Capitol Reef National Park

It has been a busy and beautiful couple of days!  On Tuesday 9/22 we left Green River State Park and drove to Hanksville UT and stayed at Duke’s Slickrock RV Park that was centered between Capitol Reef NP and Goblins Valley State Park.  

Capitol Reef – This park is the least visited of the 5 Utah national parks.  There is no lodge and very few hotels in the area. Capitol Reef became a national monument in 1937 and a national park in 1971.  The populated area of the park is named Fruita Historic District and includes the Petroglyph Panel, Visitor Center and Fruita at the junction of the Freemont River and Sulphur Creek. It is believed that this town never had more than 10 families and the last family left in 1969.  This area was named for the many orchards: cherry, apricots, peaches, pears, apples! The landscapes change throughout the park with amazing spires, canyons and rock formations.  

Surprise Canyon – Many of the hikes within the park were very busy with people and not many were Covid cautious…so we chose to hike to one of the more remote canyons, Surprise Canyon.  To get to the hike, we drove about 37 miles off the main road on Notom-Bullfrog dirt road.  Once at the trailhead, we realized our Covid exposure would not be a problem…we had not seen any people or cars for several miles!  The trail started by crossing a flat desert area for about 3/4 of a mile then the trail turned to sand until we entered the slot canyon.  The walls of the canyon were several hundred feet tall and the canyon was about 15 feet wide at the entrance.  We hiked about 1/2 mile through the canyon, again, totally alone.  The canyon had an eerie quietness and when we talked there was a distinct echo.  If you know Carol you know she is “safety first” so we were hauling first aid, tons of water and the Garmin InReach to be prepared for any emergencies; we arrived back at the truck “emergency free” and without any rattlesnake bites or mountain lion attacks! After the hike, we drove  over Burr Trail Switchbacks to Scenic Byway 12 that made a 70 mile loop back to the starting point passing through Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Dixie National Forest.

Gallery pictures coming shortly!