Mountain Biking the White Rim: A Journey Through Canyonlands' Rugged Grandeur

It was late October, and the long nights of fall were growing deeper and darker with every passing day. Even though the sun was setting dramatically earlier and earlier each evening, thanks to crystal-clear skies, we'd sit in our camp chairs for hours into the night, gazing up at the Milky Way and a brilliant array of stars, planets, satellites, and comets creating an awe-inspiring display in a dome over our heads. Deep in Canyonlands National Park, there's as close to zero light pollution as you'll find anywhere in the world, and with no humidity in the air, the stargazing with the naked eye was incredible!

I spend as much of my life in the wilderness as possible—whether it's the deserts of Utah, the mountains of Colorado, or much further afield. While I enjoy stargazing well enough, I can only do so much of it before I'm ready to crack open a book. But two of the other guys on this trip—a four-day guided mountain bike ride along the White Rim road with Western Spirit Cycling—were from New York City, and they had never visited the Utah desert before. Actually being able to see the stars—much less the majestic hazy swath of the Milky Way soaring in an arc above our heads—was an incredible novelty that they couldn't get enough of. Canyonlands National Park is a certified dark sky park, and some outfitters even run multi-day (or is it multi-night?) stargazing tours in the park. While stargazing wasn't our primary objective, it was an incredible layer of beauty and awe on top of an already stupendous trip. 

On the best of nights, I can only sleep 8 hours at most. Crawling into the tent by 9am meant early mornings for me, so I got to watch the desert go to sleep every evening and wake up every morning. As first light began to hit the majestic rock formation of Airport Tower, dominating the skyline behind our first campsite of the trip, I gazed in wonder as the red of the rocks came out in vibrant colors, with Jupiter still shining brightly in the sky next to it. As I walked down to the White Rim and peered into the canyon below, the sun crested the distant mountain range, flooding the landscape with golden light.

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The White Rim is an intriguing geological formation of white rock in an otherwise red and orange landscape. This hard layer of rock forms the upper rim of most of the majestic canyons from whence the national park receives its name. Over the course of four days, we mountain biked along a rugged jeep road that follows this layer of rock, punctuated only by short, steep climbs up and over ridges that block the way. The road was originally built by uranium miners prospecting in this area back in the 40s and 50s before the area was designated as a national park in 1964, thereby protecting the land from further resource extraction.

At 337,597 acres, Canyonlands reigns as the largest national park in Utah—protecting a landscape so vast and so majestic that it's tough to comprehend. As I watched the sunrise on all three of the mornings spent deep in the wilderness of Canyonlands, I realized that the point of this mountain bike trip wasn't rad singletrack ripping, and it wasn't cranking out as many miles as possible. Instead, the entire point is to simply immerse yourself in the raw, majestic beauty of the remote Utah desert—a wilderness so unique and so inspiring that people travel from all over the world to experience it. Indeed, one of the other guests on the trip had flown in from Vienna to ride the White Rim with us.

White Rim Logistics

The stats for the White Rim ride aren't too intimidating: the classic loop covers a bit over 100 miles and 7,000 feet of climbing, and we'd only be doing the best 80 miles of it over the course of 4 days. The lack of technical terrain and even the possibility of riding an ebike on the road makes this trip accessible "for everyone," according to Western Spirit mountain bike guide Gus Klein. "I think that's probably why it is such a popular trip—because it's not super technical, so it's super appealing to a large audience of people."

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But what the ride lacks in physical difficulty, it more than makes up for in logistical complexity.

Due to the lack of water sources on the route, the White Rim spawned the concept of vehicle-supported mountain bike rides back in the late 80s and early 90s. Most riders on the route utilize a support vehicle of some sort to carry water, food, and camping gear, freeing you up to ride with a light daypack instead of a heavily loaded bike.

Further complicating matters is the ride's location in a national park and the White Rim's international fame as one of the original multi-day mountain bike trips. Any travel on the White Rim—even a single-day ride—requires a permit. And if you choose to camp in the national park, you'll need a permit/reservation for each specific campsite that you'll plan to camp in. While plenty of people will wrangle the logistics themselves, choosing to book a tour with a professional guide company removes the headache and makes the trip so much more relaxing. Of all the concessionaries that operate tours in Canyonlands National Park, Western Spirit is arguably the best company that you could ever book a trip through.

"Western Spirit [trips] are an interesting cross between a luxury getaway and a backcountry expedition," reflected Claire Bredar, mountain bike guide for Western Spirit Cycling. "On some trips, we'll be outside chopping food, making a gourmet meal, while it's pouring rain or hailing, and the guests will be hunkered down in their tents," she said with a laugh.

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When Claire references "gourmet" food, she's not exaggerating. I've never eaten so well, so far off the grid, as I did on this four-day expedition with Western Spirit. In fact, I honestly don't eat nearly this well for all three meals of the day in a normal week at home. Full stop. On the White Rim, we enjoyed superb meals three times per day, including during the middle of our rides, as we were able to rendezvous with our support vehicle multiple times throughout each day. After cranking out many miles on the hot, dusty road, pulling up to the big red truck, and seeing either Claire or Gus already in motion, setting up the table, prepping a delicious spread, with the beer cooler already propped up on the tailgate—does it get any better than that?!

Mountain Biking the White Rim

With all of the tough parts taken care of by Western Spirit, life on the White Rim was downright blissful. I'd wake up early in the morning and watch the sunrise, followed by a delicious breakfast. We'd spend most of the day pedaling along a sandy, rocky, road with gorgeous views of rock formations flooding our senses for hours on end. Around every corner, a new rock formation emerged—deep canyons, massive rock walls, towering spires, natural arches, and narrow slot canyons.