Crazy Switchbacks & Huge Drop Off Canyonlands to Moab Utah on Shafer Trail (4x4 Vehicle Trail)
Crazy Tight Switchbacks and Huge Drop Off in the Moab Desert! We took my 2019 Toyota Tundra on Shafer Trail (connected to White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park) from Canyonlands to Moab Utah. The switchbacks in the road at the beginning are absolutely awesome but will definitely get to the nerves of passengers and those who are afraid of heights. This trail/road drops roughly 1000 feet in a matter of about 6 switchbacks and the total elevation change on the trail (over about 20 miles) is around 3100 feet. Dropping down from the Island In the Sky (portion of Canyonlands) into the massive canyon below you will find the Colorado River which has spent an enormous amount of time carving through this landscape. Shafer Trail and White Rim Trail were originally used for mining vehicles and equipment during the height of the Cold War to extract Uranium from the landscape for Nuclear Weapons. You can look across the landscape from Island In The Sky and still see scars on the landscape from what used to be roads accessing mines which have not yet recovered since the early 60's. It can take many decades for the desert to heal from such damage.