WHITE POCKET
Vermilion's Vortex Tour
or Book Online below
(435) 689 2182
TOUR ESSENTIALS
Scheduled Departure:
Daily, All year-round, Flexible Departure Time
Participants: Minimum 3
Terrain: No marked trails, slick rock
Round Trip Distance: 1 to 4 miles,
depending on route
Duration: 7 to 9 hours,
depending on route (full-day tour)
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Price: $220 per person
(half-price for children under 12)
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
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Spectacular scenery of twisted and colorful sandstone
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Relatively easy hike, perfect for families
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Photographer's dream
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Great combination with South Coyote Buttes and Buckskin Gulch
TOUR DESCRIPTION
White Pocket is a place so remote and amazingly unique that it can feel like you have stepped into another realm where geology decided to bend the rules. White Pocket can appear visually breathtaking while leaving the viewer somewhat perplexed. I have watched people put a hand on their mouth and exclaim: "I don't believe it, how is it possible?" This is one of those places to which pictures do not always do justice.
Located out on the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in far Northern Arizona, White Pocket is very different from South Coyote Buttes that is itself very distinct from Buckskin Gulch. These 3 excursions make the perfect "Earth showcase" combination if you stay in the area for a few days. Getting to White Pocket requires high clearance vehicles and experienced 4x4 driving, as you need to take some rough and sandy back roads that lead deep into the Paria Plateau. Through pinion pine and juniper forests on the way, you will distinguish Bryce Canyon in the distance and discover the highest plateau in the Western hemisphere, the Aquarius Plateau, towering at more than 11,300 feet (3,400m) and composing the highlands of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Looking to the West, you will see the backside of North and South Coyote Buttes and the Kaibab Plateau that runs out to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Looking to the East, you will see Navajo Mountain, a large free-standing laccolithic dome (over 10,000 feet elevation) located on the Navajo Indian Reservation and considered as a sacred mountain to the Navajo people.
White Pocket's geological formation is made of a thin layer of white sandstone lumped up into mounds and cracked into polygonal shapes, somewhat like dried out whipped cream. Under this thin white layer reigns a chaos of yellow, orange and red swirls twisting upon each other. If you are lucky enough to hike there after a summer thunderstorm, you will enjoy a myriad of reflection pools, creating beautiful mirroring effects and infinite opportunities of otherworldly pictures. It is definitely a visual paradise!
For further practical information on our tours, please check our Planning Tips.