Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.     September 2015

Capitol Reef is a strange and magical landscape in the Utah desert. The Fremont river supports an Oasis of fruit orchards and shady trees at the Fruita Historic Settlement in the park. Be sure and stop by the Gifford Farm house where they have an assortment of fresh pies daily.

U-Pick Orchards Capitol Reef

They call this area the Waterpocket Fold, and it is a hiker’s paradise. During my stay I did five hikes: Capitol Gorge and the tanks, Golden Throne, Cassidy Arch, the Grand Wash, and the Hickman Bridge trail. They were all fantastic. If you only have time for one or two hikes, I recommend Hickman Bridge and Cassidy Arch. Of course there is a lot more territory I did not see. Cathedral valley is more remote and I did not have time to explore that area.

Stop by the Capitol Reef Inn and Café for Amazing food, outside the park in Torrey Utah. The folks at Austin’s Chuckwagon Motel were great. There is a general store there too. Southern Utah is a great place of star gazing at night. I will definitely come back to this national treasure.

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