Capital Reef National Park is worth a visit, even in bad weather!
Capitol Reef National Park is located in Utah’s south-central desert. Just like all the other National Park’s in Utah, this is another one not to be missed!
Capitol Reef National Park is famous for an area full of cliffs, canyons, domes, and bridges in a Waterpocket Fold. A Waterpocket Fold is a geologic monocline or some call it, a wrinkle on the earth. It extends for almost 100 miles!
To see the park at its best, 3-days is recommended. Sadly, when we visited we only had a day to explore. Despite it been in the middle of August, the weather had turned on us. It rained for most of the day, meaning we were unable to walk the Hickman Bridge Trail or the Butler Wash Ruins. Instead, we spent our time driving the Scenic Drive. It gave us a great taster of what the park has to offer.
I definitely would like to return one day and walk some of the trails!
For more information on the different hiking trails in the park, where to stay, and entry fees, please check out the National Park’s website: https://www.nps.gov/care/index.htm.
The Scenic Drive
The Scenic Drive is a 7.9-mile trip on a paved road. It will take you around 90-minutes to complete, including stops for photos along the way. There are 11-stops in total along the route.
It was a picturesque drive, which I highly recommend doing, no matter what the weather is like. We did it in the rain and Capitol Reef still looked incredible!
Best to do the drive first thing in the morning or later in the day, as the route can get very busy.
Here are some photos we captured along the Scenic Drive:
Further Reading
For more information on other incredible National Park’s to visit in Utah, check out some of my other blogs:
