Will White Pocket be the Next Wave?

Will White Pocket be the Next Wave?

Most desert aficionados are familiar with the Wave, and with the story behind how it became famous. In a nutshell, this is the Wave’s history as a desert bucket list destination: back in the 1990s, there was no permit system for the Wave – because the Wave was an obscure locals-only spot that not enough people knew about to want to go there. Then, the story goes, a European film crew captured footage of the Wave and it started to, pardon the pun, make a splash.  What really put the Wave on the map though, was its appearance as a wallpaper in the Windows Operating System in 2009.

Today, the Wave is one of the most coveted hikes in the nation with what must be the most competitive recreational permit system out there: almost a quarter-million people a year apply for only 7300 available permits, putting the odds of obtaining a permit at less than 3%. [Related: The Wave – An Insider’s Guide to Scoring Permits For this Famous Hike]

Only a very small percentage of Wave hopefuls know, though, that there is an equally spectacular and much more remote destination a few miles east of the Wave: White Pocket. Just like the Wave back in the 1990s, White Pocket is not covered by a permit system because not enough people know about the destination or have the tools to get there: it’s a long and challenging 4-wheel deep-sand approach drive.

Yet White Pocket has already started to make its own waves among outdoor photography circles – no surprise, given its amazing topography and colors.  It is a terrific destination for both landscape and astrophotography; given its remote location, the darkness of the skies at White Pocket is nothing short of spectacular – and it’s a fantastic backcountry spot to car-camp at.

Southern Utah and Northern Arizona locals have long known that White Pocket parallels the Wave in wow-factor, photography, and adventure appeal.  And at this point, it seems like the world may be just on the cusp of catching on as well: in the fall of 2020, Apple decided to include White Pocket as the sole non-abstract stock wallpaper in iOS 14.2 for iPhones and iPads.  With more than 200 million iPhones sold annually, and over a billion devices out there that are compatible with iOS 14.2, there are all of a sudden a lot of folks who are now carrying White Pocket in their pockets.

There has already been an uptick in visitation to White Pocket, but fortunately for those who seek solitude, White Pocket is vast and it is still easy to find peace and quiet out there.  We won’t speculate for how long it’ll stay that way — but we’re grateful to have this gem in our backyard, and hope that the difficulty of White Pocket’s access roads will keep visitor numbers at a manageable level for a while to come.

See you out there!

For guided tours to White Pocket, look up Dreamland Safari Tours on the web at www.dreamlandtours.net or call 435-644-5506.