The 2nd "Cathedral Valley"

[hatchcanyon]

In May 2013 we visited the Caineville area, but had no concept what to see. We left UT 24 for Caineville Wash Road and suddenly there was a spur going away from the road. After a short distance there was some pavement in the middle of the Caineville Wash Valley. A Road? I doubt!

Length of pavement might be some 1,100 to 1,200 feet and it is not completely straight. Might this be an airstrip?

One end of the assumed airstrip

Nevertheless this was the wrong way. On the other end of pavement a spur let us across Caineville Wash and into a smaller colorful canyon with another wash. (We named it Red Desert Wash) It must have flown not that long ago. The bed was still moist. This canyon is short, the length of the pretty good road measures approximately 1,2 miles.

Entering the small canyon

Improvement by pioneer bridges

Wild and colored

Within the canyon

Angled strata ascending to the West

Looking back (east): banded Morrison Formation and Caineville Mesa in background

Next layer is Summerville Formation

Topomap tells us we are entering Red Desert. Seems to be!

Red Summerville remnants on greyish Curtis Formation. Nice contrast!

Entrada cliffs with Curtis caps

At this point there is no need for a Jeep Wrangler. Even a sedan might work.

Looking west out of the little canyon

The last of at least three pioneer bridges

The wash in the little canyon drains a basin surrounded by Entrada sandstone cliffs. Seems to me that this was once an upwarp. The inclining strata from the east side starts to decline on the west side (we saw that later).

The eastern Cliffs of the basin

A view across the northern half of the basin

This is what the Topo Maps call Red Desert.

Branch of the wash

Cliff on the north end of the basin

This is what is left from eroded Entrada sandstone

Hoodoo and a small arch in the distance

Still inclining strata

Looks like a labyrinth

Colorful cliffs

The road climbs up some 250 feet and we got acompletely different view backwards.

Red Desert and blue shale on the Caineville Mesas

Cliff line to the west

Resembling Cathedral Valley - its the same geological setting

The maps show a flowing well

Moisture = flowers

We haven`t seen the well but we saw the trees

"Cathedral" walls - unfortunately in the shadow

A bit better

Egyptian temples?

Remnants from volcanism

Agate

More cliffs

Cliff height declines

Looking back with better "cathedral" light

There is something like a gap on the west side of the basin. Topo maps show a prospect and a trail running up to it. We wanted to see whats there? The prospect must be in that gap.

Western cliffs

The former road is now a trail

No name on the maps - we call it Red Desert Pass

The Red Desert Basin from Red Desret Pass

A tighter spot

Red Desert Pass

Last stretch to the summit

From the summit to the west

Down in the valley runs Hartnet Road. It is only a mile away. (Junction at 12S 0491175 4241257) Strata is pointing down now to the west.

Red Desert Pass and Red Desert might be a solution for these coming from Cathedral Valley finding Freemont River running to high to ford. Driving back to Cathedral Valley to change onto Caineville Wash Road to reach UT 24 means 56 miles or so, the pass is only 12 miles. A big saver!

More details at "Red Desert"

Featured image for home page:

 

[Laura]

Love that Cathedral Wall shot!

 

[Absarokanaut]

Thank you for sharing your spectacular adventure. Exquisite.

 

[Glasterpiece]

Excellent report. Beautiful landscape. I would love to see this trip plotted on a map. Please?

 

[hatchcanyon]

Excellent report. Beautiful landscape. I would love to see this trip plotted on a map. Please?

I´m sorry, there is no map. But navigation is easy.

- Drive to Caineville (UT 24)
- north onto Caineville Weash Road (12S 0497940 4242670)
- a dirt road branches left (northwest) after .3 miles (12S 0497700 4243020) There might be a wooden sign(?)
- another .3 miles to the airstrip but the strip itself is wrong. Leave the strip at its southwestern end. (Topomaps show that the road is going around it) There is a spur going north. 12S 0497240 4243400 is right.
- enter the canyon to the west. Good road, you´ll see the 1st pioneer bridge at 12S 0496910 4243580
- length of the canyon is roughly a mile. At 12S 0495650 4243840 you are at the eastern cliffs. (15th picture from top)
- there is a road branch going south. We did not visit it.
- stay on the good road to the west
- at 12S 0493671 4242678 another road goes right to the north and a well. Identification: Trees. The "Cathedral" Cliffs are an the left side. (Be there before noon - for better light!)
- for the pass stay on the main road. You can`t go wrong.
- Summit at 12S 0493671 4242678 Hartnet Road is a mile away
- the only tricky spot is next to an old reservoir. One may miss the trail
- Hartnet Road at 12S 0491160 4241260

 

[JulieKT]

Excellent report. Beautiful landscape. I would love to see this trip plotted on a map. Please?

Those roads are (mostly) marked on the following 7.5 topos: Fruita NW, Fruita, Caine Springs, Caineville. They, along with any other roads out there, are heartily not recommended to drive during the wet season (July through September-ish). But it is indeed a fantastic way to see parts of that desert the vast majority of visitors don't. For one of my jobs we used to travel (on foot & with handcarts) over some of the two-tracks hatchcanyon refers to. Beautiful pics, btw! After you've driven/hiked through that area, get to the east side of the top of Thousand Lake Mountain for bird's-eye views of the country. You can drive up there from the desert, the road goes west up to it from above the Hartnet switchbacks, south of the campground. That road will then go over the mountain and drop you onto Highway 72 above Fremont. It's a maintained logging road, so just about any car can make it depending on weather.

Random history: All the roads in the Blue Desert and Red Desert (also says Middle Desert on the maps, but I don't know anyone who actually uses that term--people mostly say Cathedral Valley area, or Blue Desert just above and to the east of that) originally were made for mining and then ranching. The bright idea to connect and improve certain roads in order to make the beautiful Cathedral Valley loop drive first came about in 1949, when the then-superintendent/custodian of what was Capitol Reef National Monument, Charles Kelly, first saw what we now call Upper Cathedral Valley and then the Temples, and realized people needed to be able to get back in there to see it all. Anyhoo. Gorgeous area, love it back in there.

 

[hatchcanyon]

Just my five cents.....

As far as the USGS Topo Maps read, Middle Desert is not Red Desert. Middle Desert is located south of Cathedral Valley, Red Desert is again more to the south. Between both features is a distance of approximately 5 miles. I´m not a local, so I have to rely on these maps.

Middle Desert near Temples of Sun and Moon

You`re right, from the mountains one may have a birds eye view if the weather is fine. in 2011 we had thunderstorms in the area limiting sight considerable.

From the mountains down to Cathedral Valley - a thunderstorm in a distance

I too agree that the road is very well maintained - in the mountains! But the last stretch from Bulberry Flat to Cathedral Valley is not maintained and comes very rocky. No stretch for a sedan or anything that lacks enough clearance. Might be that this is due to the fact that the road enters Capitol Reef N.P.

Good log road on the Mountains - not that good farther down on the east side.

By the way, thunderstorms are even then a threat if they did not occur in the area. Those pouring rain on the mountains are more dangerous, sending water down. This might arrive at a time the sun is shining. An old slide from 1996.

Middle Desert Wash flash flood near The Temples of Sun and Moon

 

[JulieKT]

No, Middle Desert is not the Red Desert--it's actually in the area some locals call the Blue Desert, just to add to the confusion. That entire area is known as Cathedral Valley and/or the Blue Desert, depending on whom you're consulting, even though the actual Cathedral Valley is quite small. The maps are somewhat outdated anyway, but as a general guide they can be useful of course. Honestly, I do tend to ask locals about trails and shortcuts whenever I hike (or drive) somewhere new anyway, as they often know about road closures, etc. They sometimes know more than the land management agencies do.

My idea of good driving roads tends to be a little skewed since I drive these all the time, lol. The road up the mountain from the Hartnet can be rocky indeed during the initial push, but the nice thing is you can usually get out on it if the roads lower in the desert are mucked out from a storm and you get into a bad patch. Sounds like you had great roads on your trip, though. About storms, too--you honestly never know. It can pour on the mountain and nothing happens in the desert, and vice versa. It can be a raging storm south of Highway 24 and be bone dry north of it, or vice versa. It truly depends on where the storm epicenter is, how much water is dumped, and which water courseways are affected. I've known one slot canyon to fill entirely in a raging torrent from runoff while the ones closest to it stay completely dry. I've been in the western end of Cathedral Valley and the roads were toast, but the eastern end wasn't at all affected. Shrug. But always err on the side of caution, of course.

Beautiful shot you got off the mountain, I'd say it captures the area very nicely! Great lighting. All the photos are beautiful.

 

[Glasterpiece]

I´m sorry, there is no map. But navigation is easy.

- Drive to Caineville (UT 24)
- north onto Caineville Weash Road (12S 0497940 4242670)
- a dirt road branches left (northwest) after .3 miles (12S 0497700 4243020) There might be a wooden sign(?)
- another .3 miles to the airstrip but the strip itself is wrong. Leave the strip at its southwestern end. (Topomaps show that the road is going around it) There is a spur going north. 12S 0497240 4243400 is right.
- enter the canyon to the west. Good road, you´ll see the 1st pioneer bridge at 12S 0496910 4243580
- length of the canyon is roughly a mile. At 12S 0495650 4243840 you are at the eastern cliffs. (15th picture from top)
- there is a road branch going south. We did not visit it.
- stay on the good road to the west
- at 12S 0493671 4242678 another road goes right to the north and a well. Identification: Trees. The "Cathedral" Cliffs are an the left side. (Be there before noon - for better light!)
- for the pass stay on the main road. You can`t go wrong.
- Summit at 12S 0493671 4242678 Hartnet Road is a mile away
- the only tricky spot is next to an old reservoir. One may miss the trail
- Hartnet Road at 12S 0491160 4241260

Thank you. I've been on a lot of those roads but it seems like time to see more. I'll put it on this summer's list.

 

[JB Kramer]

We were there on the Hartnet in June and out on the Caineville, our second trip. In 2012 we took the Caineville to the Temples and back out. I'd like to return and explore the south desert, I can see a road down there so there must be a way down.

That old truck you pass is an International KB series from 1947-1949

Just a heads up, on the other end of Capitol Reef is the South Draw 4WD road, unless you have something like a Jeep CJ and like more extreme off roading, I really urge people to avoid it. It was white knuckled in our F350 4WD. You end up on a clay ridge not more than a foot wider than our truck on both sides with a several hundred foot (if not more) drop on both sides. The trail also has monster ruts so the truck was tilted 20 degrees side to side (according to the truck info). My wife prayed the whole time we we on that which runs for at least a mile. No going back either once you start.

 

[hatchcanyon]

We drove this South Draw Road years ago with an Jeep Grand Cherokee. Unfortunately the only picture readily available is a not very good slide scan. Guess the trail is not that often used.

Your picture from South Desert shows much green exactly what we have seen in June too in other places. Must have been coused by the large amount of rain in spring.

I only know of a short trail into South Desert to the so called Jailhouse Rock farther southeast of this view point. Never heart about anything else in this area but you never know?