Capitol Reef National Park, Utah



Route 24 in Utah runs right through Capitol Reef National Park. Most of Route 24 from Interstate 70 is uninhabited and west of the town of Hanksville, it becomes a convoluted, twisted road that must be taken at lower speeds. However, the trip is worth the drive. The campground is spacious and paved, even though my site wasn't level - but don't expect any cell signal out here.

 

The scenery here is spectacular, with red rock walls that seem to be the norm in this area. There are some other formations I haven't seen before, such as the photo below. I think these formations look like they're melting, causing the piles of sand at the bottom of them. In a way, it probably is, since it's from the weathering of the rocks.

 

I took a hike one morning to reach a natural bridge.

On another day, I took a couple short hikes, one to an overlook of a gooseneck canyon with a small river at the bottom. It's 800 feet to the river down below.

 

On one of my hikes that day, there was a huge rock formation, and at the bottom there were a couple entrances to an abandoned mine that have been closed off. If you look between the bars, you'll see the universal warning sign for radiation. They were mining for uranium in the early 1900s. Back then, it was consumed as a "health tonic". In the end, very little was found here, very little profit was made and the mines were closed.

 

In another area, there was one of the many tall rock walls with petroglyphs carved into them.

More photos are below.

 

 

 

 

Fruita, Utah - Capitol Reef National Park

Back in the 1880s, a few Mormon settlers moved into the canyon in the area that is now the campground and Visitor Center of the Capitol Reef National Park. They created a small settlement of about 10 families and farmed the land. There are still thousands of fruit trees in this area, including apples, plums, cherries, pears and others. The trees are still being taken care of by the Park Service and residents of the campgrounds can pick and eat whatever is in season while they're here. I had to try them and had apple cobbler and apple pancakes while I was here. Yummy!

A small schoolhouse was built in 1896 that would house between 8 to 25 children, depending on the population that year. Of course, school was held in winter, and only after the farm chores were completed. The schoolhouse was also used for socializing. Behind the school, is a large rock which was carved with the school name. The school closed after the 1941 session and children were bussed to schools in nearby towns.

This area is great for farming and there are lots of large trees and grass, as well as the fruit trees. When I got home one morning after my hike, I found a few mule deer trimming the grass in the campground. Apparently, they were unafraid of me, I got to sneak up pretty close to them as they were around my neighbor's tent. There are also wild turkeys that wander around the area.