Drive the Shafer Trail -Canyonlands Island in the Sky to Moab- 

"As a cyclist I stop to see if he needed water and food" That's why i love the biking community

Drove this today. Few things I’d add for anyone thinking of taking their SUV down this. 1. There is a fair amount of traffic these days on it, and it is not that easy to pass people near the top, especially if you get nervous with a tire a foot from the edge. I had to back up once to make it passed someone. 2. The lower part of the trail in springtime before crews fix winter damage is very rough. Your suspension will get a workout. 3. If you don’t use low gear on the steep down sections you are likely to hurt your vehicle.

this video was done very well. my brother just came back from there and loved it so i had to see what he was talking about.

Thanks for sharing your adventures, I love your videos!

Thank you for sharing, very good production!

This was a perfect video my man! You explained everything in depth and kept things moving along. Hats off.

The old Uranium roads were NOT "scars" on the landscape! They are an integral part. Thanks for the ride, enjoyed it!

I agree, this video was great! Thanks very much for sharing. Can’t wait to do those trails!

Excellent video, great information

I did potash to shafer and the complete white rim trail in 2002. Took 2 days, I camped in my tent partway around. What an amazing experience, it was quiet then too, very little traffic at all. Oldtimer Englishman reliving one of many trips through canyonlands and the four corners area whilst watching your vid. Many thanks.

Wanted to thank you for this awesome video on Shafer. We just completed this run today in our 2018 JL Sahara... Your video shows going down into the switchbacks from Canyonlands park, we came from Moab, and turned onto Utah 279 to Potash... on this road is where we just happened across the Petroglyphs, they were very visible in the morning sun. As we came into Potash, we weren't entirely sure of the path when we got to the turn into town across the tracks, we simply bared left and then we were on our way onto the Shafer Trail and Potash Rd. We eventually ended going up the switchbacks, meeting 2 Rubicons and 2 "luxury" SUVs coming down. made for an interesting dance on the narrow path, but everyone was courteous and patient... Again, thanks, it made a big difference on what to watch fo

Man !!! This video was beautiful and educational. Im going to Moab soon so this video came in handy . Another must see !

Thanks for taking the time to make this video. Looks like a fun drive.

just amazing beauty, Thanks for the ride.

It so beautiful!!!

Thanks for sharing your adventures.

For pure information, this is the best video I have watched about Utah. Good job, and thanks.

Fantastic job on this. Great info, footage, and narration

I love your Intermountain videos. As child 1950-1960s all our family did was ski at Alta and hunt fish camp all over the Intermountain Az, Nm, Ut, Co, Wy, Id, and Montana. As still today at 70. Thank you to bring up my memories!!!!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸❤️❤️❤️🏉🥊😉

Great video! I've driven this route a handful of times, and have always preferred this drive starting on the opposite end. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Great video. I drove it in 2003 and have always wanted to go back. Beautiful scenery.

Ridden this many times on motorcycle & driven it in my Subaru Outback. Beautiful always, especially when it's raining.

I am planning a trip to Utah this September.I would like to drive all these trails.Great video and info .Thank you.

This was a good reminder, my first 25 years was driving roads like this.

We did this in August 2019 in a rental slightly by accident - I said "I want to go down there!" - and I have never been more terrified in my life but never more pleased that we did it when we got to the canyon floor. It is prehistoric down there and so worth it

Extremely informative. Thanks! This video was done right and it helped me a lot.

Amazing video sir, all the info I needed for my trip there next week

At 9:10 is a drop off to the river, no chance for error, stay close to the cliff face, especially after rain erosion on the downhill side. . At the first river overlook in this video is where the final scene of Thelma & Louise was filmed, where they jump off the cliff into the "Grand Canyon".

Great video, just awesome!

I am so glad i found your page!

This looks like an interstate compared to when I was down there both trails and an overnight trip on the white rim trail. I enjoyed your video, thank you. 😊

I love Moab!!! You didn’t even touch on the rock crawling with jeeps and bicycles. Good video!!!

Professional.....accurate.... Very informing....Great video with sub titles....multi views,one of the best...This is the type of video that you actually see on public T.V. productions.

Thank you for incredible video

Fantastic video sir! Very well explained, excellent descriptions of the pros and cons of the drive, great filming quality. I've been to Moab but had never heard of this until recently... looking forward to hopefully returning out west this summer! Cheers

Excellent video! I LOVE MOAB and this is my favorite trail. Just went all the way through last week and trail conditions are rough. A lot of ruts have formed from recent heavy rains.

Thanks for the video. I lived in Moab from 1990 thru 1998. Did many 4wd trails in my 4x4 Chevy pu truck, but not the Shafer.

That was nice, thank you! Usually I get motion sick watching driving but I feel fine! 🌎

What a crazy, beautiful drive! I'll be visiting this area soon, but I'm not sure if I could do it, but I really enjoyed this video. Very informative.

I drove this pulling a open bed trailer as a sag wagon for my husband and a bunch of guys. Scared the crap out of me!

Hiya.. Fantastic !!! Well done . Thank you..

Great video! I wished I had seen it BEFORE I visited Canyonlands last week!

Thanks for the video! Plan on visiting the area this October and do some adventuring in my Chevy Colorado.

Your video is so good. I enjoyed your video. I've been to Moab with my wife a log time ago. This brings back so many memories! And I'm a beginner on youtube, so I can learn a lot from your video. Thank you.

Really well made video and commentary!

A young couple years ago told my friend Harry and I about Moab. They said even though it was a long drive from where we were that it was worth it! They were right! Moab is an awesome place with amazing views of the Colorado River, Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point, Arches National Park and the town is pretty cool as well. I remember we were sitting outside at I believe was an Italian Restaurant and watching the people walk by. Really nice! It's a place you have to visit and see!

Outstanding.

Great video...thank .

Appreciate you shared this

We did that in 2019, coming from the Moab side. Highlight of our trip.

Very good video my man !!!

Utah is a beautiful state.

I been there, it was so much FUN! I went with my friend, he's from Utah and he was so familiar with the trail

I drove that road a few years ago...I wasn't scared or intimidated...just ready to soil my shorts...

i just finished the shafer and potash road drive. parts of it were almost impassable. i drove me f150 that has many offroad upgrades is why i got through. there are many, many places only wide enough for one vehicle. the drive required over 4 hours of intense driving with very occasional outhouses to use. this is the most challenging off road drive i have ever taken and would never repeat it.

Just drove this today. My knuckles are still white. Had a rental Hyundai Tucson that we drove from Kentucky. This was not planned, just saw the road at the bottom and asked how to get down. Scary to say the least. My wife had tears...lol..Most beautiful drive I've ever taken.

Wow! Thanks so much. I hope we'll be able to do this drive when we are there in May 2024.

We did this last August and it was simply the most terrifying thing I've ever done but it was so worth it.....

We did the trail last summer in a half ton crew cab pickup and there was little space between drop off and cliff wall in some spots and going around the switch backs was terrifying. I will never do that decent again in a pickup! Maybe a small SUV or a Jeep. Hope to return this summer and plan to drive in on the Potash Road from Moab on the canyon floor.

I biked it up in 35 minutes several years ago, never stopping - that was actually my aim.

Браво! Благодаря!

The Shafer Trail climb is a wonderful way to end a mountain bike tour of the White Rim, slow and steady, not too strenous!!! Thanks to Rim Tours for a relaxing 4 days!!!

Very cool, I miss your videos.

you need a park reservation to use the white rim trail. been on these trails back in 1998 with my 77 toyota FJ40. seldom need the 4wd but clearance yes. check out the poison strip and highlands area.

You are a great host! I struggle with hosting in my own videos, but hopefully practice will improve it. Great video and new subscriber!

You might not have been scared your first time, but I soiled myself just watching the video, 10x speed is intense

Very informative and well done! Once you got to the Gooseneck Overlook, how much time did it take from there to return to Moab? And how much time would it have taken if you turned around and went uphill instead?

The White Rim, Shafer Trail, and Potash Road all require all wheel drive or better. The White Rim in particular requires all wheel up to Musselman Arch, then true four wheel drive (and a free day permit) to go any further.

Very interesting, fun , informative and educational.. very professional.. Thanks for doing this.I need to study this more if Im to do this solo on my Sprinter MB 4x4 high top.. I heard Utah sand is tricky when it rains, true.. whats the best mos. to do this.

It’s my absolute dream to drive the Shafer Trail. Visited Canyonlands last weekend for the first time. Unfortunately I drive a 2WD Mazda3 hatchback which I love but it wouldn’t stand a chance on this trail. We will be back though, with a better equipped vehicle.

I could never drive that road 😮!!

We were there but didn’t think we could go on it.

we did this drive in reverse from you. unknown to us how rough it would be we made the whole drive in a Nissan Sentra. I gained a few gray hairs on that drive! also, it was more like your 2013 drive in March of 2022

Great video, thanks so much. Can you confirm that you were in a 2 wheel drive SUV (5:12)? The NPS website still says that only 4 wheel drive vehicles are allowed on Shafer road, but maybe that's out of date.

If you haven't driven the Shafer-Potash Trail you haven't really experienced Moab. Try Long Canyon and Pucker Pass too. It is off Hwy 279 just after the Indian Drawings.

Very informative! Did you air down your tires before tackling this?

This is Jim's wife Karen and we did Shafer yesterday. It may have been a piece of cake for you, but it was the scariest thing I have ever done and it seemed pretty narrow to me. I have broken down in many African countries, but I would rather do that than do this road. My husband was driving of course......so I got to see the drop off the cliff. I admit though, it wasn't as scary going up....maybe because I didn't look. Just call me a wimp.

Great video, wonderful place😍. What king of device do you use to film from the car?

Thanks for your video. Don't think that I am crazy. Last night I copied screen at 11:30 and then enlarged it . WOW what a video you have, faces are all over that screen, even at the top of the mountain( in front of that white cloud).At least I saw 10 faces on that screen. It is hard to see but they are there. Easiest one to see are those two top of the mountain faces in front of that white cloud. For many years my hobby is watching videos like yours, ancient pictures and faces on mountains on arid and rainless climates. There have been videos that even the uploader was not aware of the faces that I saw on the mountains even top of the mountains, and then uploader commented back : "WOW i didn't see that, there is another one like that on Zion"s national parK"!! Btw first i copy the still picture of the screen and then enlarge it, totally different from normal screen , you will see faces that you don't see it normally.

This is an easy, epic, must do drive if you are in the area. It's easy to do with a crossover (due to them typically having a bit more clearance than a car), but yes, you can do it in a car if you use some common sense while driving. Watch a few videos, and just drive slowly and in control. I did the White Rim Trail first. I have a GMC Sierra w/ about a 4 in lift, but the majority of both White Rim and Shafer do not require 4 wheel drive. The biggest thing to get over will be if you start in Canyonlands and 'drop in' as this video shows-the decent is steep, but nothing like some of the climbs and descents you'd see on the White Rim Trail in a few places. The trail is plenty wide-we even watched a crossover turn around from across the canyon-the wife apparently wasn't having it! There are a few spots you'll have to wait at if someone else is coming up the steep switch backs-but you can see them coming from miles away-so pull off where you feel comfortable. Don't miss out on the scenery b/c of the one steep section!! This is a great portion of a day trip that requires no permits (White Rim does for overnight use) and will be a memorable experience!

cant wait to take my FJ

Hey thanks for the wonderful introdution and film footage, a question if I may, we will be renting a Dodge Ram 1500, would that vehicle be ok for this trail? Or, should we just pucker up and rent a Moab jeep and relax? Many thanks in advance of your considered opinion.

I drove it in 1979 or 1980 in a 1969 VW Karmann Ghia.

Unless its been raining a lot, you could do this "trail" with a Prius. Pretty sure last time I was camping on Shafer I saw a couple Toyota Highlanders driving around which should tell you how easy it is. Awesome views

What a great video and commentary...well done. What video editing software do you use. I am using Movie Studio 16 but looking for something else. We started going to Moab in 2012. In 2016 we did Potash one day and then White Rim Road the next...I wish we had taken two days to do White Rim but knocked it out in one. We have a '94 YJ with a 3" body lift and running 31" tires and it does pretty well. We enjoy Long Canyon and have done it several times. You might want to rent a Jeep for that. Again, thanks for posting this well done video.

If it's a dry condition like this, do you think I can drive a 2020 hyundai elantra down the switchback and just turn around when the road splits at white rim? (Weather permitting)

Guardsman pass between SLC and park city is short, but scared me worse than Shafer! Maybe the car carcasses had something to do with it...

Do you recommend driving up the trail or down the trail?

ATV's are allowed, correct? GREAT stuff!

Do you think I can do this in a mid-size SUV like Toyota RAV4 or Jeep Compass in mid June?

Great information was there Indian tribes in this area ?

What are the gps coordinates of the balanced boulder on Potash road?

were you at arches national park today by chance?

What car make & modle do u drive ?

Is it 2wd friendly?? Cost to go on the trail??

I went crazy and did this trail with my Toyota Avalon.

The road is for two ways traffic? What happen when two cars meet?

At 11:16 those pictures are way too high on that rock , they must have been airborne when making those pictures

I have ridden the whole trail on a mountain bike

Were you driving a 4wd during this?