Canyonlands Backcountry Tour: Shafer Trail & Petroglyphs

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/17

Duration4h 30m

GroupUp to 24

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

The canyon floor and the mesa top in one half-day, on roads most visitors never find.

A half-day guided backcountry tour of Canyonlands National Park from Moab takes you off the pavement into the park's rugged interior on an exclusive National Park Service permit route. You travel in a private 4x4 vehicle with a professional guide, stop to examine petroglyphs carved by Ancestral Puebloans, cross the White Rim to Musselman Arch, and climb the Shafer Trail switchbacks to the Island in the Sky mesa. The tour includes private transportation, bottled water and light snacks; children from age 1 are welcome, and groups over 6 travel in separate vehicles.

4h 30m

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Canyonlands backcountry highlights

Drive along Potash Road by Colorado River
View ancient petroglyphs on cliff walls
Stop at Musselman Arch overlook
Ascend Shafer Trail switchbacks to mesa top
Enjoy panoramic canyon views from mesa

The Experience

Potash Road carves along the Colorado River beneath towering red cliffs, and that's where most park visitors stop. This tour continues where the pavement ends. Your guide points out the geological layers exposed in the canyon walls—each one a chapter of earth's ancient history—and explains the natural forces that shaped the landscape. You'll stop frequently for photos, but there's little hiking; the vehicle does most of the work.

Along the way you stand beneath sheer cliffs where centuries-old petroglyphs left by ancient cultures are etched into the dark desert varnish. You cross the White Rim to view Musselman Arch, a striking flat-topped stone bridge that juts out over a 300-foot drop to the canyon floor. Then comes the Shafer Trail—a legendary series of dirt switchbacks that hug the cliffside. As you climb, the panoramic views widen with every turn until you reach the top of the Island in the Sky mesa, thousands of feet above the canyon floor.

The tour runs about four and a half hours. Your guide is a professional with deep knowledge of the region's natural and human history. Private transportation is included, along with bottled water and light snacks. If your group is larger than six, you'll travel in separate vehicles but stay together as one tour.

What’s included

Private 4x4 transportation throughout the tour.
bottled water and light snacks.
professional guide with expertise in the region's geology and human history.
pickup from your Moab location.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Moab Scenic Adventures

Is this one for you?Choose this if you want to explore the canyon floor and mesa in a single morning—your private 4x4 vehicle and guide access roads that remain closed to regular park traffic.