White Rocks trailhead

want to go

Notes from visits

• • Trailhead is via BLM 435 - may be a 4wheel drive road (another source says TH is via K7065, which is an "easy dirt road" (ask at Contact Station)
  • Provides access to lower/upper White Rocks area (about a 4 hour loop) to see colorful hoodoos and provides access to Sidestep Canyon to the east (an area of slots and mushroom formations) 
  • White rocks loop - 
    • Follow "Way to Hoodoos" on Gaia up to Zebra hoodoo area; then backtrack and work way up to "Hoodoos White Rock" and the top of the mesa; from here can look over into Sidestep canyon (but finding a way down there is hard; to get to Sidestep - which has interesting mushroom formations and slots like Blue Wonder, go up Sidestep canyon from the Wahweap Hoodoos side)
    • Easiest way back to car is to follow jeep trail and walk cross country (follow green line on Gaia) to point where can cross wash back to car. Can also go down White Rocks Slot Canyon, but there may be a spot without a ladder that is hard to get over; would need webbing or ability to backtrack if necessary.
    • Excellent for sunset photos
  • Sidestep Canyon - 
    • Follow green, then yellow track cross country to way points to drop into the wash (path up a sand dune that can be easily seen from a distance); explore Sidestep from there
    • (per The Wave link below) Lower Sidestep can also be accessed by hiking up Wahweap Creek until the confluence with the West Fork and then hiking up the West Fork. This route is long and generally uninteresting until you reach the upper section of the West Fork. The route is 10-11 sandy but flat miles round trip from the Wahweap Creek trailhead. The 10-11 miles does not include any room for exploration.
    • Seldom Seen Adventures runs trips to Sidestep (and Blue Wonder slot)
  • See Photographing the Southwest vol 1 (The White Rock)

More info

• View on Google Maps
• https://www.thewave.info/UpperWhiteRocksCode/Map.html
• http://stanwagon.com/wagon/utah/pagebluewonderredtop/pagebluewonderredtop.html