Capitol Reef National Park
After Arches, we headed to the next Utah National Park; Capitol Reef, which is in the city of Fruita. Besides beautiful rock formations (like every park in Utah) this park is also an important Mormon pioneer historical site.
We arrived around sunset again (I told you, we’re on a good groove of sunsets and mornings at the parks!) and we drove the Scenic Drive. This was simply stunning – the rock formations here are more layered with various colors than the other places we had been. The sunset light made it gorgeous!
At the end of the scenic drive, there is Capitol Gorge, which Mike and I hiked. It’s a flat, sandy trail through a large (surprise) gorge in the rocks. Along the way, you can see super old graffiti from over 100 years ago! There are cameras around now to make sure people don’t add to it…. The trail leads to an area with water rock holes where critters are at – however it had been quite dry lately, so nothing very interesting was there, but at least the rock climbing to get to it was fun!
There was BLM camping right outside of park towards Torrey where we stayed the night. Lots of other people were there but it was still incredibly peaceful and beautiful. In the morning, we took our time getting back to the park. We enjoyed our coffee, people watched and cleaned the van. Then we (okay, Mike) helped a girl who got her little car stuck on a big rock. Our friend Moon had just given us some tow straps so it was perfect!
After our good deed was done, we headed back to the park to see some of the sites. We visited Hickman bridge which is a natural rock bridge/arch. The hike wasn’t too bad except the very beginning is a steep rock climb and there is no shade.
I wanted to see slot canyons which I had read about in my National Park book, but it didn’t specific where to see them. Based on the trail descriptions, I guessed it would be on the Grand Wash trail… I was wrong. It was similar to the Capitol Gorge trail, but way less fun. I later found out that the slot canyons are in a very remote part of the park that is hard to get to with large vehicles or without 4WD i.e. our van
We then did the last couple things on the recommended itineary for the Park – Petroglyph panels, an old school house and Gifford House Museum. There are also working orchards but we came right between seasons so we missed out on getting to pick our own fruit. The “Museum” is a joke.. but it’s where you buy pie, so that’s pretty dope.
After getting my Junior ranger badge, we headed to Bryce Canyon! We tried to take the Notom Bullfrog Road to Burr Trail Road which is apparently a more scenic way to the park but the washboard road was too awful and long for us. Definitely don’t recommend for those with cars/people that can’t stand a bumpy ride!
Recommendations
- The scenic drive and Capitol Gorge trail at dusk is a MUST SEE!
- If you’re Mormon, interested in various religions, or like parks where the recommended things to do include eating pie, you’ll enjoy this park. If you’re just wanting to see beautiful rock formations, you might be better off checking out another park. That said, I still enjoyed my time here! It’s definitely a more relaxing park than others.
- Check the website for the various fruit seasons – you can pick and eat your own fruit. I am still sad we missed the cherry season by a week.
- Pets are not allowed on any hiking trails or in any buildings! Leave your pup at home!
