The Incredible Capitol Reef National Park
So it turns out there are quite a few National Parks in the state of Utah and one of the most incredible (in my opinion) is Capitol Reef National Park. During the time of our visit in October, we basically had this park to ourselves for the most part. It was a bit chilly in the morning, but the temperature heated up in the afternoon making for an incredible day at Capitol Reef National Park.
Getting to Capitol Reef National Park
Although over a million people visit Capitol Reef National Park every year, it is definitely the most isolated National Park out of the big 5 in the state of Utah. There are some nearby towns to camp at or get a hotel, however if you need a good cell signal in order to work from the road like we do…gotta stay a bit further away. Deanna and I ended up staying at the Richfield KOA in the town of Richfield, UT. It was about an hour and a half drive to Capitol Reef National Park, but it was totally worth it with the scenic views we got along the way.
We got to Capitol Reef National Park via the west side through the town of Torrey. There aren’t a ton of places to grab food around this National Park, but there are a few places in Torrey if you didn’t bring your own.
Dog Friendly Trail (Fremont River Trail)!
If this is your first time reading one of our posts, we like to take our Greyhound Blaze with us to as many adventures as possible. He loves going on hikes and the Fremont River Trail was the perfect way to start our day off.
Although the trail is still limited as to how far your can take your dog down it, it was still a good amount of exercise to stretch the dog’s legs out before we explored the rest of the National Park.
Towards the beginning of this trail (semi-close to the visitor center) there are also a bunch of orchards you can visit as well. Not only are these a beautiful sight to see in otherwise desert-like terrain, but you can also pick your own fruit when in season! We were a bit late to the party, but we still managed to knock a couple remaining apples off a tree for a late morning snack along the trail.
The Scenic Drive
Let’s be honest…most, if not all of Capitol Reef National Park is absolutely beautiful and scenic. So naming one singular road the scenic drive seems a bit silly, but that was the next area we hit up. The scenic drive took us towards the slickrock divide and some other trails where we got to see an arch and other beautiful rock formations.
We didn’t hit up anymore longer trails due to the fact that we had Blaze in the truck with us…but we did walk down to a nearby wash to explore some less traveled areas. There are also some off-road trails you can take your 4×4 down towards the end of the scenic drive, but we opted to go back up north after finishing up the scenic drive to see the petrogylphs and hit up one last trail.
The Petroglyphs
Although they aren’t incredibly easy to see in the photos above, the petrogylphs were actually fairly large compared to others I have seen in the past. The petrogylphs are located between the historic Fruita School and Hickman Bridge (an arch) along Utah State Route 24.
This area really only takes a few minutes of your time to check out, but I still think it is worth the stop to see the well preserved historic artwork.
Hickman Bridge
Our last stop of our day (ended up taking pretty much the entire day), was Hickman Bridge. This is a fairly heavily hiked trail on the north side of Capitol Reef National Park just east of the petroglyphs. The parking here was pretty much full once we arrived, but we did find a spot along the road to park the truck while we took turns hiking.
Although I believe this trail isn’t listed as difficult, there initial climb does require some huffing and puffing for those of us a bit out of shape. Parts of the trail are rock and parts of the trail are sand so expect to have some sand collecting in your hiking shoes as you traverse this beautiful landscape.
The obvious end goal of this trail is to hit up Hickman Bridge, but there is so much more to see along the way. Although it is a good idea to keep your eyes pealed for rattlesnakes along the trail, definitely don’t forget to look up and stop every once in a while to take in the surrounding view. There are some really breathtaking vistas throughout this trail, especially at the beginning and towards the end where it loops around.
This trail was really the icing on the cake as we all really enjoyed our day here at Capitol Reef National Park. I certainly enjoyed this adventure a lot more than our trips to Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. It may just be the lack of people that made our day more enjoyable, or the unique experience we were all able to partake in at Capitol Reef National Park.
OTHER “NEARBY” ADVENTURES
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Favorite Hike at Rocky Mountain National Park
Alluvial Fan Rocky Mountain National Park
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
NOTE FROM WRITER
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Also be sure to check out Deanna’s food blog, The Harvest Skillet, when you get the chance! A lot of awesome and healthy recipes to use there!
Adventure On!
