Exploring Capitol Reef National Park: Our review of the magical world of red rocks, domes, canyons, and bridges!

 

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

In all honesty, Capitol Reef National Park was the one Utah Big 5 national parks that my wife and I least looked forward to visiting.  The reasons for this were as follows:  1) it was, after all, one of the least popular national parks among the Utah Big 5, therefore, we didn’t think it would be as beautiful or as impressive as the others, and 2) the nearest town of Torrey, where we would be based out of, didn’t have much in the way of lodging or dining options. 

After visiting Capitol Reef National Park and experiencing the park first hand, we were right about the lack of lodging/dining options, but we were absolutely wrong about the park itself!  Capitol Reef National Park, although it is the second least visited Utah Big 5 national parks, has so much to offer, including unique landscape full of beautiful colors, impressive domes, wonderful hiking, and amazing scenery.

On the morning of January 1st (New Year’s Day), we checked out of our hotel in the town of Moab for Torrey, the nearest town to Capitol Reef National Park.  We would take the familiar US-191 heading north, passing Arches National Park on our right, towards I-70 going west.

Driving along I-70, we were totally impressed by the scenery along the highway, with mountains to our left and wide open roads in front of us.  The weather was foreboding with dark clouds starting to gather to the west.  We were hoping we wouldn’t run into snowstorms during our drive…

About 20 minutes into our drive along I-70, we stopped at a gas station to fuel up our car and our stomachs.  We filled up our car first, parked, then shared a foot long tuna fish sandwich from Subway.  By the time we had finished our sandwich, the sky really turned dark.  We drove off hoping to miss whatever nature had in store for us…

We got off I-70 for UT-24 west towards the town of Hanksville.  The road looked almost abandoned as we didn’t see any traffic for the first 10 minutes of our drive on UT-24.  We felt like we were the only survivors of an apocalypse.  With the darkening skies above us, that lonely and desolate feeling was being exacerbated.  

Luckily, we saw the first oncoming car heading towards us from the other direction, and the brief feeling of desolation and isolation went away.  We were back in civilization!  

UT-24, feeling isolated and desolate…

We arrived at the first town along the route, Hanksville, inwardly relieved that we finally saw people, cars, stores, and restaurants.  We passed the town, impressed by beautiful coffee colored rocks along the way.  

UT-24 past the town of Hanksville

We drove for awhile when we saw a sign for Capitol Reef National Park.   We pulled over at the Capitol Reef National Park Sign/Orientation Pullout, then studied the map of the park.  We were a bit confused by the map, as it showed we weren’t yet at the visitor center.  That would be another 8 miles down the same UT-24 going west.  

Sign for the park and orientation pullout, should’ve drove straight on!

At the time, we thought incorrectly that the visitor center was to turn a left then a quick right to ascend towards the hills.  At that particular moment in time, we thought the park was located on top of the hill.  We kept driving, but realized we had made a mistake, when we didn’t see anything about the park or the visitor center.

We did a U-turn, then drove about a minute, when we ran into a group of free range cows on our right.  It was two adult cows and two calves.  The babies were so cute, up close!  We stopped to look at them for a moment, as the babies were irresistibly small and adorable! 

I had not selected ‘Park’ as my gear selection, but rather had stomped on the brake pedal while we were watching them.  When I accidentally let go of the brakes, the sudden lurch of the vehicle scared one of the poor babies.  It backpedaled towards the adults, looking for protection and solace.  That was priceless and extremely cute!  We absolutely loved that.

Two adults and two cute babies! 

We absolutely love priceless moments like these during our travels.  It’s what makes traveling so rewarding and fun.  After all, life is about making memories.  We want to share moments like these together so that when we’re old and frail, we can still talk about fun moments and reminisce together…

After saying goodbye to our newly made friends, we headed back down the way we had come.  We turned left on UT-24, then headed west.  As we got near the park, the scenery changed dramatically.

We saw tall domes enveloping the road on either side, with the familiar red rocks and other colorful rocks everywhere we looked.  We really loved the drive heading in to the park.

UT-24, near Capitol Reef National Park 

We finally saw the sign for the visitor center, and we turned left towards it.  We parked, used the restroom, then went inside the visitor center to chat with a ranger about what we should see and do in two days we were there.

She recommended driving the Scenic Drive to get a good idea of the park and to add a hike or two to really see the park.  We thanked her, then headed for the Scenic Drive.  

Visitor Center, Capitol Reef National Park 

Scenic Drive, Capitol Reef National Park

Rain had started to fall, but we were actually relieved it wasn’t snow or sleet.  The temperatures were dropping fast, and we really didn’t want to deal with slippery road conditions.  We drove through the park, noting some of the most colorful rocks we’ve ever seen. 

Colors were diverse.  We saw colors like coffee/cappuccino, green, gray, beige, brown, and of course, red.  We commented on how beautiful the combination of colors were on rocks.

We drove all the way to the end of the Scenic Drive, amazed by all the beautiful landscapes along the drive.  We saw several signs that mentioned low lying areas that may flood along the drive.  We hoped we wouldn’t run into heavy rain anytime soon…

Rain was pattering our windshield but it hadn’t gotten any heavier.  We counted our blessings, then turned around to get to our hotel, Red Sands Hotel & Spa, in the town of Torrey.

The drive took us about 30 minutes from the end of the Scenic Drive to our hotel.  We reached our hotel with the first flurries of the day greeting us as we unloaded our luggage for a two night stay.  We checked in, with the help of a grumpy front desk employee, who didn’t greet me, or acknowledge me.

I waited for about 5 minutes for him to cancel a reservation for a person on the phone, before he was ready for me.  I let him know I was checking in, and he replied with a very snarky remark, “I’m checking out.”

This recurring theme of hotel employees not being friendly or professional would continue the next morning when we went downstairs for breakfast.  Both of us greeted the front desk employee (this time a female employee) with a “good morning”, but neither of us got a reply.  Wow, what is going on!?!

Is customer service dead?  A friendly greeting should be met with a greeting back, right?  Is it me???

Disappointed, we walked upstairs to the second floor to our room.  Room was just ok, with motel like decor (they called it a hotel), small bathroom, and slow as molasses internet.  *I consider having central air conditioning as a requirement to be a hotel.  This one had a motel like air conditioning unit per room, making it a motel.

For the price we paid ($130 per night for a so-called ‘hotel’), it was one of the worst hotels for the price.  Oh, well.  At least the room had a decent view outside.  You win some, you lose some…

We got up the next morning with weather fully cleared up.  We took the same road we had used the previous day to head back to Capitol Reef National Park.  On our way over, we stopped at a nice little overlook, Panorama Point.

It was such a quick turnoff from the road that we almost missed it, but we made it.  We turned in, parked, then went outside on a blistering cold morning with wind chills in the teens.  

We didn’t stay long, but we managed to get some nice photos of the area!

View from Panorama Point

It was so cold that we jumped right back into our car after exactly 2 minutes!  Our next stop: Hickman Natural Bridge.

We drove about 10 minutes, passing the visitor center on our right, before seeing the sign for Hickman Bridge Trailhead & Parking Lot.  We parked along with few other cars, figured out where the trail starts, then we started to hike.

About two minutes into our hike, we weren’t cold anymore as the trail climbed immediately.  It was one ascending switchback on top of another switchback for the first couple of minutes into the hike.  We were sweating from exertion.

Along the way, we stopped to take in the sights.  The scenic Fremont River was raging from previous day’s rain.  Set against the backdrop of mountains everywhere, it was absolutely gorgeous.  What a sight!

Hickman Bridge Trail, Capitol Reef National Park 

Start of the trail!

We paced ourselves while climbing, catching our breaths couple of times.  We made it to the top of the plateau to drink some water and to look around.  The scenery didn’t disappoint from that vantage point.

We turned left at the fork in the road for Hickman Bridge, then continued the hike.  We hiked through the canyon for another 25 minutes or so, when we finally saw Hickman Bridge!  It was beautiful.

The tall beige colored domes behind the bridge made for an incredibly amazing and scenic view.  We sat down near the bridge to eat a granola bar and to drink some water, while enjoying that view.

Hickman Bridge, Capitol Reef National Park 

After a quick recharge, we decided to walk around the natural bridge.  The trail looped around the bridge, so there was no chance we could get lost.  Views were fantastic.

Near the Hickman Natural Bridge, Capitol Reef National Park 

Looking down the canyon

We started to head back the same way we had come so we can revisit the Scenic Drive on a sunny day.  Heading back to the parking lot took a bit shorter as it mostly went down the canyon.  By that time of the day, the parking lot was full.  We were glad we hiked early in the morning.

We took the familiar UT-24, heading back towards the visitor center.  We made a stop to look at petroglyphs carved onto huge rock walls near the visitor center.

Afterwards, we headed back onto the Scenic Drive, past the visitor center.  The sunny day really made everything so much more beautiful.  The same landscape looked magical, with vibrant multicolored rocks really showing off their colors.

Wow, what an amazing place…

Beginning of the Scenic Drive

End of the Scenic Drive

We completed our second drive on the Scenic Drive, content with what we’ve experienced and seen during our 2 days at Capitol Reef National Park.  Great park, even if it’s usually overlooked by many visitors to Utah.  

In conclusion:

Despite its reputation as an often overlooked national park in Utah, Capitol Reef is an absolutely stunning place full of beautiful multicolored rocks with scenery that excites.  We certainly overlooked it, but we were mistaken.

There are great hikes along the UT-24 as well as along Scenic Drive.  Scenery is beautiful, amazing, and breathtaking…One takeaway from our trip to the park that we will always remember are the vibrant multicolored rocks, especially the colors of coffee/cappuccino, greens, and grays all layered onto them, like the colors of a rainbow.  Just awesome…

We recommend visiting Capitol Reef National Park at least once in your lifetime.  We don’t recommend the town of Torrey for its lack of lodging/dining options, but we certainly recommend the park on your way to other great Utah Big 5 national parks.

Happy trails and keep up with us on our continuing journey across the American West!  Thank you for reading.

Jake

Wandering Money Pig 

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