Capitol Reef National Park

Our original plan was to go to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks but there was a marathon in Moab over the weekend and hotel rooms were going for $200 a night. We decided to come up with a different plan. I thought Bryce Canyon sounded good and as it happens Capitol Reef in on the way, so off we went. For those of you who have never driven I-70 west of Grand Junction you cannot begin to imagine how flat, dry and generally boring it really is. The single moment of excitement was when we saw the sign that said “No services for 110 miles” and our gas tank was at about ¼ full. We turned off I-70 at Utah Hwy 24 and, if possible, there was less there than on I-70. One, count it one, ranch and one turn off to a state park in 44 miles! At Hanksville U-24 turns west and everything changes. The scenery is surreal. Black mounds and gullies and then white ones and then yellow ones. It is BLM land and the big tourist attraction is off-roading. Our jaws were just dropped open.
(You probably want to enlarge these. They were taken from the car window while driving at dusk.)

Capitol Reef is a 100 mile long ”waterpocket fold” . U-24 follows the Fremont River across the fold. The river canyon is narrow and the canyon walls go straight up both sides in fabulous colors! What a find! And there are lots and lots of petroglyphs and pictographs. In the middle of the canyon the valley floor opens up a little bit and there used to be a small (10 families) orcharding community. What a surprise in the middle of what is effectively a desert. When you look at the photos be sure to enlarge them – there are more details than you can imagine.


Dollars saved on this trip with Park Pass: $148.00 + 5 = $153.00