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White Rim Overlook (Island in the Sky District) Canyonlands National Park Favorite Jeep Roads & Hiking Trails by David Day |
Favorite Jeep Roads and Hiking Trails has
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Distance: 1.8 miles (round trip)
Walking time: 1 hour |
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Trying to decide which is the best viewpoint in Canyonlands National Park is an impossible task, but the White Rim Overlook definitely ranks among the top two or three. The overlook point lies on the eastern end of a long, slender finger of land that extends outward for nearly a mile from the southern end of the Island in the Sky. From the end of the promontory it seems as if the whole world is below you. If you like sunrise vistas the White Rim Overlook presents a great vantage point for watching the morning’s first rays of light make their way into the deep recesses of the vast desert below the rim. The trail begins at the picnic area beside the road and immediately heads out with no change in elevation in an easterly direction. About half way along you will begin to notice the plateau becoming increasingly narrower, and ultimately the trail ends simply because there is no more room on the point for it. The canyon on the north side of the point is Gooseberry Canyon, and the White Rim Road can be seen for miles as it makes its way from Gooseberry around the east side of the viewpoint to Monument Basin in the south. The road follows the flat tableland of the White Rim Plateau, a thousand feet below the White Rim Overlook.
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If you are interested in a supplemental map of the Grandview Trail, we recommend:
Canyonlands, Island in the Sky District
(Trails Illustrated, map #310)