Southeastern Utah Tour, March 22 2026

I woke up late on Sunday and had a quick breakfast. I wanted to see the Broken Arch before leaving Arches NP. I had thought from the name that the Broken Arch was an example of a collapsed arch, but found when I reached it that it merely meant there was a fissure at the peak of the arch.

Broken Arch from the north

Broken Arch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sand Dune Arch

Crows near Balanced Rock

Tapestry Arch

 

 

 

 

I continued on the loop past the Tapestry Arch and back to the campground. Before leaving the park, I stopped at the pull-out for the Sand Dune Arch, and went to visit that one as well. The Sand Dune Arch is well-named, since most of the trail leading to it is fairly deep sand.

Balanced Rock

On my way out of the Park, I stopped to photograph the Balanced Rock. I was amused to see crows sitting on the rock next to the Turret Arch. Humans all around were admiring these wonders of Nature, while to the crows it was a perch like any other. (Except, I had been told, that the crows in the park had gotten quite aggressive about flying into the open windows of cars, to see if park visitors had any snacks to share with their corvid friends.)

For the next phase of my adventure, I stopped at the visitor center to see if a permit was required for my bike trip. Signs at the top of the Shafer trail which I had seen the previous day implied that this was the case. But the Ranger explained that a permit was required only if I planned to go along the White Rim Trail.  My goal for the day was to go to Thelma and Louise Point and return, so a permit was not required.

I also inquired where I should leave the camper while bicycling down the Shafer Trail. For this, I was told I should leave it at the Shafer Trail Overlook, which I did. But this turned out to be a bum steer. There is a parking lot just below the rim of the canyon which would have saved me 4 miles of cycling and 20 minutes.

Switchbacks on the Shafer Trail

The level section

The Shafer Trail is a well-maintained road. It had a few washboards, but I was able to coast down easily to the level section that runs for about half a mile just below the rim. From there, I had a good view of the steep section with switchbacks that lay ahead. From the top of the switchbacks, it was all downhill to the Shafer Camp and beyond, so it took very little effort to reach the bottom of the canyon.

In the switchbacks

It was already hot when I reached the junction with the Potash Road. I took the left branch down the Potash Road. It drops down a bit and passes the Shafer Campsite, where I stopped for a snack. The road follows the wash at the bottom of the canyon for some distance, alternating between rock shelves and deep sand. I decided that it would be too difficult to bring the truck down past that point, so there was no chance of my completing the loop following the Potash Road back to Moab. However, I was sure that the truck could make it as far as the junction with the White Rim Road, so I was forming a plan to bring the truck down there the following day.

Colorado River from the Gooseneck Overlook

Thelma and Louise Point is in the middle distance 

The White Rim is 1300' below the overlook, but still some 2000' above the level of the river. At the Gooseneck Overlook, one can see all the way down to the water. By the time I reached there, it was pretty hot. But I decided to press on to Thelma and Louise Point before eating my lunch.

Grand View Point

I went on to where I thought it must be. There were many jeep tracks leading toward the rim. Much of the vegetation that appears in the film had been erased by every-which-way explorations by 4WDs and ATVs. (The point lies outside the park boundary, so there is less concern about preserving vegetation, etc.) I'm not sure I found the exact spot where the final scene of the film was shot, but I must have crossed it a few times.

The panorama from Thelma and Louise Point

 

 

After satisfying my quest, I found some shade under a large rock and had my lunch. Then, I started back toward the rim. At the bottom of the wash, I encountered three young women in a Subaru Legacy with New York plates that were considering how to pass the rather challenging spot where the road leaves the wash. There was a rise of about 3 feet of sand as the road climbed out of the wash on the right side. I stood in front of the car and attempted to guide them through on what I thought was the best angle. What actually happened was that the right front tire buried itself 6" in the sand on that side. That resulted in the left rear wheel rising an equal distance above the sand on its side. The airborne wheel spun, and no further progress could be made.

The two passengers got out and surveyed the situation. I helped them push the car backward onto the flat. Rather than making another attempt, they decided it was time to turn around. I assumed that they had things under control, and resumed my bike ride. I thought maybe I should have stayed to make sure they got out of the tricky section. But soon enough, they passed me -- asking if I needed anything as they went by.

This became a theme as I toiled back up the slope to the rim of the canyon. In every other car that passed me, someone leaned out and asked if I needed anything. I was delighted by how friendly people were along the way.

After I passed the Shafer Camp on the way back, I got the idea that it would be a nice place to camp. And I surely could get the truck that far down into the canyon. It would be a good jumping-off point for my drive along the White Rim the following day. When I had inquired the previous day, the site was the only one along the White Rim that was open, but there was a good chance that it was still available. With that in mind, I put my best effort into biking up out of the canyon and getting to the visitor center before it closed.

Just before reaching the first switchback, I was overheating. So I had to get off the bike and walk for a short distance. But after resting in the shade for a few minutes, I was able to contine. I reached the visitor center with about 20 minutes left before closing time and asked about the Shafer Campsite. The ranger said she had just sold it minutes ago. Had I parked at the top of the Shafer Trail rather than 2 miles further south....

As it turns out, it made very little difference in how my Monday return to the Canyonlands turned out. But it did leave me in need of a campsite. The ranger recommended that I look for a place to pull off of the Willow Flats Road. But as I was driving away from the park, I saw a sign for the Cowboy (BLM) Campground. I turned in and found one site open. So I pulled in the camper and started setting up for the night.

As I was cooking dinner, I noticed an older couple drive around the loop -- obviously looking for a place to camp. My site was large enough to share, but I thought of making the offer only after they had started driving away. No matter. About an hour later another couple came along the drive and I invited them to share my site.

After they had set up their camper and had dinner, they built a fire in the fire ring. I introduced myself and we chatted for an hour or so. They were from Grand Junction and had bought their first house about a year ago. They were in the process of fixing it up. So we had lots of "why would they do that?" stories to share. They had been driving over to eastern Utah for several years, and said they always found some new scenery to enjoy.