Capitol Reef backcountry routes

[Bad_Luck_Brigade]

I recently had the pleasure of doing the full length of the traverse, starting and ending at Chimney Rock trailhead. I love the route a lot. But I get the feeling that there's got to be ways to extend the hikes.

I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for routes that hook into spring canyon from the north or go past pleasant creek to the south. Personally, the thing that I adored about capitol reef was the slickrock, so if possible, I'd like to stay within waterpocket fold. My main concerns for any potential routes come down to water availability (getting water from those potholes in the fold was some of the best fun I've had in awhile), and of course viable routes up and down from the canyons to the mesas. I'm more interested in the south than I am the north because I'd like to hit some of the slots down there, but I am interested in finding as many potential routes in this area as possible, particularly the ones that don't have official trails.

Way I figure, I think I'm in love with this area enough that I didn't hesitate to mark every single watering hole that had water in it that wasn't already on the map I procured, so I don't really have a problem doing some exploring and figuring things out by my lonesome, but there's got to be some desert rats that love this area as much as I do.

So I'm asking for a stupid check. Is there any reason I can't think of that the Traverse route isn't extended further north or south? Is there a lack of water avalability/ No routes? Is the way the Folds are going making things not worth it?

 

[John Morrow]

So much country N/NW of Lower Spring Canyon and again south of Pleasant Creek to explore. Water can be an issue for sure. By starting at Chimney Rock does that mean you missed Upper Spring Canyon? There is a well documented entry into Upper Spring from Hwy 24 at the head of Sulphur Creek. However, the classic tilted Navajo slickrock you mention tends to be minimized in those areas. I reappears to some extent as a travelable terrain feature along the Muley Twists and Upper Halls Creek.

 

[Magnus]

I'm assuming you have done the beehive traverse. That's as far as my knowledge goes so I don't have anything south of Pleasant Creek. I have a guide friend who lived in Torrey and talked to me about a new "section" of the beehive traverse north of Spring Canyon. I'll reach out to him to see if he has anything to share.

 

[Jammer]

Just for clarification, when most people say the "Traverse" they are referring to the Beehive Traverse -- an unofficial route and personal creation of hiking guru Steve Howe. So for that really only he should say how it should be extended. However, that route doesn't touch Chimney Rock, so wondering if you already extended that route and looped back or maybe just did what some refer to as the "Extravaganza Loop" (basically Lower Spring Canyon, Grand Wash, Cohab Canyon, Sulphur Creek). In any case... there are definitely options for continuing N or S of the BT (and even variations through the BT region.) It's awesome/tough terrain, but there are plenty of options for non-technical hiking routes out there. I've hiked the entire length of the park (a few different ways in a few sections) and have documented much of this in video and detail some of the routes on my site. Happy to give feedback for specific ideas/areas if needed, but IMHO exploring is half the fun. ✌

 

[Bad_Luck_Brigade]

So much country N/NW of Lower Spring Canyon and again south of Pleasant Creek to explore. Water can be an issue for sure. By starting at Chimney Rock does that mean you missed Upper Spring Canyon? There is a well documented entry into Upper Spring from Hwy 24 at the head of Sulphur Creek. However, the classic tilted Navajo slickrock you mention tends to be minimized in those areas. I reappears to some extent as a travelable terrain feature along the Muley Twists and Upper Halls Creek.

I think I've heard of that entry, but I can't quite recall if I ever looked into it in any detail. When I was planning the trip into capitol reef, it was more a bounce off because (once again) I sorta didn't play the permits system in time to play with either Canyon land or Zions permits systems. I think that I was also considering a route in Dark Horse Canyon Complex hoping to do the Canyon Complex and then make my way to fable Valley so I could hit some ruins. It sorta made Capitol reef the surprise of a decade for me.

You're the second person who's been talking about the muley twists and upper halls creek. I think I'm gonna have to do a lot more research on those places.

And yeah, I missed the upper spring canyon. I was doing this solo, so I had to keep the loop manageable.

I'm assuming you have done the beehive traverse. That's as far as my knowledge goes so I don't have anything south of Pleasant Creek. I have a guide friend who lived in Torrey and talked to me about a new "section" of the beehive traverse north of Spring Canyon. I'll reach out to him to see if he has anything to share.

I'm certainly interested. There's some areas I've identified because of some kind people discussing stuff in PM's that I'm going to be targeting.

Just for clarification, when most people say the "Traverse" they are referring to the Beehive Traverse -- an unofficial route and personal creation of hiking guru Steve Howe.

I have mad respect for Howe. It blows my mind that someone had to find this route, and I certainly don't intend to disrespect him or anything. The route just opened my eyes to the potential of this area. I sorta veiwed capitol reef as the Grand and Capitol washes, and that's about it.

However, that route doesn't touch Chimney Rock, so wondering if you already extended that route and looped back or maybe just did what some refer to as the "Extravaganza Loop" (basically Lower Spring Canyon, Grand Wash, Cohab Canyon, Sulphur Creek).

I used Chimney canyon to hook into lower spring canyon and followed the Traverse all the way to pleasant creak, where I took that through to the paved road and spent a day hiking all the way back to Chimney trailhead.

Happy to give feedback for specific ideas/areas if needed, but IMHO exploring is half the fun. ✌

Anything you can tell me about water would be appreciated. I understand if people want to keep potential water sources close to their chest, but aside from a general 'do not do this, you will die', that's mostly what I'm looking for. Even just a general nudge to an area where it might exist and what I'm looking for (springs, potholes, etc) and when (spring in a good water year, soonish after it rains), would be nice.

In particular, I would like to know anything, reguardless of how specific or vague, you could tell me about the potential for water in the northern district, and in the central district between Pleasant Creek and Oak Creek. I am interested in hitting Burro wash, sheets wash, and an unnamed slot canyon down there, and I am interested in knowing how reliable Oak Creek is.

I'm thinking of maybe trying to find a 'tough' route through the fold between pleasant creek and oak creek.

I'm also thinking about doing a fair bit of exploring with that strip of slickrock that connects the central district to the Muley Twists, but I'm not as worried about that because of how close the road is to that slickrock. It would make water stashing very easy, I think.

EDIT: I'm actually looking over satellite images right now, marking points of potential water sources in the places I outlined, and I'm really excited to get out there. As I said, this is more or less a stupid check. But it would be nice to have potential sources that aren't easy to see on a satellite to check out too.

It's one thing to view stuff top down, but it's another to get out there and see if there's any viable way to get to that water.

 

[John Morrow]

I have a guide friend who lived in Torrey and talked to me about a new "section" of the beehive traverse north of Spring Canyon. I'll reach out to him to see if he has anything to share.

Personally, I'd say leave it quiet. There ought to be something left for folks to discover on their own.

 

[Rsmith3]

I recently had the pleasure of doing the full length of the traverse, starting and ending at Chimney Rock trailhead. I love the route a lot. But I get the feeling that there's got to be ways to extend the hikes.

I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for routes that hook into spring canyon from the north or go past pleasant creek to the south. Personally, the thing that I adored about capitol reef was the slickrock, so if possible, I'd like to stay within waterpocket fold. My main concerns for any potential routes come down to water availability (getting water from those potholes in the fold was some of the best fun I've had in awhile), and of course viable routes up and down from the canyons to the mesas. I'm more interested in the south than I am the north because I'd like to hit some of the slots down there, but I am interested in finding as many potential routes in this area as possible, particularly the ones that don't have official trails.

Way I figure, I think I'm in love with this area enough that I didn't hesitate to mark every single watering hole that had water in it that wasn't already on the map I procured, so I don't really have a problem doing some exploring and figuring things out by my lonesome, but there's got to be some desert rats that love this area as much as I do.

So I'm asking for a stupid check. Is there any reason I can't think of that the Traverse route isn't extended further north or south? Is there a lack of water avalability/ No routes? Is the way the Folds are going making things not worth it?

This is what my wife and I are doing in April. Start and finish at Fruita. I believe someone said it's called extravaganza loop. https://www.alltrails.com/explore/m...2.570230379257382&paper_orientation=landscape

 

[Jammer]

I'm thinking of maybe trying to find a 'tough' route through the fold between pleasant creek and oak creek.

Quick note on this area -- Burro and Cottonwood can both be hiked from the bottom but come to unpassable dryfalls. Both canyons can evidently be done as technical routes from above, but the upper portion of these drainages are closed/off-limits on a seasonal basis due to being a sensitive wildlife habitat. (I believe it's spring and summer and for falcons, but not positive about that. Check with the park for details.)

RE: water north of Spring Canyon --
this is a tough stretch for water all the way north of Cathedral Valley. I believe Water Canyon is the only truly reliable source in this area, but it's likely to be out of the way unless that's the destination. One will likely need to deviate from an optimal route just to explore the deeper crevices searching for potholes/tanks. Some of those potholes can be really nasty -- but it's still water. There is some water in the South Desert and in the lower Cathedral Valley area, but it's prone to being very alkaline and not that great.

RE: water in the central area
Oak Creek is reliable (in spring/early summer at least), but south of there it's really dry and one would be back to seeking out potholes/tanks which depending on the year can be very rare until south of the Burr Trail.

IMHO if doing a longer/thru hike it's often best to just move fast through the dry areas to hit the reliable water and... to always have a back-up plan in mind to exit/bail if needed.

If placing water or other caches along the road -- please hide them somewhat so as to not draw attention or be an eyesore. Also label with name and date.

 

[canadug]

We have explored north of Cathedral Valley for a few days but as Jammer stated there is basically no water there. May be possible if you did water caches.