Cathedral Valley - Middle Desert Wash

Dave

Broadcaster, formerly "ashergrey"
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I'm thinking about running down to Capitol Reef this weekend and staying overnight in Cathedral Valley. I know established trails are few in the area but I'm wondering if anyone has explored much in the Middle Desert Wash area (north of the campground). Looking at satellite imagery I can see a few little canyons, including one with what appears to be a massive dry fall. Anyone have input about the area or other nearby secrets?
 
i'll warn you that Capitol Reef has been getting a lot of rain lately so definitely check on road conditions.

Yeah, I'll be making a call to the park before setting out. Obviously the trip is weather and conditions-dependent.
 
Yeah, I'll be making a call to the park before setting out. Obviously the trip is weather and conditions-dependent.
only mentioned it because we had nearly an inch of rain within a half hour here in boulder the other day (with about twenty minutes of dime sized hail mixed in) and i know that the fremont river gorge & central section of the park has been getting hit two or three times as hard as we have & that grand & capitol washes have been closed most of the time over the last month. not sure how much the upper desert has been getting though
 
only mentioned it because we had nearly an inch of rain within a half hour here in boulder the other day (with about twenty minutes of dime sized hail mixed in) and i know that the fremont river gorge & central section of the park has been getting hit two or three times as hard as we have & that grand & capitol washes have been closed most of the time over the last month. not sure how much the upper desert has been getting though

I appreciate it... never hurts to get an idea of conditions from the locals.
 
I know Bob Palin spend a lot of time out there guiding folks.
I go to Cathedral Valley a lot but we don't get off the dirt road. I've looked at that area many times and thought I should get out there, but I haven't done it yet. You can ask the park about conditions but they won't have very accurate information, they often get road conditions from me and I haven't been out there in a while. The BLM biologist may have been reporting back to them, the national park rangers don't seem to go out that way often. There has a been a lot of rain in the area so I expect it will be rough but unless it's rained in the previous 24 hours you should be OK with a high clearance 4WD. Stay off the bentonite! I'm not scheduled to go out there again until October so won't be able to update you. The park also has a phone number for road conditions but it's the same information.
 
Thanks Bob. If the weather's dry the next few days I'll probably chance it. If worse comes to worse, I can play around in the Fruita area instead. I can handle that.
 
FYI, the roads are in decent condition... with a few exceptions. A culvert on the Caineville road is partially washed out. Another wash crossing had some tricky entry/exit lines. Some of the stretches on both Caineville and Harnett have pretty good ruts. The majority of the washes were dry, though some still had damp spots.

I'll have a full trip report up in a day or so.
 
FYI, the roads are in decent condition... with a few exceptions. A culvert on the Caineville road is partially washed out. Another wash crossing had some tricky entry/exit lines. Some of the stretches on both Caineville and Harnett have pretty good ruts. The majority of the washes were dry, though some still had damp spots.

I'll have a full trip report up in a day or so.
Looks like the area is going to get hammered today! Looking forward to your full report.
 
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