Here are some general thoughts on our trip.

The weather for our trip was great - 50s at night and 80s in the day. I was told that it was usually warmer though.

We were able to get reservations with the information from the Canyonlands Web Site with no difficulty. In fact many of the camp sites were empty. Other times of the year are more popular and are often booked early.

The best travel guide for this trip that I know of is Michael Kelsey's "Hiking, Biking and Exploring Canyonlands National Park and Vicinity". Kelsey has a number of great books on Utah adventures. These are all available from the Back of Beyond bookstore on the main street in Moab.

The best map I have seen is the Trails Illustrated "Canyonlands National Park - Needles and Island in the Sky". This is from the National Geographic Maps series.

We decided to use clothing instead of sun tan lotion or bug spray. It worked great.

Light weight and light colored cotton shirts and pants are recommended. We stopped by a thrift store for some items. Button shirts are the coolest and you can protect your neck by turning up the collar.

Sun hats with chin straps (for the wind) and mossy hat nets kept our heads out of the sun and bugs. There were biting flies in the morning and evening at most locations. Along the river there were mosquitos all day and night long.

Even if you are pressed for time, you will probably have more time than vehicles. So take it easy and count on 5 mph.

You will need good tires on this trip. Also bring some extra antifreeze and engine oil. A full tank of gas should do fine since the White Rim Road loop is only about 100 miles long from Highway 313 and back again.

We put a 10# bag of cube ice and a 15# block into our standard sized cooler. It stayed cool for 4 days. Be sure to keep the cooler in the shade at your camps and keep it covered with a sleeping bag when on the road.

We took a gallon of water per person per day. This was a good amount and allowed for spartan body and dish washing.

We took plastic 3 and 5 gallon food containers to hold our water. These are usually available free of charge at the deli section in the larger grocery stores. Make sure they seal water well before you leave. There is a good spring located a few miles north of Maob - ask the locals for directions. What was really great about these containers is that you could stack them as they became empty or use them to hold your mounting trash.