White House Trail

Dogs Unknown

Features Cave · River/Creek · Swimming

Even though you're running in a river, don't expect to find drinkable water. "Paria" is Piaute for muddy water.

It really only makes sense to run this one downstream (north). The best footing you'll find is loose sand. You'll be in water up to knee deep (maybe deeper depending on season). Watch for quicksand (really) and snakes (really really).

This route works well as a long point-to-point through trip with Buckskin Gulch. If you can arrange for a car or bike shuttle between White House and Picketwire Canyon, you can have a lovely ~25 mile run through some of the most amazing territory you've ever seen.

The White House Trail along the Pariah River is not usually a running trail. Sometimes it's a river, sometimes it's a dry wash. Sometimes it's something in between. However, it's the easiest (only?) way to connect the downstream end of the fabulous Buckskin Gulch back to "civilization" (White House campground).

From the confluence of Buckskin Gulch with the Pariah River, turn left and head downstream. The river itself is very alkaline and not drinkable, but getting water on you won't hurt you... which is good because you'll be wading across/in the river quite a lot! As you travel downstream/north, the course will go from narrow slot canyon to wide, shallow valley. Sometimes there are sandbars on one side or another to traverse but in other cases it makes the most sense just to run through the river itself. Paradoxically, the amount of water in the river also seems to decrease as you move farther downstream. This is mystifying.

Watch for snakes and quicksand. Watch for flash floods as well, though if you've just come out of Buckskin Gulch, you know all about watching for those, don't you?

After a number of miles (10? 6? GPSs don't work well in the upper part of this route) you'll come to the White House campground and trailhead on river right. This is a good place because if means you can finally leave the river and have dry feet.

Lots of birds.