Outside Grand Teton NP

Shafer Trail in Canyonlands NP

Yellowstone NP buffalo

Rocky Mountains NP moose

Great Sand Dunes NP

Old Faithful

North rim at Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP

We left Los Angeles at noon and didn't stop until six states (CA, NV, AZ, UT, ID and WY) later arriving at Yellowstone around 6am the next morning. After that, in order, we hit Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Great Sand Dunes, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Canyonlands, Arches, Mesa Verde and Joshua Tree. I wish I had staged more pics with the G, but it just wasn't in my mind. I was too distracted by all the beauty...

 

Looks like a great trip..!
Here I am at Shafer trail in Moab, I completed the White Rim trail that day.


As for the upcoming trip, I'll be heading out at the end of August. I'm hoping to get a few Jeep buddies to go with me, and we're going to take part of the Continental Divide trail up from just northwest of Albuquerque up to around the Silverton area:
Overland Routes: NM and the Continental Divide

Once we get to the San Juan Mountains, we'll do the Alpine Loop, Imogene and Ophir Passes, and maybe Black Bear (if the weather is good and I'm feeling up to it that day). From there, we'll go over to Moab (hopefully through the Mt. Peale area) and do a few of the easy-moderate trails (Chicken Corner, Gemini Bridges, Onion Creek, etc.). Then if time allows we may head up to the Yellowstone area for a few days before heading home. Alternatively, we may head back to northern Colorado to check out some of the nicer ski resorts (and that Dinosaur fossil park).

 

That's awesome! I ended up taking Potash Road to get back to the 279 due to lack of sunlight. I wish I had more time to explore... How was White Rim? I've done a lot of research on it and it seems like a real trek. You must've gotten on the road pretty early to complete it in a day.

 

White Rim was good, as you say it's a long trail right around 100 miles from start to finish. We did start early, I think that picture was taken around 8am and we didn't finish until around 6-6:30pm. We did stop about 5 or 6 times along the way at various points, but didn't stay longer than about 10 minutes at each location. As you can tell, we went clockwise from Shafer trail, and when you start out at the Ranger station, they tell you that if you don't reach the Gooseberry camp location by 11:00am, then you want to make it an "out and back" drive, otherwise if you get there by that time you're making good time and can continue on. There's no rule about driving it at night, just your driving skills and willingness to do so... He said as long as you keep moving, you're not considered "camping" and so don't need an overnight permit. Otherwise, you just go online and get the free one-day vehicle pass and have that permit number with you. Also take lots of water, at least 1 gallon per person, just in case.

The trail itself is awesome, amazing views of the Colorado and Green rivers and a few challenges like Murphy's Hogback and Hardscrabble hill. Large drop-offs and rock formations, but there's only a few points where you need to get close to the edge of the trail. You can lose sight of the trail sometimes, but people have marked it off with rocks most of the way. I hear of people going counter-clockwise, but almost all traffic goes clockwise and I would recommend that, since going up Murphy's would be easier than going down Murphy's for sure. I hear camping is good, although the biting flies and mosquitoes in warm weather can be very bad.

It's do-able in one long day, assuming good weather, not a lot of traffic (there can be a lot of mountain bikers out there) and you have to keep moving with just a handful of breaks. We went in October so it wasn't hot and the weather was perfect all day.

 

More pictures in case anyone is interested in going... The trail is mainly sand and dirt with rocks, though I imagine if it rains it would be more challenging. 4WD is good to have, but high clearance is not really necessary, never came close to scraping anything.