Campground · Canyonlands National Park
Two river campsites, deep on the demanding White Rim loop.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Canyonlands Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Canyonlands National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Canyonlands audio tourMore stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Hardscrabble is a two-site backcountry campground on the Green River side of White Rim Road in Canyonlands’ Island in the Sky district. Keep it for a multi-day drive through the canyon, not a standalone stop: the National Park Service lists it about 70 miles and 9.5 driving hours from the Island in the Sky Visitor Center, on a 100-mile loop that usually takes two or three days.
The name covers Hardscrabble A and B. Each site allows up to 15 people and three vehicles; the park lists two toilets for the pair but doesn’t specify their type. The sites are generally spaced out of sight and earshot. The river-and-canyon setting is the payoff, and visitors have reported dark skies and wildlife near camp, though neither is guaranteed.
White Rim travel requires a permit; an overnight also needs an overnight permit and a reservation at a designated site. You need a high-clearance 4WD vehicle with low range. The route is long, rocky and sandy, and nearby Hardscrabble Hill is steep and exposed, so this is a slow, committed drive. There’s no potable water along White Rim Road, and pets and campfires are prohibited. Spring and fall permits are in high demand, so reserve well ahead.
Wildlife
48 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
47 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
30 sightingsWestern RattlesnakeMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
18 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
18 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Canyonlands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateFort Bottom Trail3.4 mi · 2 hr · 0.7 mi awayA narrow mesa walk to an ancient tower above the Green River.
ChallengingUpheaval Canyon Trail7 mi · 3.5 hr · 1.2 mi awaySeven miles round trip along a remote, sandy canyon wash.
ModerateUpheaval Dome Overlooks Trail1.2 mi · 1.5 hr · 4.8 mi awayA short, steep climb to colorful folded rock and canyon views.
ChallengingUpheaval Crater Trail9.2 mi · 7.5 hr · 4.9 mi awayA strenuous 9.2-mile out-and-back into Upheaval Dome's crater floor.
ChallengingSyncline Loop Trail8.1 mi · 6 hr · 4.9 mi awayA demanding loop of steep descents, sand and boulder scrambles.
Sight · 1.4 mi awayFort Bottom RuinA stone tower above a sweeping bend of the Green River.
Campground · 1.6 mi awayLabyrinth Camping AreaTwo remote campsites on a rugged, permit-only White Rim trip.
Campground · 2.2 mi awayPotato Bottom Camping AreaA remote overnight for a long, demanding White Rim trip.
Sight · 4.6 mi awayUpheaval DomeA three-mile-wide geologic mystery, seen from two steep overlooks.Parkwolf’s Canyonlands ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
