A Journey Through the Utah Mighty 5: Capitol Reef National Park
This September, my husband and I decided on the journey through the Utah Mighty 5 as our long vacation. The Mighty 5 are the five National parks in Southern Utah - Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion. Our trip was a total of 8 days, and we opted to travel from east (Arches National Park) to west (Zion). During this post, I’ll replay our time during the third park, Capitol Reef National Park!
One thing to note: of course, we couldn’t see and do everything in every park. And maybe there are some things I would have done differently…instead of calling these “regrets”, I’ll call them “Notes for next time!” and post them at the bottom at the bottom of each post.
Did you miss the first post on our journey? Click here to learn more about how we got started!
Background on Capitol Reef:
Capitol Reef National Park is in the middle of the Mighty 5 Journey, located near the small town of Torrey, UT (Pop: 243). This park is defined by a nearly 100-mile water pocket fold, creating stunning geological features. Mormon pioneers arrived to this area in the 1880s and planted over 200 acres of fruit orchards - many of which are still maintained today. When in season, visitors are invited to pick fruit - anything you eat inside the orchard is free, and anything you take with you is $1/pound. This park offers hikes, a scenic drive, and off road driving.
Photography Equipment I used at Capitol Reef:
Mighty 5 Day 3 - Afternoon:
After packing up the car in Moab, we made our way west to Torrey. The drive was about 2 hours…of absolutely. nothing. I mean, when I say nothing, I mean…nothing. We saw maybe 5 cars - no power lines. No homes, campers, tents, crossroads, cows…we were completely in the middle of nowhere. There was one point of interest on the way. But that was it…I have literally never been driving in the actual middle of nowhere. So this means, you better be ready for some excellent road trip music and/or conversation because the traditional road trip games will leave you coming up empty!
I don’t know if it was the excitement of seeing actual people or what, but when we arrived in Fruita and Capitol Reef, I just wanted to jump out of the car and do all the things! Along Route 24 there are parking lots for trail heads, and pull-offs for the orchards! We opted to drive through and head into Torrey for some lunch. Afterwards, we went back to the park so I could pick some fruit! And so we could hike a little. There were peach, apple, and plum orchards open. The peaches and Gold Ginger apples were some of the best I’ve ever had, hands down! The plums? Well, I don’t think they were quite ready yet. In any case, I had so much fun picking fruit among this beautiful landscape!!
The hike we did on this afternoon was to the Hickman Bridge - which is a natural bridge formation. This was a moderate hike that took about 90 mins to complete, and takes you through beautiful scenes along the way, and interesting desert plant life.
When we arrived at the bridge, we realized that we were probably supposed to take the route that went directly under the bridge, instead of along the side by the remnants for a rock slide. But we made our away around the obstacle, no sweat!
Afterward, we were ready to check in to our room at the Capitol Reef Resort, grab dinner, and sit by a fire pit as we waited on our laundry. (Side note: thank goodness we were able to do laundry on this stop!) The resort was clean and comfortable and we had a beautiful view outside our room.
This place also has Tee-pees and wagons that you can rent for your stay and fire pits are scattered throughout, adding to the perfect setting. Fellow guests were so incredibly friendly and because Capitol Reef is the mid-point for those on the Mighty 5 trip, everyone had some tips or advice to offer if they were traveling in the opposite direction. People were happy…tired, but happy.
Mighty 5 Day 4 - Morning:
Breakfast included some fresh fruit (thank you, Capitol Reef!) and some items we stocked up on in Moab. We were then ready to explore a little bit more of Capitol Reef, starting with the Scenic Drive and the Capitol Gorge. The Scenic Drive is exactly as it sounds - it’s a scenic drive through the Fruita District of Capitol Reef. We were blessed with another perfect blue sky day and drove up to the dirt road that leads to Capitol Gorge.
The road to Capitol Gorge isn’t long, but it is incredibly bumpy…so after about a mile and a half in, we were over it!
On our way back out of the park, we stopped at the Gifford Homestead (still inside the park) to buy a pie. Yep, that’s right! The former kitchen of the Gifford Homestead has been converted into a Natural History Association sales outlet. And they sell freshly baked pies every day. We picked our Strawberry Rhubarb pie at about noon and it was still warm…and we somehow had enough control to save it for the road trip ahead of us!
Our last stop in Capitol Reef was a hike through the Grand Wash. We started at the trailhead off of Hwy 24 and hiked until some clouds started to move in. Probability of rain was small, but we didn't want to take any chances! This was an easy hike, and a nice way to end our morning before we hit the road...again (yes, I was getting some roadtrip fatigue!)
After lunch, it was time to hit the road on Scenic Byway 12 to our next stop - Bryce Canyon. Scenic Byway 12 has been named one of the most scenic roads in North America - I could see why! Through switchbacks and mountains you drive through the Dixie National Forest and the Grand Staircase Escalante Monument. The drive is about 3 hours, but it could take longer if make stops along the way for hikes. We only stopped a couple of times to take in the views…and once to eat our freshly baked pie (which was amazing!).
Tips that worked for us:
Buy a pie!
Hit the road to Bryce by 1pm - and have lunch first!
Pick some fruit
Chat it up with fellow travelers
Notes for Next Time:
Take a guided Jeep tour through Cathedral Valley
Hike the Grand Wash from the other side
Buy a pie again!
Order a picnic lunch from Chuck Wagon General Store