a Yamaha Tenere and a Jeep Rubicon, they navigate extreme heat, sandy terrain, and steep climbs through Canyonlands National Park. Despite breathtaking views of the Green River and various canyons, the journey is marred by a serious motorcycle accident at Murphy Hogback.
100 miles of adventure,
160 kilometers of challenges.
Travel along a green river,
breathtaking canyons,
over steep mountains,
through a national park,
and find a remote and challenging ride
you will always remember.
We experienced heat,
a terrible fall,
and endless views that burned themselves
in our memories forever.
Welcome to the White Rim Road.
So where are we going?
So we're going to the White Rim Trail
and we have to apply for a permit,
which I'm now doing,
and I think it worked.
To access the White Rim Trail,
the city Moab is the perfect place to stay,
but you as well need to apply for a permit
for the trail in advance.
If you want to split up the ride,
you have to book a campsite several weeks ahead,
but if you're not a big planner,
you can apply for a day permit
for the trail early in the morning,
a day in advance.
First come, first serves.
The night before we left to the trail,
our travel group had grown to four people.
My travel partner and our new companion
were both on rented motorcycles.
The locals highly recommended
not to drive the demanding trail
with road tires or two up,
so we decided to rent a Jeep Rubicon
and take turns in riding my Yamaha Tenere.
Four high is like if you're on snow, ice,
or if you're climbing up something
that's in high gear.
If you want to do it slow,
then you put it in four low.
But I can tell you right now
that on the White Rim,
speed is your worst enemy.
You just want to take it easy,
especially with bikes,
because there's lots of nuggets
and you hit one of them suckers
and it takes you out.
You can see behind me,
the sun is just rising
and we are starting on the adventure
of the White Rim Trail
with this
and this car behind me.
Good morning, Moab.
It's 5.30 in the morning
and before we hit the trail,
we want to get some breakfast.
From Moab, you first have to cover
about 38 kilometers
before reaching the start of the trail.
Turn off from route 313
on Mineral Bottom Road
and here is where the dirt,
the White Rim Loop,
and the official counting
of the 100 miles
or 160 kilometers length starts.
Most people ride the White Rim Trail clockwise,
starting with the Schaefer Trail Road,
but we had decided to drive it counterclockwise
because we were told
that the most difficult parts of the trail
are in the first half of our direction
and we wanted to do them as rested as possible.
Welcome to the start of the White Rim Road.
We were told that it takes about 12 hours
to cover the full distance,
which is 160 kilometers
and I wonder why,
because this road so far is very good.
Don't let the stretch at Mineral Bottom fool you.
The first 20 kilometers
are definitely the fastest part of the whole road
and they don't prepare you
for what is about to come.
So this is where the fun is about to start,
the Mineral Canyon Switchbacks
and they go down here quite steeply,
but these views, wow.
I think these are the first great views
of hopefully many that we will see today.
The Mineral Canyon Switchbacks
are the perfect intro to the White Rim Trail.
You descend about 1,000 feet or 300 meters
over a short distance
and get the first amazing views on Green River.
Soon we are reaching the borders
of Canyonlands National Park
and this is my official last chance to fly my drone
because inside the park,
you are not allowed to start it
in no national parks in the US
and until we exit the White Rim Trail,
we will stay in the national park.
Canyonlands is an enormous and underrated national park.
Over 330,000 acres are filled with arches,
buttes, mesas, canyons, hiking trails,
dirt roads, campgrounds and overlooks.
It's a playground that can be explored for days
or even weeks,
but we only had this one day
and we're ready to take in
as many incredible views as possible.
So the White Rim Road is supposed to be a 12 hours ride
and now the road gets much more difficult already
and temperatures are rising like crazy.
It's supposed to be around 40 degrees Celsius soon
and I'm super happy
that we can take turns riding the bike
because I have been now on the road for about three hours
and I think I'm gonna ask for a change soon
because it's just kind of exhausting to ride here.
Oh no, and now it's getting steep and sandy.
Oh my God, I hate sand.
Just slippery ----.
I think soon it's time for a change.
I think I will stop after this
and relax in the car for a bit.
And I was very happy about my decision
to change to the car and leave the Tenerife
to my travel partner
because there was even more sand waiting.
These are the things that are much worse on a motorcycle
than in a car, on a bike.
It's still going.
It's a good catch.
The bottom of Hard Scrabble Hill,
that in my opinion should be called Hard Scrabble Cliff,
was quite sandy,
but that changed as soon as we ascended
and the road became steeper and much more narrow.
Indeed, so narrow that you even have to look
for a pull-out of bicyclists across your road.
We are on the top of Hard Scrabble now
with this amazing view.
It was quite a climb up
and now it's supposed to go very steep down.
It's supposed to be as well
one of the most difficult parts of this trail.
From the top of Hard Scrabble, you have amazing views
and you can take a last breath
before hitting the steep descent.
Look out for other vehicles way in advance.
You would rather want to wait at the top
than meeting them on this stretch of the road.
The next 25 kilometers,
you see all the things that you came here to see.
Canyon after canyon,
one amazing view chasing the other.
You will drive by Coleman Canyon Viewpoint,
Candlestick Viewpoint, Sodor Springs Basin Viewpoint,
and basically are just on the edge
of the most amazing and colorful canyons
you ever dreamt of.
After Sodor Springs Basin,
you will start to drive up Murphy Hogback
and the ride will become much more technical.
This is probably the most difficult part
of the whole White Rim Road.
And my travel partner was still riding the motorcycle,
even though temperatures were about 40 degrees meanwhile.
This is where things started to get really wrong
and Murphy Hogback turned into Murphy's Law.
A little note to everyone
who wants to ride the White Rim Trail too.
You can't really see how steep these climbs are on camera.
The climb was so steep
that my travel partner lost a lot of speed.
And once he rode over the step,
his front wheel hit a rock.
Four guys that came by in their Jeep
helped us to push the tannery up the hill
because it was much closer to the top of the climb
than going all the way back down.
And way too steep to just ride off again.
We're now on Murphy's Viewpoint.
We had one crash and this was a difficult section.
Hopefully getting better now.
We were forced to exchange riders again.
Our new companion decided to ride the remaining half
of the White Rim Road on my tannery
while I was driving the Jeep
to bring my travel partner to a hospital
as soon as possible.
As soon as possible, in our case,
meant in about six hours.
We just had done about half of the White Rim Road
and we're pretty much in the middle of nowhere.
A very long six hours ride behind us
and a probably easier,
but still long six hours drive in front of us.
So we were just at the Gooseberry Campground,
which means that we're now halfway.
And I think we're ready for the most difficult parts,
but we have still a few hours in front of us.
It's a quite long drive for a rider.
After Murphy Hogback,
the trail again takes you along several scenic canyons.
The Monument Basin Canyon, Gooseberry Canyon,
and South Fork of Buck Canyon.
And from here, you will be looking out
over the Colorado River for the rest of the trip.
Alrighty.
So we just went along airport camping,
which means there is only about 18 miles left.
And we finished the trail.
Energized by getting closer to the end of the trail
and closer to a hospital,
we even tried to do a bit of sightseeing.
But that, of course, went all wrong.
It's not completely clear,
but we're guessing that these are the,
how are they called?
Strong Muscle Man.
Muscle Man.
I think it could be.
So we saw the wrong Muscle Man.
It's supposed to be somewhere here.
Now approaching the last part of the White Rim.
I think we will be out here soon,
enjoying the last nice breeze.
We knew that we were close
to the end of the White Rim Trail
when we spotted this road in front of us,
the Schaefer Trail,
to the top of the Island in the Sky Mesa.
The Schaefer Trail is a 28-kilometer-long road,
and even though it has countless deep switchbacks,
it is one of the easiest and fastest parts
of the White Rim Trail.
There are even plenty of pull-outs
to allow for another vehicle to pass.
But you should definitely not be scared of heights,
as there are no guardrails or any other barriers.
Rim, road.
Now we're happy that we're back on asphalt finally.
We were back on asphalt,
and after I finally brought my travel partner
to the hospital,
the Jeep got a well-earned cleaning.
Unfortunately, our day ended with some bad news.
My travel partner seriously injured his ankle
and would not be able to ride a motorcycle anytime soon.
So I again had to change my plans.
But if traveling on a motorcycle teaches you one thing,
it is that the next day,
you might be somewhere completely different than expected.
Thank you for joining this compact version
of our 12-hour adventure on the White Rim Trail.
But the aftermath of this ride
will still accompany us in the next episode.
I will have to deal with a broken switch on my side stand
and a change of plans.
But I will as well ride over a stunning mountain pass
to Colorado,
take you to the town gateway,
explore the trails on the back of a horse,
and visit a stunning car collection.
If you liked this episode,
leave a comment and a thumbs up
and say hello to my travel partner
so he gets well soon
and can be back here on the channel in no time.
