Capitol Reef National Park
- Bridget Rackley
- 22 hours ago
- 6 min read
This post is about Capitol Reef National Park. We explored this park in two full days, which we felt was enough time to see Cathedral Valley, the Waterpocket Fold, and drive the scenic drive through the park.
The first day, I got up to be in line for pies! So, here's the deal with the pies. The Gifford House is located inside Capitol Reef National Park. It was once the home of several different families, but the Gifford Family were its longest occupants. It is now owned by the NPS, and you can purchase pies, cinnamon rolls, and other canned goods here. The baked goods are prepared by Broken Spur Steakhouse in Torrey. The Gifford House is open from March to October, and people line up early, but my experience was the line moves pretty quickly. I tried a cinnamon roll and strawberry rhubarb pie. Both were very good!
After collecting the pies, I went back to the hotel and my husband, who had slept late, was getting dressed. We went into town and had pizza at Rock Reef Cafe. It was good. After lunch, we drove the "Loop the Fold" drive which is in the eastern part of Capitol Reef National Park. There are websites that give you step by step or mile by mile stops, but we purchased a guide from the Visitor Center for $3.00 that provided very detailed information about each stop. The entire drive is over 100 miles, and it is named for the Waterpocket Fold geological formation that is quite unusual. The drive begins on Highway 24 from Torrey to Notom. You will turn onto Notom Bullfrog Road and then onto Burr Trail Road, which is where the switchbacks are and the scariest part of the drive. This drive is quite similar to the Potash Road drive from the day before and a 4WD vehicle is recommended. The Burr Trail will end on Route 12 (part of the All-American Scenic Drive that begins in Bryce Canyon) in Boulder. From there, you will drive through Dixie National Forest and end up back in Torrey. There are several hikes on this drive, but we just stopped at the geological sites as recommended in the booklet we purchased. One unusual stop was at Oyster Shell Reef, which is a little ridge on the side of the road. There really is no pullout here, so we stopped on the side of the road and walked out to the ridge. There are petrified oysters in the rock!
Once you pass through this area, you will reach the switchbacks and Long Canyon. There are a couple of viewpoints. Before you reach Boulder, you will see what looks like small bowling balls on a white rock hill. These are lava rocks and worth a stop. Boulder is a very small town and there is a place to eat here that I hear is really good, Hell's Backbone Grill; however, it did not open until 4pm and we were there before then, so we missed out. Anasazi State Park is in Boulder and worth a stop. I think it is $5-$10 admission, but they were not charging admission when we were there-I'm not sure why-but I really didn't care how much they were charging, because I needed a bathroom break! This park has artifacts in its museum and there are excavated ruins from a Native American Village in the back of the museum. Once you leave Boulder, you will have at least three overlooks you can stop at. One of them is Homestead Overlook and when we stopped, there were free range cattle roaming around minding their business. It was quite unique to see cattle out in the open because where I'm from, cattle are typically fenced in inside pastures.
Back in Torrey, we decided to drive the Scenic Drive within the park. It was closed to visitors until 2pm due to an event for cyclists going on. On the way from Torrey and our hotel, we passed several formations before we got to the park entrance. Twin Rocks is one, Chimney Rock is another, and then you have The Castle, Mummy Cliffs, and Fluted Wall. On the right side of the road, there is a side road that leads to Panorama Point and Goosenecks Overlook. There is also the 0.4-mile round trip trail to Sunset Point that is accessed at the Goosenecks Overlook pull out. The scenic drive begins at the East Entrance just past the Visitor Center, where you can stop for your passport stamp, bathrooms, and other souvenir items. Once you enter the scenic drive, you will pass by the Fruita Orchards, where we saw mule deer grazing, the Blacksmith Shop, a Nature Center, and Gifford House, where I went for pies. There is a spur road off the scenic drive to Grand Wash. Take this quick road. You will pass by the old Oyler Mine and Glen Canyon. At the end of the scenic road, you will reach Capitol Gorge. Take this 5-mile round trip drive. You will see Tapestry Wall and the trailhead for Cassidy Arch, which is where Butch Cassidy was said to have hidden out. You can see the arch without taking the hike. One stop that is really interesting is at the trailhead to Capitol Gorge. There is what is called Pioneer Register, where there are names carved into the stone on the north side of the canyon wall. You will walk about 1/2-mile down the trail before you see them. We turned around once we found them. For dinner that night, we had pizza leftovers from lunch!
The next day, I woke up early. I was bound and determined to hike to Hickman Bridge. While Bobby slept in, I made my way to the trailhead, which is passed the entrance to Capitol Reef National Park. There are guides at the trailhead which indicate numbered stops along the trail. However, this trail was not clearly marked, and I veered off course a couple of times. It took me about 1 hour to walk the 1.8-mile trail round trip. According to the guide, you are supposed to be able to walk under and loop around the bridge, but I could not figure it out, so I came out the way I went in. There were others hiking to the bridge, so I felt safe. You can see Capitol Dome well from this trail, which is where the park got part of its name. It was thought the dome looked like the United States Capitol Dome. Reef came from the idea that reefs act as barriers. Back at the car, I drove down the road a bit and stopped at the Petroglyph Panels and Fruita School-both were on the way back to the hotel, so on the right side.
I went back to the hotel and did laundry!!! Yes, I did laundry. We packed lighter than normal so we would not have as much luggage, and I paid $9.00 to wash two loads of clothes and dry another at the hotel. After that, we drove into Torrey and had lunch at Chak Balam-a Mexican restaurant. We ordered the flautas and they were delicious! That afternoon, we had a tour at 2pm with Waterpocket Adventure Company of Cathedral Valley. Cathedral Valley is in the northern part of the national park, and a 4WD is required. The reason I chose the tour option instead of driving it on our own was 1. to give my husband a break from driving off road and 2. you drive through the river and that scared me a little. We made our reservation with Johnathan at Waterpocket Adventures, but Sam, from Western Whiptail Adventures was helping out with tours that day. Sam has his own company, but he and Johnathan are best friends and help each other out with tours. I included links to both companies as I don't think you would go wrong with either. Sam was fantastic-he felt like a friend we had known for years!
Our tour was a private 4-hour tour. The drive begins passed the East Entrance to the park. You will pass by Benhunin Cabin on the right and enter what is called Caineville Mesa. Our first stop was at the colorful, striped hills known as Bentonite Hills. Spectacular! We also saw an old drilling truck that had been abandoned since 1970. Once we got to Cathedral Valley, I was just overwhelmed. This is what the area is known for. There are three formations in the valley that are of note and picture-worthy. The Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon are iconic! They are surrounded by the "stars" according to Sam. The stars were other rock formations behind the two temples. Sam parked and we just walked around and took it all in. Down from the temples is a geologic oddity called Glass Mountain. This mountain was formed millions of years from gypsum (crystal) deposits from sea water that evaporated. It's truly one of those sights you really should see.
After leaving the valley, Sam took us to a location where dinosaur fossils remain in the rock, and we saw Queen of the Wash. This tour was top notch, and one I highly recommend!
In researching this area, I found that Capitol Reef National Park did not get as much credibility as Arches or Zion National Park in Southwest Utah. But I found this park to be very interesting from the multiple rock layers that make up the rock formations to the millions of years these formations have existed. And that this park was once under the ocean! That is just wild to me. Don't skip this park-it really is a gem!
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