White Rim Trail Mountain Bike Tour
Mountain Biking in Utah with Western Spirit Cycling
Highlights
- Cycle the White Rim Trail, the classic Moab mountain bike tour
- Experience the breathtaking Canyonlands National Park
- Incredible scenery: hanging gardens, pools of water and narrow canyons
Full Description
Our 4-day White Rim Trail Mountain Tour is the quintessential Moab mountain bike experience and offers a wonderful way to experience the Canyonlands.
The White Rim Sandstone encircles the Island and is thought to have been the border of an inland sea. Mountain biking is a wonderful way to experience the unique beauty of Canyonlands. Our tour provides ample opportunities to explore the slot canyons and Anasazi ruins along the way.
Riding the White Rim is a great experience for all levels of riders. The technical sections are short and can be easily walked by the less experienced, while providing a fun challenge for the more experienced. The White Rim really is a must do trip for everyone.
Road Surface: Four wheel drive jeep roads: packed sediment, sand and slickrock.
Technical Difficulty: Moderate, some steep climbs and rocky sections.
Physical Difficulty: Moderate.
Altitude: 4,000 - 6,000 feet.
Includes:
- All meals from lunch on first day to lunch on last day
- Support vehicle
- Guides
- Campsites
Excludes:
- Rental fees
- Gratuities for your guides
- Alcoholic beverages
- Applicable sales tax
Day by Day Itinerary
Day 1
We will shuttle from our shop in Moab to the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park where we begin our ride with a dramatic descent of the Shafer Trail switchbacks. This 1,200 foot downhill lasts for three miles and brings us down to the White Rim sandstone layer. Points of interest include; The Colorado River Overlook, Musselman Arch, Little Bridge Canyon (prime Bighorn Sheep habitat) and Lathrop Canyon. The route continues with a downhill trend and then rolls gently to camp. After Lathrop Canyon, we will ride to our camp at Airport Tower and enjoy views of the La Sal and Abajo mountains. TOTAL MILEAGE - 18 miles
Day 2
Today, as we approach Monument Basin, we will continue riding around the beautifully eroded canyons of the Colorado Plateau. In this spectacular canyon stands the Totem Pole, a 300 foot tall sandstone pillar. A gentle climb takes us to the foot of Junction Butte, marking the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers. A 1-1/2 mile side trip to the White Crack offers fantastic views of both the Green and Colorado river canyons as well as the Needles District of Canyonlands. Giant free-standing pillars of rock dominate the landscape and exemplify the powerful forces of erosion at work. Continuing on past Junction Butte, we descend to the base of Murphy Hogback, where a steep 400 foot climb brings us to camp. The Hogback is the high point of the trip and from here one can look into the Maze and Needles Districts of Canyonlands and beyond. TOTAL MILEAGE - 27 miles
Day 3
We begin the day with a fun but technical descent off the Hogback down to the White Rim layer. Points of interest include Candlestick Tower and Holeman Canyon, where we may take a short hike. Hiking into this canyon is very tricky and requires some interesting climbing moves. The hanging gardens, pools of water and narrow canyon walls make this hike one of our favorites on the White Rim. We will then continue along in a downhill mode along the rim of the sheer canyon to Potato Bottom where the White Rim sandstone layer disappears into the Green River. We'll camp here under the cottonwoods on the bank of the Green River. Occasionally we are camped at the next camp site which means we continue up a steep 400 foot climb to the top of Hardscrabble Hill and drop down the far side to the Hardscrabble campsite on the river. TOTAL MILEAGE - 21 miles
Day 4
A hearty breakfast will get us going for our first climb up Hardscrabble Hill. It's a steep one, and it's about a mile long with intermittent pitches. After topping out, we traverse the Chinle rock layer, where the miners of the 1950's searched for uranium, before dropping back down to river level. Following the course of the Green River, our final morning's ride is an enjoyable cruise along the river bank to Horsethief Bottom. Views of Upheaval Dome, rising 1,500 feet from the trail bring to mind the geologic complexities of the area. There are different schools of thought regarding the processes which formed this interesting feature. Some think that a giant meteorite crashed into the earth here and distorted the impacted area. Others say that Upheaval Dome formed due to a slow collapse of the underlying Paradox Salt formation. Our journey ends with a major climb up the Mineral Canyon switchbacks. This strenuous climb is two miles long and gains 800 feet in elevation, bringing us back up to our beginning elevation. After lunch at the viewpoint our shuttle will take us back to Moab. TOTAL MILEAGE - 14 miles
About The Operator:
Western Spirit Cycling
Headquarters:
Moab, Utah
Established:
January 1989
The History of Western Spirit
"Back in the day", as our oldest guides say, Western Spirit Cycling was founded by a charismatic mad bike rider named Lu Warner. It was 1989; Lu couldn't get enough of riding his bike and decided he should impart some of his joy on the masses. He acquired a Suburban, dubbed "the burb” and a couple of guides and started taking people around the White Rim. Now Lu can be found in some semi-state of retirement in Crested Butte, CO, but his vision was just the beginning.
Just for the record, yes, we still have the burb. It's retired. And those "couple of guides" are our finest Rachel & Johnny - no sign of retirement there!
Then the Mid-90s
Ashley Korenblat bought Western Spirit in 1997 and since then has spent many days riding unknown trails (with a headlamp in her backpack, just in case) creating the plethora of trips that Western Spirit now offers. Ashley is a graduate of Dartmouth and Tuck Business School, a former bike racer, former Wall Street captive and possessor of entrepreneurial spirit. She was president of Merlin during the Titanium mountain bike heyday and served as the IMBA President working to sustain trail availability to everyone. Combine all that with the desire for a Moab lifestyle and an alternative view of a fulfilling career path, and you have the perfect recipe for the owner of a cycling tour company. Enter Mark. Mark is our charming, wicked-fit, voice of reason, miraculously lured from his ski town tradition to live in the desert. Ashley and Mark got married in 1999 in Moab and now run the company together.
Well, actually Kip runs the place. Kip is Ashley and Mark's young boy and he has his own bike helmet and chariot. He is also beginning to tear it up on the dirt with his training wheels.
Our office staff is comprised of mostly gals...and Mark. Thank goodness for Mark! Mark is our bike junkie and can be seen pedaling on a daily basis. Ashley makes the best backcountry bacon you will ever have, but definitely burns off those calories towing the little Kipster around town in his trailer. Anne Clare loves riding her road bike and hiking in the mountains. Sheri and Tonya both love the water and do their best to kayak 365 days a year. Emily is pretty "green". She is the founder of a non-profit organization, Community Rebuilds that promotes affordable and eco-friendly housing.
All of us have worked outdoors and are familiar with what you will experience on a Western Spirit trip. At any given time when you call you can talk to someone who has been on any trip that interests you. That's because we love to be out there too!
Our Philosophy
In our busy world, we often don't get to be outside enough. Even if you do, there's some phenomenon that just makes you want more. Nothing like going somewhere to make you realize all the other places you still need to go! Traveling outside makes you see Mars when it's the closest to earth it'll ever be, makes you smell the fragrant lupine covering the mountain slope, makes you feel the wind, see the perfect sunset, catch an eclipse of the moon, experience the herd of elk in the alpine meadow, and start to tell time by the location of the moon in the night sky.
What's that all worth in our busy world? Well, it is our world.
On all of our tours, we strive to protect our fragile mountain and desert environments. Many of our campsites are remote and unimproved, and we seek to leave them better than we found them.
Meals
Food is one thing we take pretty seriously. Our guides are great backcountry chefs and your trip includes all meals from lunch on first day to lunch on last day.
Support Vehicle
Our customized trucks and vans carry all of your gear as well as many camper comforts! We have the coolest custom F-450's in the industry. Our guides have incredible backcountry experience, but the best part is that they are all super friendly and look forward to a week of riding with you.
Campsites
We camp primarily in pristine locations where it's quiet, dark and peaceful. The finest morning view comes with a hot cup of cowboy coffee. All shuttles are included from our meeting place to the start of your ride. At the end of the trip we shuttle back to our meeting place.
Permits
Western Spirit Cycling, Inc. operates under special use permits from the USDA Forest Service in the Boise, Coronado, Dixie, Grand Mesa, Gunnison, Kaibab, Manti La Sal (Moab and Monticello Ranger Districts), San Juan, Sawtooth, Sierra Vista, Uncompahgre, Challis, Clearwater, Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Caribou-Targhee, Black Hills, Mount Hood, Umpqua, Nantahala, White Mountain, Monongahela, and Pisgah National Forests and by Dakota Prairie Grasslands. As well as under permits issued by the Bureau of Land Management in the San Juan Resource Area; Henry Mountain Field Station; Moab, Arizona Strip and Grand Junction Field Offices; Grand Staircase National Monument; and by Bryce, Zion, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, Crater Lake and Blue Ridge Parkway National Parks. Western Spirit is a concessionaire in Canyonlands National Park.