Dates we visited: October 8th 2020 - October 10th 2020
Where we stayed: Duke’s Slickrock Campground
After visiting Bryce Canyon, the next destination on our agenda for Utah’s “Mighty 5” National Parks was Capitol Reef. It’s a relatively large National Park at 378 square miles and is the most remote of the five Utah parks. Rather than tow the RV through some of the remote and mountainous terrain between Bryce and Capitol Reef, we opted to take a longer, but more well established, route by going up north to I-70 and then east. As it turned out, the drive along I-70 east of Salina, UT was absolutely stunning. There were dramatic rock formations that, if you’ll permit me to geek out a bit, looked like Star Wars Imperial cruiser spaceships crashed on earth (albeit made of red rocks).
Capitol Reef was given its name by combining two of it’s geologic features. First, the “Capitol Dome” was named due to its resemblance to the U.S. Capitol building in Washington DC. Secondly, the combined geologic features of the “waterpocket fold” and the Colorado plateau uplift formed a giant, very long cliff called an escarpment. Early explorers felt the escarpment resembled a reef, like one might find in the ocean. And so you put those together and you have Capitol Reef!
Petroglyphs
The drive into the park is super scenic, winding its way through the red rock canyons. After passing the namesake Capitol Dome formation, and shortly before reaching the visitor center, is a pull off to view some ancient petroglyphs. We stopped here to check them out and learn a bit about the history of the area. Seeing these thousand year old drawings carved into the sandstone is a reminder of those who came before us, and it refreshed our commitment to be good stewards of the land.
Grand Wash
After a quick stop and short hike to check out the Goosenecks Overlook, we made our way up the scenic drive to the Grand Wash Trail. We did this trail backwards from how Alltrails.com recommends. We turned off of Scenic Drive road on to the dirt Grand Wash road, and then parked at the Cassidy Arch Trailhead.
This is a great, albeit somewhat long, trail for younger kids. The trail is mostly flat, and while there is some elevation change, it is relatively gradual. as the name implies the trail follows a “wash” which is where flood waters flow when it rains, making it imperative that you check the weather before embarking on this hike.
The highlight of the hike is “The Narrows” which is a particularly narrow section of often referred to as a slot canyon. Owen had fun running his hands along the walls and describing the different textures of rocks we found along the way.
On our trip out we came across a pair of fellow hikers, one of which had rolled her ankle and was in quite a lot of pain. While they repeatedly turned down our offers of assistance, we were still quite concerned for them, as it was a hot day, and they were still 3/4 of a mile to the trail head. We decided to let the rangers know about her situation on our way out, and while there is little they can do unless someone specifically requests assistance, hopefully they were able to at least confirm she made it out safely. It was a good reminder for us to where the right gear, bring plenty of water, and keep some basic first aid supplies with us at all times.
An additional attraction at Capitol Reef is the Gifford Homestead, and the nearby orchards. This was a bit unexpected based on the terrain here, but supposedly the fruit, jams and jellies here are quite good. We didn’t have the opportunity to experience these treats on this go around, so that goes on the list for next time.
Even though we only made one trip into Capitol Reef, we took great pleasure in the diverse landscape and the awe inspiring canyons and escarpments. We tried to put ourselves in the shoes of early explorers on horseback who would have happened upon this giant, miles long cliff while looking for passages further to the west. I imagine the first time that happened it would have been a bad day, with them saying to each other, “well, I guess we just have to go around”.