Hiking Gooseberry Trail in Canyonlands National Park

Gooseberry Trail is a steep, rugged route in the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park that drops from the mesa toward the White Rim Road and Gooseberry Canyon. It’s not one of the park’s casual overlook strolls — this is a remote-feeling desert hike/backpacking route with big views, loose terrain, route-finding, exposure, and serious weather considerations.

I hiked/backpacked this route over Memorial Day weekend with a group of friends, and while the photos are gorgeous, the trip was far from effortless. We dealt with a steep 1,400-foot descent, tricky route-finding into Gooseberry Canyon, storms, and one of the most dramatic campsites I’ve ever had.

Here’s what to know about hiking or backpacking Gooseberry Trail in Canyonlands National Park, plus the full story from our trip.

Backpacking the Gooseberry Trail in Canyonlands National Park

Gooseberry Trail Hiking Stats

• Location: Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park
• Route type: Out-and-back
• Distance: Roughly 5 miles, depending on where you go to actually sleep
• Elevation change: Around 1,500 feet
• Difficulty: Strenuous
• Best season: Spring and fall
• Permits: You need to secure an overnight backcountry permit if you are backpacking
• Water: No
• Dogs: Not allowed on most national park trails
• Main hazards: Heat, exposure, route-finding, storms, flash flooding (forecasting!), limited water

Gooseberry Trail in Canyonlands National Park: What to Know

Gooseberry Trail is a steep, rugged route in the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park. Unlike the short overlook trails that many visitors do in this section of the park, Gooseberry drops dramatically from the mesa toward the White Rim Road and Gooseberry Canyon, with huge views, exposed terrain, and a very real climb waiting for you on the way back out.

This is not the hike I’d recommend for someone looking for an easy Canyonlands stroll. The descent alone drops roughly 1,400 feet in about 1.4 miles, which means your quads will feel it on the way down and your lungs will feel it on the way back up. Once you leave the main trail area and head toward Gooseberry Canyon, route-finding can also become tricky, especially if you’re backpacking or trying to connect sections beyond the obvious trail.

That said, Gooseberry is exactly the kind of Canyonlands hike that makes the park feel wild. The views into the canyon are massive, the crowds are minimal compared to many national park trails, and the landscape feels like classic Utah desert: red rock, big sky, steep canyon walls, and weather that can change faster than you want it to.

Is Gooseberry Trail Worth Hiking?

Absolutely! It’s a beautiful day hike, but if you find the time and gumption to do it as an overnight like we did, you won’t regret it. Spending a night out in the canyon is incredible because there is no one around. During the day, Canyonlands National Park can be quite busy (and especially Island in the Sky). But once you dip below that rim and venture into the depths, it’s almost other-worldy.

Long story not-so-short: add it to your list.

Our Gooseberry Trail Backpacking Trip

From the second we began planning a trip for the long Memorial Day Weekend, I was pushing for Canyonlands. I’ve heard that it’s a beautiful park, and while it’s relatively close to Denver (6 hours), I had yet to visit. I am also done with snow for the season, so I was beyond psyched when Will agreed to my backpacking decision. After rounding up a crew of 10 awesome friends, we were headed to Canyonlands!

After spending the night in a Motel 6 in Green River, we ambled our way to the trailhead in the portion of the park known as Island in the Sky. Canyonlands is split into three sections—Island in the Sky, The Maze, and The Needles—and Island is definitely the least populated. In fact, both The Needles and The Maze were sold out of backcountry permits when we looked, so we really had no other options.

Dropping from Island in the Sky to the White Rim Road

We easily found our trailhead, loaded up our packs, and began the precarious downward trek to the White Rim 4WD road. You see, our initial day of backpacking was split into two sections. First, we had a 1400-foot descent from the top of the Island down to the White Rim road. I knew this portion was a marked trail so I hadn’t been expecting much, but I was a bit surprised by how steep it was. We plummeted 1400 feet over 1.4 miles, so the quads were feeling the burn. Occasional rock steps were built into the side of the canyon, but the exposure was very real, and the views were absolutely outstanding!

Upon reaching the 4WD road, we crossed the worn path and headed south-southeast along the flat rim of Gooseberry Canyon. This is where the second part of the day came in, and route-finding got tricky! The descent into Gooseberry wasn’t a marked trail, and as we found out, there are merely a handful of cairns scattered throughout the canyon to help guide backpackers. Will and I were solely relying on the topo map to find the small break in the canyon rim where we knew we could descend. It took us quite a while to locate this section of the rim, and I’ll own it: there was a hot second where I was semi-stressed because I knew eight other people were depending on us to find a way into the canyon. What if we couldn’t find this small section of the canyon rim?!

Route-Finding While Hiking in Canyonlands National Park

Fortunately, we finally found a way into Gooseberry but that didn’t mean the rest of the hike was easy! As I already mentioned, there was absolutely no route and traversing the side of the steep canyon was sporting at best. In the end, I seemed to have the eye for route finding, so Peter and I went first to mark out a semblance of a route with cairns. From there, we could shout up to the gang with minimal instructions so that everyone could safely reach the first Gooseberry plateau.

After safely navigating the first portion of the canyon, we decided to call it quits for the day and found the ultimate campsite. We perched our tents on the ledge of the canyon, affording us the best views in the world….seriously!

Flash Flood Worries in the Desert

The following morning dawned dreary and rainy, but the clouds eventually passed, and the rain lifted long enough for us to take a four-mile hike through Gooseberry. We had originally hoped to day-hike down to the Colorado River, but alas, we still couldn’t find a route to the base of the canyon! Regardless, we enjoyed traipsing around the rocks and taking in the scenery. The rain continued to hold off, so we all decided to hike back up to the top of Gooseberry and spend our final night on the White Rim. This would eliminate the need to climb out of two canyons the following day, and I think everyone appreciated splitting the canyons up.

Naturally, the weather gods couldn’t be too kind to us! We all hiked up at our own paces, and Will and I were last to arrive, barely reaching the White Rim before a monumental thunderstorm rolled in. We had seen the lightning behind us during our hike, and we knew that it would be cutting it close. We set up our tent in record time, threw our gear inside, and zipped up the doors just as the rain came pouring from the sky!

It only lasted for 20-or-so minutes, but this was one angry storm! Wind blew the rain everywhere, including under our vestibule and into the tent. We watched through our tent windows as rivulets of water poured down the canals in the rocks surrounding our happy home. With such a violent storm, I knew that it wouldn’t last and sure enough, the moisture abated after a half hour. Once the gusts subsided, Angel and Will and I realized that we heard rushing water. Where in the world was that coming from?! We ran out of the tent in a semi-panic, worried that the flash flood had formed a river that could take our tent out and knock us into the canyon. Fortunately, no such river existed, but we did find the source of the noise: the rain had formed a stream gushing off the side of the canyon, creating a beautiful waterfall!

I yelled like a lunatic, alerting everyone else of the waterfall. After all, how cool is that?! Our last day began pre-dawn, when Will, the eager photographer, woke before sunrise to snap some photos. I originally planned to sleep in and ignore the dawning of the new day, but then I realized I was being an idiot. I was already awake, so why not roll out of the tent with the fiancée and take in the views?

We eventually gathered our belongings before beginning our ascent back up to the top of the Island. After feeling the burn in our quads on the descent, I knew a 1400-foot/1.4-mile climb out would feel extra special! Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as I imagined, and per usual, the views were awesome. But you know what made it the best way to spend the holiday weekend?

The company!

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