Shafer Trail · Gooseneck Overlook · Jeep Wrangler
Island in the Sky Tours
Adrift Adventures' half-day Jeep tour drops off the Island in the Sky mesa by the Shafer Trail switchbacks, past Ancestral Puebloan sites to the Gooseneck Overlook above the Colorado River. Morning or afternoon, about 30 miles from Moab.
- 4.9 / 5 518+ Reviews
- 4 hours Duration
- 4 hours Half-Day 4x4
- 1,000 ft Shafer Trail Climb
- Free Cancellation
The Experience
What the Island in the Sky Jeep Tour Covers
Adrift's half-day route, from the mesa top down to the river bends.
Highlights
- Down the Shafer Trail switchbacks off the Island in the Sky mesa
- Ancestral Puebloan sites and the Gooseneck Overlook above the Colorado River
- Jeep Wranglers with four passenger seats; the guide rotates everyone through them
- Morning or afternoon departures from Adrift's Moab office
What's Included
- Ice water and snacks
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Parking available at the office
- Experienced, knowledgeable guide
Not Included: Gratuities, Car infant seat (required by Utah State Law for children 8 years and younger or under 57 inches), Hotel pickup and drop-off, Lunch
How an Island in the Sky Tour Works
A short drive from Moab, a long way down, and one fee to sort out before you go.
Choose Morning or Afternoon
Adrift runs this tour as a morning or an afternoon departure. In summer the morning is cooler; in winter the afternoon is warmer and the low light suits the canyon walls.
Meet at Adrift's Office in Moab
The tour starts at Adrift Adventures, 378 N. Main St., next door to the Comfort Suites. There is parking at the office. Adrift asks you to reconfirm by phone the day before.
Bring Your Park Pass
Park entry is not in the tour price. Canyonlands charges $30 per private vehicle for 7 days (nps.gov, checked October 2026); on a tour you pay the per-person rate unless you hold an annual pass.
Expect Rough Road, Not Hiking
The Jeep Wranglers carry four guests and the guide rotates seats. The ride is bumpy and not suitable for spinal injuries or motion sickness; the walking is short.
Photo Gallery
Island in the Sky from the 4x4 Roads
Photos from the tour listing: the Shafer Trail, the mesa edge and the river far below.
Book Your Experience
Check Dates for the Island in the Sky 4x4
Dates, times and the live price open on the tour's Viator page.
Adrift Adventures
Canyonlands NP Backcountry 4x4 Jeep Tour (Morning or Afternoon)
- 4.9/5 from 518 reviews on Viator and Tripadvisor
- 4 hours
- From $210 per person (checked October 2026)
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
- Meets at Adrift Adventures, 378 N. Main St., Moab
Three Ways to Do Island in the Sky
Two half-day 4x4 tours and a narrated drive in your own car. Prices as listed on Viator in October 2026; park entry is extra on all three.
| Feature | THIS PAGE Adrift Jeep Tour | NAVTEC Land Cruiser Tour | Self-Guided Audio Drive |
|---|---|---|---|
| What You Pay | From $210 per person (October 2026) | From $240 per person (October 2026) | $14.44 for the whole car (October 2026) |
| Time | 4 hours, morning or afternoon | 4 hours | 1 to 2 hours of driving, at your own pace |
| Where It Goes | Down the Shafer Trail, Ancestral Puebloan sites, Gooseneck Overlook | Potash Road petroglyphs, the White Rim to Musselman Arch, up the Shafer Trail | The paved scenic drive: Mesa Arch, Green River Overlook and the viewpoints |
| Below the Rim? | Yes, by 4x4 | Yes, by 4x4 | No, paved roads only |
| Pickup | No; meet at Adrift's office on Main Street | From your Moab hotel or campground on request | Not applicable |
| Rating | 4.9 from 518 reviews | 4.9 from 1,132 reviews | 4.7 from 64 reviews |
| Check dates | See NAVTEC's tour | See the audio tour |
Other Ways Into Island in the Sky
More Island in the Sky Tours
Another half-day 4x4 on the White Rim, a helicopter over the mesa, and an audio tour for your own car.
PICKUP ON REQUESTCanyonlands National Park Backcountry Adventure
Half a day in a Land Cruiser from Moab: petroglyphs on Potash Road, the White Rim bench out to Musselman Arch, then the Shafer Trail switchbacks up onto the Island in the Sky mesa.
MUSSELMAN ARCHCanyonlands National Park Backcountry Tour
A half-day 4x4 tour that starts on Potash Road, stops at petroglyphs and Gooseneck Overlook, crosses the White Rim to Musselman Arch and climbs out by the Shafer Trail.
BY HELICOPTERIsland in the Sky & Canyon Country Heli Tour - 45 minutes
A 45-minute helicopter flight with a window seat for everyone, over Dead Horse Point, Thelma and Louise Point, the Potash ponds and the Island in the Sky district.
YOUR OWN CARCanyonlands National Park Self-Guided Driving Audio Tour
A GPS-triggered audio tour for your own car through Island in the Sky, with stops such as Mesa Arch and the Green River Overlook. One purchase covers the car; park entry is separate.
The Guide
Island in the Sky: The Top Is Paved, the Bottom Is Not
Why the half-day 4x4 tours all use the same few roads, and how to choose between them.
Island in the Sky is the mesa at the north end of Canyonlands, a flat-topped peninsula of rock standing on sheer sandstone cliffs more than 1,000 feet above the land around it (NPS). The visitor center is about 40 minutes from Moab. On top, a paved scenic drive runs out to Grand View Point with overlooks on both sides, and you can drive it in any car. Below the cliffs is a second level, the White Rim, and below that the Colorado and Green rivers. The tours exist for that lower half.
What a half-day tour adds to the scenic drive
Every half-day Island in the Sky 4x4 from Moab uses some combination of the same roads: Potash Road along the Colorado, the White Rim bench, and the Shafer Trail, an old cattle trail that switchbacks up the cliff face between the White Rim and the mesa top. NPS asks for a high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicle in low range below the rim, and describes the Shafer Trail switchbacks as steep and exposed. Nobody needs a guide for Mesa Arch. People book a tour for the part of the park they would not drive themselves.
Adrift Adventures’ tour, in the booking box above, goes down the Shafer Trail rather than up it, stops at Ancestral Puebloan sites, and reaches the Gooseneck Overlook, where the Colorado doubles back on itself below the White Rim. It runs 4 hours, morning or afternoon, from $210 a person, rated 4.9 from 518 reviews (checked October 2026). The vehicles are Jeep Wranglers with four passenger seats, and the guide rotates everyone through them so nobody spends the morning in the middle.
Adrift or NAVTEC?
Two operators run most of the half-day Island in the Sky tours, and their routes overlap.
Canyonlands NP Backcountry 4x4 Jeep Tour (Morning or Afternoon)
Down the Shafer Trail, Ancestral Puebloan sites, Gooseneck Overlook. Morning or afternoon departures; meets at Adrift's Main Street office.
Check dates →Canyonlands National Park Backcountry Adventure
Petroglyphs on Potash Road, the White Rim bench to Musselman Arch, then up the Shafer Trail. Hotel or campground pickup on request.
See NAVTEC's tour →Prices, ratings and review counts from the Viator listings (checked October 2026). Park entry is extra on both: $15 a person on NAVTEC’s listing, or free with an annual pass.
The honest difference is small. NAVTEC’s half-day has more reviews and offers pickup; Adrift’s goes to the Gooseneck Overlook and lets you pick a morning or an afternoon. NAVTEC needs at least three travelers to run a departure and offers another date or a refund if it falls short. A third operator, Moab Scenic Adventures, runs a similar backcountry loop from south of town that adds Musselman Arch and climbs out by the Shafer Trail.
What to see on top, on your own
If you have the afternoon free after a morning tour, the paved road is worth doing yourself. Mesa Arch is a short walk from its parking area and is the classic sunrise photograph. Grand View Point at the end of the road looks over the White Rim toward the Needles and the Maze. Upheaval Dome, off the side road to the north, is a crater whose origin geologists still argue about. A GPS audio tour narrates the drive for $14.44 for the whole car.
Island in the Sky also has the shortest drive from Moab of any district. The Needles is about two hours each way, so if you are choosing between them for a single day, the Island in the Sky or Needles guide sets out the trade. For a longer day below the rim, the White Rim tour covers about 25 miles of the White Rim Road with lunch. Dead Horse Point State Park, on the next mesa east, shares the road in; the Dead Horse Point page covers it.
Guest Reviews
What Island in the Sky Travelers Say
Read the 518 reviews of this tour on Viator
See All ReviewsDown the Shafer Trail in Half a Day
Adrift's half-day Island in the Sky Jeep tour: the Shafer Trail switchbacks, Ancestral Puebloan sites and the Gooseneck Overlook, with ice water and snacks on board. Park entry is extra. Starting from $210 per person.
Check dates on ViatorCan't Make These Dates?
Browse More Available Options
Find a tour that fits your schedule. Dates and cancellation terms are on each listing.
Island in the Sky Tours: Questions
What people ask before booking a tour of Canyonlands' most visited district.
Yes. It is the northern district of Canyonlands, and the one closest to Moab. The park has three land districts, Island in the Sky, the Needles and the Maze, plus the rivers, and they are not connected by road inside the park. Island in the Sky is reached by UT 313, about 40 minutes from Moab to the visitor center (NPS). Dead Horse Point State Park sits on a neighbouring mesa off the same road, but it is a Utah state park with its own fee.
About 40 minutes to the visitor center. NPS gives the route as 10 miles north of Moab on US 191, then 22 miles southwest on UT 313, and warns that GPS units sometimes send people the wrong way. The half-day tours start in Moab itself, and Adrift's listing describes the drive to the park as about 30 miles.
No. NPS asks for a high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicle in low range below the rim, and calls the Shafer Trail switchbacks steep and exposed, with extra caution in bad weather. The road connects the mesa top to the White Rim and to Potash Road along the Colorado. The half-day Jeep tour drives it for you; you can also look down on it from the Shafer Canyon overlook near the park entrance, which needs no 4x4.
Island in the Sky for a short visit and big views; the Needles for hiking among the spires. Island in the Sky is closer (about 40 minutes from Moab) and its overlooks are along a paved road, so a half-day tour or drive covers it. The Needles is about two hours from Moab and rewards a full day on foot or on the 4x4 roads around Elephant Hill. The Island in the Sky or Needles guide compares them district by district.
Mesa Arch, Grand View Point, the Green River Overlook and Upheaval Dome on top; the White Rim, Musselman Arch and the Shafer Trail below. The upper level is the paved scenic drive, easy in a car and best at sunrise and sunset. The lower level is reached only by 4x4 roads; the half-day tours cover the Shafer Trail and a section of the White Rim, and the White Rim day tour goes further, down Lathrop Canyon to the river.
Usually not. NAVTEC charges park entry as an extra $15 a person unless you have an annual pass, and Adrift's listing does not mention park entry, so budget the fee or bring a pass. Canyonlands sells a 7-day private-vehicle pass for $30 if you drive in yourself (nps.gov, checked October 2026), and America the Beautiful passes are accepted. The entrance fee guide covers which pass makes sense.
Morning in summer, afternoon in winter. NPS records July highs averaging 100°F at the park, so the cooler morning is the better half of a summer day. From November to February the mornings are cold (January highs average 44°F) and the afternoon light on the canyon walls is warmer. Adrift runs this tour as either a morning or an afternoon departure.
For most, yes; the walking is short and the ride is the effort. It suits all fitness levels but not spinal injuries or motion sickness, and anyone over 6'2" or 225 pounds should check with Adrift's office first. Utah law requires a car seat for children 8 and under or under 57 inches, which Adrift does not supply. For travelers who prefer no rough road at all, the helicopter flight over Island in the Sky is the smooth alternative.
Still have questions? Email us at info@canyonlands-tours.com