capitol reef

I would like to say that this day-hike had been meticulously planned in advance, but that wasn't really the case. On a Gaia GPS map, I had seen a small side-canyon, north of Capitol Gorge in Capitol Reef National Park. If it went, it looked like it could lead to a nice viewpoint of some of the...

I just loved this hike ! It is undoubtedly one of the best backpacking trips I have done in the South-West. I had visited Capitol Reef National Park on several occasions, walking many of the park trails, and exploring some of the backcountry on day-hikes. I had wondered for a while whether it...

We started on the east side near the Burr Trail, crossed Hall's Creek and the Fold, then completed a route including among others Stevens, Fold, Prima, Donna and Georges Camp canyons before re-climbing the Fold further north. Once up there we traversed the spine south over Cliff and Hall before...

This past Spring, I took yet another opportunity to do some more exploration of Capitol Reef National Park. No surprise there. This time, my wife Jessica would join along. In fact, this trip would be more unique from past trips, both in this park and elsewhere. We would be exploring an area...

When my friend Devin contacted me about wanting to do a weekend desert trip, he had been keen to do an unknown route he had strung together down on Cedar Mesa, but for various reasons, that was put on the back shelf. We then started considering a loop in Capitol Reef through Lower Muley Twist...

Lacey and I were fortunate enough to visit Utah again a few weeks ago and backpack a bit in Capitol Reef National Park which was absolutely amazing and lonely. Day 1: We got our permits and started at the Chimney Rock TH where we went up Chimney Rock Canyon and then up Upper Spring Canyon...

Sometimes things can come together so well it's as if catching lightning in a bottle. That happened this fall when such things played out into allowing me the opportunity to fulfill one of my top bucket list hikes since I found out about it. To do what's been called the Beehive Traverse, a...

This past Sat I did a fun and scenic 24 mile loop out of Chimney Rock in Capitol Reef, which could also be done as an overnighter. Route Chimney Rock trail > Lower Spring Canyon > walk along Hwy 24 toward Hanksville > Grand Wash > Cassidy Arch trail > Frying Pan trail > Cohab Canyon trail...

After a fantastic night with my oldest daughter, Willow, down in Willow Gulch, it was time for another round of Daddy-daughter backpacking with my next oldest daughter, Ellory. For this trip, I'd return to Capitol Reef's Pleasant Creek so that Ellory could experience it for the first time. Day...

For the many visits made to Capitol Reef National Park over the years, we'd yet to make a drive into Cathedral Valley. Having recently acquired a somewhat high clearance 4WD SUV in the form of a GMC Yukon XL for our family, we took the opportunity to spend a day driving the Cathedral Valley...

May 4-5, 2018 This was my first true solo trip. I had attempted to go in November of 2016 to Lake Blanche, but I ended up unable to find a good place to stake out my tent, and I hiked out in the dark. I was determined not to let anything similar happen this time. I had wanted to to visit this...

So this last weekend I went down to Capitol Reef with the intention of doing a two night backpacking trip. Due some complications that arose, it ended up being an overnight trip. The plan was to spend one night in Lower Spring Canyon, and then one night on the Frying Pan trail. We arrived in...

If you've been following me and my posts over time, you probably know how often I visit Capitol Reef National Park and the surrounding area. With my in-laws now living in Torrey and my wife being a great-great-granddaughter of the man considered to be the father of Capitol Reef National Park...

Last May, my wife and I flew out to Las Vegas, and got out of there as soon as possible (not helped by Sixt Rent-a-car -- we were waiting in line for two hours). We had two weeks, and I had most every day planned out. My goal was to spend our time away from the crowds, so we did not go to...

“It’s just a bunch of rocks.” That is what I heard a couple of times the day before I packed the three oldest, out of four, into the Jeep and drove south for what has become our annual sometime-in-spring-trip, or trips, to Capitol Reef. This year it was a little early. The itinerary is...

Halls Creek Narrows: Another place I’d got all planned to visit until storms stopped the plan a few years back. But this time good weather was forecast and I had good company in the shape of Jack, Paul and Steve. After much debate over whether to use the shortcut route, we opted for the...

Back in October I had enough time to do an overnight trip in Capitol Reef. Lower Spring Canyon seemed like a good choice for the time that I had. So I headed down with two family members. We did get a late start but it still worked out good for us. We started at the Chimney Rock trail head...

I've spent most of fall this year running around Utah riding my mountain bike. Not because I'm hugely into mountain biking - yes, it is fun, but more so because my side job of writing trail guides has expanded into also writing up some mountain biking trails around the state. 70 of them to be...

So there I was, cruising south on Highway 6 in the LED spaceship, about 30 miles south of Wellington. After my last solo trip I decided to get back on the podcast bandwagon and I was totally entertained by season 1 of Serial. But a nagging thought kept popping to the foreground. I do not want to...

Meek's Mesa 3/16- I am pretty sure this is not a regular destination in itself that is high on many people's lists, and if it is someone's secret place then they most likely stumbled upon it from a trip to Pandora's box. I have not done Pandora's box, but I was looking for a quick and yet off...