Mineral Bottom Road Closed Indefinately

One of the things I really look forward to each spring is riding the White Rim Trail in Moab.  I have done it several times on a bicycle and a few times on a motorcycle.  This year it appears it is not to be.

Each July I submit my request to the National Park Service for a permit for the following March.  Usually my request is answered by mid August.  This year it hadn't come by mid September.

As it turns out one of the major access roads to the White Rim Trail was washed out in an August downpour.  If you look closely at the picture you can see two rangers, this will give you a sense of the scale of the washout.

The National Park Service has suspended all travel to this area and has stopped issuing permits, mine being one of them.  They say the road won't be repaired until sometime in 2011, they don't know when.  They don't have the funding and it will take 12 weeks to repair when they do.

If you want more information type in "Mineral Bottom Road Closure" into Google and go to the websites. 

Oh well, there is always next year.