Epic Road Trip: Capitol Reef National Park (Part 8)

At this point of the trip we had spent two days seeing two of the big Utah National Parks, and today would result in another glorious day of exploration at Capitol Reef National Park.

Going into this day we had little expectations and really excited to learn about this new to us area of the country.

The drive took several hours through some scenic vistas and sorta out of no where one stumbles upon Capitol Reef. If you ever want to feel alone in this big world, this is the part of the country where you can drive and not see anyone for miles. Not a house, not a car, probably not even any wildlife. It is simply beautiful.

This park was more about geologic interpretation then natural beauty, but still had a good mile or so hike on the Grand Wash trail. Unfortunately much of this smaller park is still closed due to flood conditions.

The highlight was Capitol Reef was former Mormon territory and had lots of fruit trees. When in season (not now), guests can pick and eat the fruit.

Fortunately there is a small pie shop inside the park that offered a fantastic variety of fresh fruit pies. So good!

We also had some more opportunities to see petroglyphs.

Just like the drive into Capitol Reef, the drive out towards Bryce was interesting and very similar in style to the Road to Hana in Hawaii. Narrow hairpin turns and lots of elevation change on sides of mountains with nothing protecting you from going over edge. Great views from the top though through the Utah Dixie National Forest and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

We also out of nowhere came upon a free range cattle drive in the middle of the road that was awesome! We simply stopped and took into the moment, listening to all the cows moo as the cowboys attempted to keep them movin’ along.

Daily miles driven- 256 miles
Accommodations Cost- $180.74 for a 3 Queen Western Cabin at Bryce Pioneer Village

Continue reading about our journey below.

Just like our 2019 National Park Road Trip, we will break down the trip each day in separate posts as highlighted below.

Epic Road Trip: National Park Tour (Part 1)
Epic Road Trip: Cleveland to St Louis (Part 2)
Epic Road Trip: Silver Dollar City (Part 3)
Epic Road Trip: Rt 66 to Texas (Part 4)
Epic Road Trip: Texas Surprises to Santa Fe (Part 5)
Epic Road Trip: Four Corners and Arches National Park (Part 6)
Epic Road Trip: Canyonlands National Park (Part 7)
Epic Road Trip: Capitol Reef National Park (Part 8)
Epic Road Trip: Bryce Canyon National Park (Part 9)
Epic Road Trip: Zion National Park (Part 10)
Epic Road Trip: Knott’s Berry Farm (Part 11)
Epic Road Trip: Universal Studios Hollywood (Part 12)
Epic Road Trip: Meow Wolf Las Vegas (Part 13)
Epic Road Trip: Worlds of Fun (Part 14)
Epic Road Trip: Trip Wrap Up (Part 15)

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