White Rim Road Questions

Hey y'all, I know there's probably a few dozen questions asked about the White Rim Road but this is our first off-roading trip and I just wanted to make sure we had everything we needed before we took off.

1. We have a stock TRD OR, will it be doable without a lift kit?
2. How is the dispersed camping on 313? Is it highly sought after and most likely we won't get a spot? Or if we get there early in the day, should we be able to get something?
3. Unfortunately due to availability, we could only book our camping site at the Labyrinth B, which is darn close to the entrance/end (depending on which direction you go I suppose) of the road. I believe from the visitor center to the site it's about 75 miles, going clock-wise. Here's our plan:

1. Obtain our permit the day before
2. Get a camping spot at one of the dispersed camping on 313 the night before, and leave for the trail at 7AM right at sunrise, going clock-wise.
3. I think I read somewhere that you can go about 10 miles per hour if you take minimal breaks. That would leave us with arriving at the campsite ~8hrs after leaving, which would be around 5PM, with a few hours left till sunset.​

Again, this is our first off-roading trip, so we're nervous and excited at the same time, so welcoming any all advices. Thanks!

 

Definitely do-able in a stock truck. If it's your first time offroading you might want to try to get another 4x4 to come with if any issues come up, but with all the other groups that will be out there you won't be alone for very long should a problem occur. I would recommend leaving the visitor center at the start of twilight and drop down the switch backs as the sun rises. You'll want as much time as possible so get to your campsite since it's on the opposite end of the road. Grab the national geographic maps for island in the sky, moab north, and moab south. You might have to look around for dispersed camping depending on how busy moab is when you're there. But there should be plenty around, the sites just might not be exactly where you want.

 

@tetten Thanks for your suggestion! Any advice for running the road in such a short time? Do you think we'll have time to swing by White Crack at all?

 

Hard to say if you'll have time for it. There are stretches where there isn't much to look at where you might want to try to drive through at a quicker pace than other areas. You could make up time on the boring stretches to get extra time to be able to stop at the scenic areas.

In my opinion the eastern stretch of the road is more scenic than the western, so if you end up taking too long on the eastern stretch and drive the western stretch in the dark you won't be missing as much.

If you haven't already, you should pick up a portable 12v air compressor and a tire plug kit as well.

If you aren't familiar with your rear differential locker, read up on it and try it out before needing it. It's been a while since I've run the white rim, but the last time I was there there were a couple spots on the eastern stretch where there's a small chance a stock truck might need to use it. I think those areas were next to the potash farm, so if you go in through the switch backs you'll avoid them.

 

What are the dates of your trip? We just secured permit and overnight campsite for September. We are also first timers on this road.

 

@papagallo it was back in early May so the trip has already happened! It was amazing but definitely long and exhausting (we had to drive ~80 miles the first day).

 

Sounds Grand!. How long did it take to do that 80 mile day? With Stops? How fast were you traveling? We are starting at the east side (Shafer Rd.?) camping at gooseberry. Right now we have the option to stay two nights at Gooseberry before a long day to exit on the westside . Im going to try to swap that second camping night location for another further west on the road. Otherwise it'll be more or less what you did, (hence my questions)
Thanks!