White Pocket
Day Two - The Wave, White Pocket, & Valley of Fire S.P. - 2025
A day exploring this stand-out photogenic locale tucked deep away in Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.
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Perhaps the most astonishing fact about White Pocket is that geologists have no agreed upon idea of how it formed; some believe the rock here is the result of heavy deformation, while others view the surface rock here as being deposited.
Not wanting to pass up the opportunity to explore more of the Vermillion Cliffs, I decided I’d use this unexpected travel opportunity to check another box - the so-called White Pocket in Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. Originally I had planned to self-drive my rental truck to the site (I even brought with me a small air pump to air down and refill my tires), but after consulting with some locals on my arrival day into Kanab, I determined the sandy track was far too deep to pass on road radials and so I called an audible and booked a day tour.
The pickup for the tour was nearby to my hotel and before long my guide and I were making our way to Top Rock Road. After picking up another traveler at the Condor Viewing Site, we made our way deep into Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. The sandy track out to White Pocket was easy to find and follow, but I did notice there were several jagged pieces of sandstone buried just beneath the surface. It would be really easy to de-rim a tire here, no doubt, and I asked the guide what happens in those circumstances. “Well, it takes about two hours to get a tow truck out here, and that’s if you have cell signal. It’s about $500 for the recovery and the tow back to Kanab.” I am very, very glad I didn’t attempt the drive and -frankly- unless you have a customized off-road 4x4, you shouldn’t attempt the drive, either.
The tour was pretty straightforward - a two-hour walking tour of all the well-known (and well-photographed) locations within White Pocket. I don’t really have much in the way of commentary here, admittedly, so I’ll pretty much let the pictures speak for themselves. Before I do, just know that White Pocket is one of the most incredibly, strange, and wonderful landscapes I’ve ever visited and when people describe it as “otherworldly” they are not exaggerating - it really does look like you’ve landed on another planet!
45 additional photographs of White Pocket follow.
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By the time I got dropped off in Kanab, it was only mid-day so I decided to grab some much-needed coffee and lunch. I wasn’t due to check-out until the next morning, but certainly didn’t have the time (or, frankly, energy) to explore one of the nearby National Parks. Instead, I decided to make a quick run to the Toadstool Hoodoos, an accessible geological feature halfway between Kanab and Page, Arizona.
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And here they are, in all their glory! Four more Toadstool Hoodoo photos follow.
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I had one more early day left to come before returning to the East Coast, so -after a lovely dinner in town- I returned back to my hotel for another glorious evening of sleep.
