If you are into biking, a four-day trip on the White Rim Trail in the Island in the Sky region of Canyonlands National Park should be on your bucket list. And if you have kids, it is more than do-able. If you arrived at this post without reading our trip report from doing it with 6 adults and 7 kids ages 6-11, here it is: Biking the 100 Mile White Rim Trail [Canyonlands National Park]  If you want a brief overview, don’t miss our video below!

Here are many of the details and things to consider in planning your White Rim Trip. While many people bike the White Rim trail in a single day, most of us will not. Therefore, the first planning logistic is to choose a time of year, acquire permits and reserve the campsites. 

Best Time of Year?

For Moab and the surrounding area, spring and fall are the ideal times of year for an adventure like this. More specifically March – May and Sept – Nov. There are trade offs to both.

Spring – The days are longer, something that would have been awesome on this trip, but often the weather is less predictable and perhaps wetter in the spring. You would not want to be driving the White Rim Trail in rainy or snowy conditions.

Fall – In general, the weather is drier and more predictable in the fall. We’ve enjoyed amazing weather every fall in Moab (with the occasional late fall snow storm) but the days are much shorter and this is very noticeable. We did not have much leisure time around camp before it became dark and chilly.

Trip Planning and Permits

Canyonlands National Park limits the traffic on the White Rim trail by requiring permits for all groups.

• You must have a day-use permit for all day trips on the White Rim.
• You must have a permit for all overnight trips along the White Rim.
• 

According to our awesome trip leader,

The system is such that you can scramble to reserve each night’s reservation starting at midnight 4 months before your target night, then they link each separate reservation into 1 to keep the same reservation fee.

In short, you can start reserving dates 4 months in advance, for us this was necessary as we were gunning for the busiest Moab weekend in the fall. If you were more flexible on your dates, you would probably not have to register at 12:01 a.m. for 3 nights in a row to get the sites and dates you want. Major props to our trip organizer, Kelly, for rocking it!

You can find more information on permits here: White Rim Trail Permits

Regarding direction of trip:

The White Rim Trail can be done in either direction and it seems mixed 50/50 on which direction people prefer. We chose our direction based off the suggestions of others who have done the trip before.

Campsite at Hardscrabble

Camping

There are designated campsites along the White Rim Trail for all bicyclists and four-wheel drivers. You must stay in a designated campsite. Each campsite accommodates 15 people max and 3 vehicles. We found the sites to be well spaced, with a variety of locations for parking trucks and flat areas for tents. While there are toilets at each campsite grouping, there is no potable water. Campfires are not permitted.

Here is a basic rundown on campsites from the park website:

What are best Campsites?

I’d say the most important factor in choosing your campsites is spreading out your miles traveled that day. As far as we saw there are no bad campsites.

Murphy’s Hogback camping, Canyonlands

As far as the campsites we stayed at:

Hardscrabble: These sites are located down by the river and thus have some trees and shade. The surface was generally sandy and great for setting up tents.

Murphy’s Hogback: Perched up high on the plateau, these sites have great 360 degree views of the Canyonlands. Rocks for the kids to climb and play around were everywhere, as well as a few trees that could provide a tiny bit of shade. There is little shelter from wind and storms, except for a few boulders. The ground was rough and rocky, making tents more difficult to secure.

Airport: These sites are huge and wide open, perfect for large groups. There is a fun ridge-line nearby if you have time for a short hike.

Airport Campsite on the White Rim Trail via Kelly Konopa

Support Vehicles?

The White Rim Trail is roughly 100 miles, and while there are various campsites and pit toilets, there is no potable water along the trail. Many hard core athletes ride the trail in one day every year, but for most of us, we will need a support vehicle for the water, camping gear, food, etc. This is doubly true if you are doing it with kids. We suggest 3 nights and 4 days, which is roughly 25 miles a day.

Ranger suggestions:

1. You must have a high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicle (low range) on the White Rim Road.
2. All vehicles and bikes must remain on roads.
3. All vehicles and motorbikes must be registered and operated by a licensed driver.
4. ATVs, UTVs, and OHVs are not permitted. Motorbikes must be equipped and licensed for interstate travel.
5. Pets are not permitted, even in vehicles.

We had a Ford F150, Nissan Frontier, and an all-wheel drive Highlander. Note: Due to a nice rock, the Highlander did receive a custom upgrade to its exhaust system. 🙂

Things to consider:

• The largest consideration while on the trip seemed to be clearance, specifically in regards to the bike racks and especially if we were traveling rough roads with bike racks loaded. The trucks sat much lower loaded down with all our gear. So watch your clearance.
• While much of the White Rim trail is smooth and/or only moderately rough, there are sections where an experienced 4WD driver should be behind the wheel.
• Make sure to top off gas tanks before starting the trail, and bring any tools for self repair.
• In many sections the bikes were faster than the vehicles due to rough roads.
• Don’t count on cell signal anywhere on the trail.

Packing and Preparations

There is no way I can cover all of the things we packed; however, here are some things to note:

• Beware of forecasted temperatures and be prepared. The White Rim Road has little shade or shelter during times of intense heat or storms.
• Bring, use, and reapply sunscreen! Shade is rare!
• 
• Make sure to check road conditions before you start the trail. High water or recent storms could lead to flooded sections of road on the end toward Hardscrabble and Mineral Bottom.
• A GPS system of some sort was nice for knowing how far you still have to go each day and to find landmarks. At least one person in our group used Strava in airplane mode to record mileage travelled and the Topo Maps+ App to see where we were on the trail.
• Bring at least 1 gallon (4 L) of water per person, per day — more if you’ll be active.
• Plan for a minimum of 10-12 hours of driving or cycling per day. (Obviously this depends greatly on the riders.)

Have a system for packing. Like mentioned in our trip report, gear management, in regards to setting up and breaking down camp, was vital. We had everything organized into a series of duffle bags.

The Utah desert often has extreme temperature variations. Hot during the day and often frigid at night. We packed our warmest sleeping bags for the kids.

While not necessary, I think it was helpful for the kids to have helmets (obviously), sunglasses, bike gloves, padded bike shorts, and their own hydration system for the times they were riding.

Any trip with kids is more epic. Any trip that involves heading off grid, down a jeep road for 100 miles, with kids is more than epic. Please be prepared! Going with a group can be like a security blanket and we highly suggest it.

We had a wide variety of bikes, bike quality, and experience of riders in our group. All in all, everyone was fine but here are a few suggestions:

1. Prep your kids by getting time in the saddle. Kids need conditioning, just like adults.
2. We had kids on tag-a-longs and every size of bike possible (except a tricycle, lol). My youngest even completed it in her low grade Novara Firefly. However, the higher quality bikes made a significant difference for the kids, mostly in regards to their weight! If you are looking for a high quality bike for your child that is lightweight, check out Prevelo Bikes.
3. Though not necessary, all the kids had padded bike shorts on under baggie shorts or pants. We like Zoic Brand but I am sure there are many other great brands as well.

Please leave your own suggestions and questions in the comments section below!