Capitol Reef

Park 24 | March 2023

Part + Park 3 (of 3) on our spring break road trip.

It’s trippy to hike, drive, and sleep in places that used to be covered by the salty water of a shallow sea. There were many times during our days in this park that I wondered if I was sleeping where a whale used to swim past. How wild that the rocks around us used to be part of a watery ecosystem and now make up a hot, dry desert landscape.

Capitol Reef is brimming with adventures and as the least-visited Utah national park, there are fewer humans to contend with for parking at trailheads or campsites. We explored slot canyons and completed miles upon miles of hiking, paired with the kind of deep conversation that emerges after days together on the road and out on the trail. We saw petroglyphs from the ancient Fremont Culture. Some of the darkest skies in North America coaxed us out of our tent at 4am to be astonished by the Milky Way shimmering down — more luminous and bright than I could recall having seen before. Springtime orchards, a remnant of the small Mormon settlement first established near Fruita Campground in the 1860s, bloom in the desert and act as a shelter for local deer. Pancakes sizzled in our pan during the cool of the morning while we sipped mugs of hot coffee. And we found ourselves driving over an hour to buy campfire wood from a gas station that is literally carved into the side of a red rock mountain. Utah is such a unique mixture of odd quirks and breathtaking vistas.

J would come back here in a heartbeat; he loves the stillness and peace of the desert and the clear nighttime skies. I still prefer a little more greenery and water than Capitol Reef can offer, but would be hard-pressed not to return if the opportunity arose.

Pictured below:

• Fruita Campground.

• Cassidy Arch hike.

• Grand Wash hike.