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| Massive Red Rocks Rise out of Nowhere! |
Back on the Road Again
After a restful evening at the Hampton Inn St. George, it was time to head out on our next adventure. Today's trip was to Capitol Reef National Park. When we were researching our vacation itinerary, we were looking for National Parks that were within driving distance of St. George, UT and/or Las Vegas. We had been to Zion and Bryce Canyon (both of which are fairly short drives from St. George) on prior trips so we were looking for something different this time around. While flipping through our National Park travel guide, we fell upon Capitol Reef National Park. The pictures were amazing however, I have to admit that this wasn't a park that I had remembered hearing about. We had been to Arches and Canyonlands in Utah also and just didn't make it to Capitol Reef before. After checking out the logistics we found that it was a bit of a long day trip but doable so it made the final itinerary!
Since Capitol Reef was about a 4.5 hour drive from St. George, we again started our day bright and early. Again, we stocked up with snacks and drinks because the drive there was pretty much nothing on the way there from what were able to tell in advance. This was a good call because it was a pretty barren road to the park. Although it was barren, it was an interesting drive and the time passed quickly.
There is a town just outside of the park, we stopped here and picked up a sub at the subway shop inside so we would be able to have a picnic lunch as there didn't appear to be any food available within the park. It's also a good place to gas up and make sure you have enough in your tank to make the trip around the park and make your way back to your evening's losing.
Capitol Reef National Park
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| The Views were just stunning! |
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| Petroglyphs |
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| Petroglyphs |
The petroglyphs in this park are really cool to see. I have been at other parks where you have to look through the viewfinders in order to kind of see a petroglyph. This park also has viewfinders but once you know where to look, you can actually see the petroglyphs with the naked eye. There are a lot of them in the area also. It's fun to take the short walk around and see how many you can locate.
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| Picnic Area in Fruita |
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| View From Picnic Area |
We made a stop in the Fruita area to eat our lunch (Subway that we had purchased just outside the park - I would highly recommend picking something up as there are not many food options once you enter the park). This was a beautiful park like setting with picnic tables. It was so awesome to sit and have a sandwich with the background of these massive red rocks in the distance.
After our lunch break we continued onto "Scenic Drive". The views were beautiful and there are a couple of areas where you could drive right into the rocks! The first one we encountered was at Grand Wash. This is a maintained dirt road that you can take a regular vehicle onto safely. Just make sure you watch the weather because the area floods in heavy rain. I would not want to be stuck in that area in a flood! The views as you drive into and out of the Wash are amazing. The rocks loom so high over you. Each one is different. It is definitely worth the time to take the detour. At the end of the road there is a parking area (with very few parking spots) where you can park and take a hike even further into the rocks. We did not do the hike but still got to see some amazing sights from the parking area.
The second detour is at the end of Scenic Drive and is called Capitol Gorge. This is another maintained dirt road. It is a little over 2 miles long and allows you to drive right into the gorge. It's a winding road and sometimes you will wonder if you really should keep going.......keep going! It is amazing to be that up close and personal with these wonders. There is also a trail that you can take once you get to the end of capitol gorge road. Again we didn't take the trail but were still glad that we took the driving detour!
On our way back up the scenic drive we stopped at Gifford House (in the Fruita area) and got the best mixed berry crumb pies ever! There is a cute gift shop there and pastries. It's definitely worth a stop!
Just take a look at some of the Park Scenery!
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| Castle Rock |
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| Navajo Dome |
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| Colors were Brilliant |
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| Chimney Rock |
Heading Back To St. George
After touring this amazing park, we decided to head back a slightly different way than we had come into the park. I have to say that while there was more highway on this route, it was actually longer and much less interesting than the drive in. All in all we spent about 4-5 hours in the park and about 9 hours of driving so this day trip is definitely an all day adventure.
All that being said, I would highly recommend going to visit this park if you are ever in the vicinity (it actually is on a line between Arches and Bryce Canyon on the Eastern Side of the state of Utah). We absolutely loved this park. It is a park that you can really get up close and personal with since you can drive in so close to the rocks themselves. It is a bit out of the way but if you like national parks and red rocks, you will be happy that you took the time to visit!
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