National Parks Journal: Capitol Reef is a crowdless red rock sanctuary
Far less popular than its fellow Utah National Parks, the central-southern water-pocket fold offers reprieve from the selfies-seeking masses that flock to Zion and Bryce Canyon to its west and Canyonlands and Arches to its east.
A stroll through the water-pocket fold may not pop up on your Instagram feed as much as The Narrows of Zion or Horseshoe Bend near the Grand Canyon, but that gives Capitol Reef a uniqueness amongst the region’s many red rock parks.
Capitol Reef doesn’t have a “the thing” to do, which I found freeing. We were able to take a look at a map, chat with a park ranger and then pick out a few things we were interested in.
For us, this meant a four-mile hike (Grand Wash Trail) through a canyon that shoots off the waterpocket fold and then a stop for mini-pies and ice cream at a pint-sized wooden hut known as the Gifford House. (Get there early if you want pie. There were only two left when we showed up around 4 p.m.) We capped the day with a two-mile hike up the Cassidy Arch Trail (pictured) to the only sandstone arch you can walk across in the National Park system. It’s also one of the best viewpoints of the waterpocket fold.
I will also always have a fondness for Capitol Reef given that it was the first joint-visit to a National Park with my wife.
