We did this drive this week with my wife's BMW X3. It had no problem and we had a great time.
Basta un piccolo fuoristrada (tipo Ford Escape, auto che viene frequentemente consegnata al noleggio) per non perdersi questo fantastico giro fino al fondo del canyon. Ovviamente la parte più divertente è proprio quella della discesa, quando si vede la strada del fondovalle bianca e lontanissima. Avendo poco tempo a disposizione ci siamo limitati ad arrivare in fondo, percorrere un tratto di strada e ritornare per la stessa via, ma questo è stato sufficiente a farci vivere una bella esperienza che consiglio assolutamente, anche perchè è una delle poche attrazioni che, anche in agosto, non risulta superaffollata.
Scenic Loop around west side of park. However, this is over 100 miles of rough desert road, and best done in a two day trip. Hot and dry. Recommend try the first part and go to see the arch, then return the same way, unless you plan to tent camp on the way.
Enjoyed a two day trip on White Rim Road with camping at White Crack and Hardscrabble B which were amazing. This is a 100 mile journey that definitely required a 4WD vehicle...much of the road can be done with 2WD but the climb up from Potato Bottom over Hardscrabble Hill would be very challenging simply due to the inclines. Having been to the viewing areas on Canyonlands, I can tell you that this exposes the park in way that you cannot see from above. If you have a bit of adventure, you can see the true ruggedness and amazing beauty that Canyonlands has to offer by traveling White Rim Road. (For camping, backcountry permits are required. There is no water on White Rim but there are pit toilets at each campsite.)
My wife and I have benn travelling to the Southwest every year since 2006 and benn to over 20 National Parks and countless State Parks, but if you love adventure and roughing it, Canyonlands beats them all by far!!! We found out about the White Rim Road and went for it...what a wonderful adventure. If you do go, sleep at White Crack - the highest and most solitary campsite ;) , but watch out for rattlesnakes and you'll have the time of your life!
Before I went on this trail, I have heard all the rumors about how Subarus/Minivans/BMW X3 are able to drive the 100 miles of White Rim Road. I even though about brining my Subaru Outback onto it. But now after I have gone through it, I absolutely have to say that you really need a high clearance 4WD to do the whole 100 miles. I highly doubt any vehicle other than a 4WD high clearance can climb up the 3-4 really steep sections on the trail.With that said, the scenery is absolutely incredible... endless canyons, chasms, cliffs, ledges, viewpoints, rivers... My pal and I drove the whole road over 3 days (slightly too long, but not so long if you want to get out of the car and do some side trails/hiking) and thought the bare minimum would be 2 days. Things to keep in mind. The temperature gets really hot (we did this in late June) with scorching sun in the day time. We had to sit in a car with air conditioining turned on for a few hours to cool down one day when we got to camp at 2 pm, much earlier than we thought. At night however, the temperature was perfect... barely needing the warm temperate sleeping bag we brought. There were also quite a bit of mosquitos, so plan on bringing bug repellents (could be just late June though). The wind during the day time was also fierce (we stayed at Gooseberry and Candlestick and both had gale force winds in late afternoon) and we had to use stakes for our tents. And of course, there is absolutely no water or food or gas on the road. One side trip that surprised us was the Lathrop Canyon. That side road is comparable to the steep sections at Murphy Hogback and Hardscrabble. But the "view" at the end of the road to the river wasn't very spectacular at all. And out of all the websites, White Crack and Murphy Hogback stand out easily for their superior scenery just steps from camp (but most of camps already have superb views). If I have a chance to return here, I would do the trail in the other direction and see what I missed.
Ein Highlight im Canyonlands (sofern man einen 4WD-Car hat) ist natürlich die White Rim Road. Über den Shafer Trail oder den Mineral Bottom Canyon gelangt man auf das untere Plateau und kann dem gesamtem White Rim entlang fahren. Allerdings ist dafür ein ganzer Tag von Nöten. Wem dies zu viel ist, sollte den Shafer Trail hinunterfahren, auf der White Rim Road bis zum Goose Neck Overlook und dann die Potash Road zurück nach Moab befahren. Abenteuer garantiert! High clearance und 4WD dringend empfohlen. Weather and Road conditions gibts im Visitors Center.
The views and sheer beauty of this place rate a "6". Words can't describe what you'll see.... but I'm rating this a 4 because if you don't know what you are doing here, you can get yourself into serious trouble. The only camp sites available for the dates we went were 65 miles apart. We are a physically fit family and found ourselves in a scramble to survive on that day. It became quite miserable and scary as you put in 12 hours of biking (even with rotating driving) and the sun is setting. We actually did not make it to our camp as it was 9pm, pitch black and totally dangerous to go forward.... so we camped where we were / fell. The wind is bitter at times... like you can't open your eyes because the dirt is stinging your face. We were biking in the direction from Shafer to Mineral Road and the wind felt like it was against us most of the time. Biking from the opposite direction may have been better.We had a Jeep and it handled everything fine but it had its work cut out for it. There are two passes that are essentially one lane with a 400 foot drop on one side. If you come upon a vehicle coming the other direction you are both going to pee in your pants. Bikers (really, you walk your bike up these big passes) need to go ahead and stop traffic - but some people don't seem to do this do don't count on it.It seemed that we averaged 5 to 6 miles per hour on bike (which takes into account a short lunch break). We're fit, but not seasoned mountain bikers.Everything would have been SO much better if the camp sites were spaced 30 miles apart. Funny thing was, all sites were booked but many went empty. I think many of the tour companies buy up the sites because they are cheap. We passed 2 mountain bikers the whole time. Most were on mountain bikes or in cars. Still only a few people.Shafer camp site is beautiful as is Labrinyth B. Others we passed didn't look inviting at all (except for Potato Bottom). We didn't see White Crack.Driving or biking is dangerous after dark. Get where you are going well before sunset.
We had a late start that day and got to the beginning of the road out of Moab at about 11:30 am. The views were spectacular, with rock formations towering 1000 feet above us and the Colorado/Green River almost a 1000 feet below us at times. The rock formations and colors were amazing. I told my friends that it was so beautiful that it actually hurt my eyes...ha! The terrain varied from sand, rock, gravel, mud, and everything in between. We stopped to take pictures at several of the canyon rims, but didn't take too much time to explore. It was clean, untouched, and remote. We only saw 2 other vehicles in the 100 mile road and managed to get out by 7:00 pm. Our bikes allowed us to make a slightly faster pace than a 4 WD but I would have still enjoyed stopping longer and exploring the area more. It is probably the most adventurous, remote road that I had ever been on....the switchback road at the end of the road was exhilarating and fun!
This is a great place to get away for a drive with plenty of solitude and views. Also, the camping out here, if you reserve a site, is a great place to get shots/views of the night sky without the interference from nearby cities, as there are none!