If I Were Going...: Capitol Reef

Capitol Reef National Park

Our final planned destination on this trip was Capitol Reef National Park, which I have already blogged about.

It was a short visit, mainly designed to take advantage of clear night skies, which paid off.

True dark skies

This tract of desert wonders did not become a National Park until the year I graduated from high school, which seems recent, but, let’s face it, really isn’t. It was a National Monument before – as is quite common – beginning in 1937. However, it is so remote, it didn’t allow public access until the mid-1950s.

I finally remembered to take a photo of the sign!

Long and narrow like Bryce, Capitol Reef runs 60 miles on its north-south axis but is just six miles (on average) wide. It protects 378 square miles of chocolate buttes and cliffs …

Towering walls

… rock formations and hoodoos …

A mushroom rock

… rugged desert landscape ...

Not many plants, lots of rocks

... and historic early Utah homesteads …

Farm scenes; Photos: Scott Stevens

The road into the Park was being repaved, which made getting in and out a bit of a pain and obstructed some of the pullouts and trailheads. The main north/south road through the Park is mainly paved, but dips frequently into washes. We had no issues, but did keep an eye on the sky after hearing about the flooding in Zion and Moab.

Sandstone

Nearly 10,000 feet of sedimentary strata are found in Capitol Reef National Park. The layers represent nearly 200 million years of the geologic history of south-central Utah. Rocks range in age from Permian (up to 270 million years old) to Cretaceous (as young as 80 million years). Rock layers reveal ancient climates as varied as rivers and swamps (Chinle Formation), Sahara-like deserts (Navajo Sandstone) and shallow ocean (Mancos Shale).

The majority of a nearly 100-mile-long upthrust formation called the Waterpocket Fold, a rocky spine extending through eastern Utah, is preserved within the Park. It’s called “waterpocket” because water quite often stands on the solid rock after rains or snow, forming small pocket ponds.

The name "Capitol Reef" comes from the resemblance of the area’s whitish Navajo Sandstone domes to white domes often placed on capitol buildings.

A capitol-like dome

The word “reef” refers to any rocky barrier to land travel, just as ocean reefs are barriers to sea travel.

That's a big barrier (but it looks like it has a giant door!)

We drove the road a couple of times, disappointed that the unpaved portion at the far end was closed because of potential flooding. After I got home, I saw some videos of flooding that took place there in June that swept numerous cars (some occupied) out of the parking lot and down a rushing flood stream. It was very scary

The unpaved Grand Wash road

We also took a little trip down a side road to the Grand Wash parking area, enjoying the interesting cliffs that form the sides of the winding canyon. Back in 2010, we did a hike through Grand Wash, enjoying the numerous places where rock formations looked like faces.

I think that's a pig on top and weird clown faces on the wall

The Grand Wash gorge cuts through the upper portion of the Waterpocket Fold, connecting the Park’s Scenic Road to Highway 24 just east of Spring Canyon by the Fremont River. Of course, as the name says, it is a wash – or a dry creek bed. With rain, there is always the danger it will become a rushing creek.

We stopped briefly in the Fruita area of the Park to sit in the shade of some Cottonwood Trees and have a quick picnic. We didn’t stay too long because, although we’re not action tourists, we are also terrible at being relaxation tourists.

Cooling off under the trees

Fruita is filled with still-productive orchards that are open to picking when fruit is ripe. None were open when we were there because tourists had been picking underripe fruit, thus diminishing the final crop outlook.

An orchard

There is a cute little shop at the Gifford Homestead in Fruita that sells kitchen supplies and homemade mini-pies, some of which are made with Park-grown fruit. We bought a strawberry/rhubarb and a cherry; both (eaten later) were delicious.

Fruit of the trees; Right photo: RoadFood.com

We did not visit the petroglyphs this time, although I have seen them multiple times before. The Fremont and Ancestral Puebloan people who lived there between 600-1300 A.D. etched stories, hunting patterns, crop cycles and mythologies into the towering rock wall.

Petroglyphs, 2008

The Park has a series of boardwalks that provide good viewing while protecting these ancient treasures.

Our Hotel

We stayed in nearby Torrey at the hotel closest to the park, the Capitol Reef Resort. It’s sprawling property with a gorgeous view out the back …

From our room

… and an interesting variety of accommodations, including cabins, luxury teepees, Conestoga wagons and hotel rooms …

Accommodations; Photos: Capitol Reef Resort

Cool water on a hot day

We were in the least luxurious (and, thus, the cheapest) in a basic motel-type room.

The location was great and a chance to take a dip in the pool on a day that approached 90°F was perfect.

The onsite restaurant was serviceable (but the Mexican food in town was better). I would definitely stay there again.

If I had small children, I might even go for a teepee or wagon, but, although each has a private bathroom, it is not attached to the unit. The resort has a nightly fire pit with s’mores, but we were too busy with night sky photography to partake.

Night Sky

Our second attempt at photographing the Milky Way on this trip was even better than our first at Bryce Canyon. The nighttime temperature was pleasant and there were few bugs to annoy us (although mysterious bites did start showing up on the ride home). The Moon wasn’t up and the sky was virtually cloudless ...

It wasn't even dark yet!

We were able to get a good foreground by parking on the Grand Wash road and looking south and west to a series of mesas and hills …

Big sky, interesting foreground

And, we had a butte behind us to frame the Big Dipper …

When it's dark, you see more stars, making the Big Dipper harder to see

Plus, the number of shooting stars was even more than we realized while we were shooting …

At least two good ones

It was lovely just to sit and watch the sky, taking occasional pictures and marveling at nature’s profound beauty ...

So many views

Time to Go

Of course, we had to leave the next morning to get home for some appointments. So, we basically had about three quarters of a day at Capitol Reef. But, it was a beautiful day with great weather and incredible views.