Canyonlands Day Use Gear Checklist

What shapes your gear on Canyonlands Day Use

What the permit covers

A separate day-use permit is needed for each vehicle, motorcycle and bike on four routes: White Rim, Elephant Hill, Lavender Canyon, and Peekaboo with Horse Canyon. Shafer Trail and Potash Road need none. ATVs, UTVs and OHVs are not allowed.

From Canyonlands National Park (NPS): Day-Use Permits

Release and cost

Online permits go on sale at 8 a.m. Mountain Time the day before, with a $6 Recreation.gov fee. Walk-in permits at visitor centers are free, and half of the 50 daily White Rim vehicle permits are held for them. The park entrance fee is separate. A trip with an early start that does not pass a visitor center needs the online permit.

From Canyonlands National Park (NPS): Day-Use Permits and Canyonlands National Park (NPS): White Rim Road

Daily limits

White Rim takes 50 vehicles and 50 mountain bikes a day, in groups of up to three vehicles or 15 bikes. Elephant Hill takes 24 vehicles and 12 mountain bikes, in groups of up to three vehicles or 12 bikes. Larger groups are spaced 30 minutes apart.

From Canyonlands National Park (NPS): Day-Use Permits

How long White Rim takes

The loop is 100 miles. Per the park, drivers usually need two to three days and bikers three to four, and anyone going in one day should budget at least 10 to 12 hours. The Singletracks trail page puts two days at monster and one day at lunatic.

From Canyonlands National Park (NPS): White Rim Road and Singletracks

Elephant Hill

The park calls it one of Utah's most technical four-wheel-drive roads. Expect tight turns, stair-step drops, loose rock and steep grades, plus awkward backing. Vehicles with trailers or racks cannot exceed 21 feet. The drive to Devils Kitchen is listed at two hours from the visitor center.

From Canyonlands National Park (NPS): Four-Wheel-Drive Roads in The Needles

Salt Creek and Lavender Canyon

The park says the Salt Creek and Horse Canyon road is often impassable from deep sand, deep water and quicksand. Lavender Canyon has two major creek crossings with steep banks and is too sandy for most bikes. A 2008 trip report says the gate padlock code came with the ranger-station day permit, and a 2016 report skipped the gate after the park listed the canyon as impassable from spring runoff.

From Canyonlands National Park (NPS): Four-Wheel-Drive Roads in The Needles, Adventr: A wet and cool weekend in the Needles (October 2008) and Adventr: Lavender Canyon (March 2016)

The cost of a breakdown

The park says people stuck with a disabled vehicle on White Rim can expect towing fees over $1,000, and on Needles roads towing usually costs over $1,500.

From Canyonlands National Park (NPS): White Rim Road and Canyonlands National Park (NPS): Four-Wheel-Drive Roads in The Needles

What hikers carry on Canyonlands Day Use

• At least a gallon of water per person

  The park says there is no potable water on White Rim and to bring at least 1 gallon (4 L) per person per day, more if active. Two riders who did the loop in a day strapped on 4.5 liters each and brought a filter, hoping not to use it because of cattle upstream on the Green River. A reviewer on a three day ride also said to carry all your water.

  From Canyonlands National Park (NPS): White Rim Road, PEARL iZUMi Journal and Singletracks

• A pump, spare CO2 and a repair plan

  Two riders left the rim lot with a single CO2 cartridge between them after each assumed the other had a pump. They begged another party for a second. The Singletracks trail page says the length of White Rim plus sand makes on-trail repairs likely, and a rider on a one day trip lost a crank bolt 50 miles in and pieced it back together with a washer and a chain-breaker bolt.

  From PEARL iZUMi Journal and Singletracks

• A headlamp and a warm layer for a long day

  The riders who finished White Rim in a day started in a chilly morning, reached the Shafer climb near dusk and got back to the car in full dark. The park's minimum is 10 to 12 hours of driving or riding.

  From PEARL iZUMi Journal and Canyonlands National Park (NPS): White Rim Road

• Skid plates, sliders and basic tools for Elephant Hill

  A Tacoma owner on his first four-wheel-drive road said his sliders and skids saved him damage, and the rear skid took the most punishment. He used no recovery gear but was glad he had overpacked tools. On another trip a Jeeper ripped a roof rack off on a dead branch and tore a shock mount off the axle on the road to Chesler Park.

  From Tacoma World forum and Adventr: A wet and cool weekend in the Needles (October 2008)

• Tire deflators and a compressor

  A trail leader's group of Jeeps aired down in the trailhead sun before starting Elephant Hill and aired up again before the drive back to Moab.

  From TrailDamage.com

• A spotter, and a plan to back down switchbacks

  On the north side of Elephant Hill a trail leader says everyone backed down the switchbacks as the signs suggest, and found it easier than turning at the end of each one. A first-timer said a good spotter solves most tough spots before you get into them.

  From TrailDamage.com, Tacoma World forum and Canyonlands National Park (NPS): Four-Wheel-Drive Roads in The Needles

• A full tank before you turn off the highway

  A Tacoma owner met a waist-deep creek crossing near the Beef Basin road, had to backtrack for three extra hours, and credited a top-off at the Needles Outpost.

  From Tacoma World forum

• A way to cross a creek or a wet wash

  A Lavender Canyon camper found the wash alternating between wet and muddy and soft sand. The park warns of two major crossings with steep banks.

  From Adventr: Lavender Canyon (March 2016) and Canyonlands National Park (NPS): Four-Wheel-Drive Roads in The Needles

Gear questions for Canyonlands Day Use