It has been several months now since I went on my road trip to Utah, but I still can’t get enough of looking at the photos and annoying people time and again by showing the recordings of my walks. Needless to say – it was a fantastic holiday. Narrating the experience of the 25 days my husband and I traveled around Utah would likely result in a full-blown book, so I decided to focus on some of the highlights, which are some of the more hidden corners of Utah.
What hidden corners?
Let me start with setting the scene on where we are, because Utah is not only vast, it is also a labyrinth of National Parks, Monuments, Forests and more. It took this photo of what I thought was a good map at the Escalante Heritage Centre, which is an excellent visitor centre offering information on the entire area regardless of the management body that looks after the section you’re interested in.
During the five days we spent in the area, we drove through (part of) Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, extensively visited Capitol Reef National Park, went around (a section of) Dixie National Forest on horseback and drove / walked around the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
An interesting snippet, Grand Staircase-Escalante is one of two protected areas in Utah that President Trump has decided to scale back. The plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante is to reduce the Monument to around half of its original size. The pitch, in short, is to “give the land back to the ranchers”. However, when I brought up the topic with local residents – ranchers, shopkeepers and working people alike – it was obvious that the reduction is seen merely as “paving the way for mining companies” and people are concerned they will lose business from tourism and existing, historic permits for ranchers to use the land. A very good article summarising the situation is published by National Geographic in case you want to read more.
Reaching Capitol Reef
The days spent around Capitol Reef where more or less in the middle of my trip. We reached Torrey late on the day after a long, but gorgeous drive through Glen Canyon. The beautiful scenery definitely contributed to the reason why it took us so long to complete the distance.
We had booked four nights in the Capitol Reef resort, but not in an ordinary hotel room. The Capitol Reef Resort, located a few miles outside the national park, offers a variety of accommodation options and we opted for the traditional tipis. It was an excellent choice – our tipi was spacious and comfortable, with bathrooms very closeby in a separate building and the backdrop of the national park was simply amazing. We were taken by surprise by the huge temperature drop at night and the first night was rather chilly. A couple of extra blankets easily solved this problem for the subsequent nights.
Capitol Reef National Park
Our plan was to spend two days visiting the Capitol Reef National Park. Amongst the US National Parks, Capitol Reef is one of the lesser known ones and often forgotten in the wealth of options that can be found relatively nearby (notably Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon). I was pleased we did it justice and kept it on our list. We had picked a variety of relatively short, but beautiful walks to fill our two days. I would rate the difficulty of the walks as low, although the heath of the day makes them tiring.
First on the plan was the Capitol Gorge walk. Starting from a small car park at the end of a dirt road, we walked a few kilometres into the steep gorge. A short scramble at the end brought us to a number of natural potholes that act as water reservoirs. There is no official trail beyond the reservoirs, but in theory one could continue the walk through the gorge all the way to Hanksville, a village at the other end of the national park (more than 30m away). Indeed, the gorge served as a rudimentary road for the first settlers in the area. The proof is there – on many places in the sandstone walls of the gorge, you can find nineteenth century “graffiti”: names of settlers and traders who passed through the gorge and wanted to leave a message for those who came after them. Check out the animation of the walk on Relive, a great app I recently discovered for recording hikes, to see the relief and more photos.
After the walk and our pique-nique lunch, we dove deeper into the first settlers’ history. Within the boundaries of the national park, you can find the remains of a village: Fruita, situated next to the Fremont River that crosses the national park. The name of the settlement is easily explained by the fact that this is a true oasis in the desert. The Mormon settlers who built the village grew many kinds of fruits in the lush orchards which became widely known in the region. If you pick the right season for your visit, you will be able to pick mulberries, plums and other fruits off the trees which are still standing. Most of the buildings are long gone, but you can still admire the old schoolhouse, a family home and a workshop.
We finished the day with a drive along some of the main viewpoints in Capitol Reef. The prettiest one, in my opinion, is the Goosenecks Overlook, where a short 1m trail takes you to the most amazing 360 degrees view of the Reef.
On the second day, we had more walks planned. A walk into the Grand Wash was first on the plan. In case you’re not familiar with the concept of a “wash”, it can be defined as a steep, narrow canyon eroded by the water that streams through as a result of rains. The stream is not to be mistaken for a river, as it has no source. In terms of difficulty, the Grand Wash does not really qualify as “narrow canyon hiking”, but the sheer cliffs and narrow sections make it no less susceptible to flash floods so check the weather forecast before starting the walk.
For our afternoon walk, we decided to go to Cassidy Arch. The trail was relatively easy, but the heath meant that we returned exhausted. We decided to treat ourselves to a couple of hours by the pool in back in the Capitol Reef Resort.
Hell’s Backbone on horseback
We had made a habit of early starts during this holiday, mainly to beat the heath, but also because of our packed agenda. The next day, we made an extra effort and set off before the resort even started to serve breakfast. Indeed, we started the day with a scenic drive along Highway 12 aka “The All-American Road”, which took us through the Dixie National Forest along the most amazing views of the Henry Mountains to the small town of Boulder.
Our stomachs were starting to feel empty, and luckily the town of barely 200 inhabitants offered two options for breakfast. We opted for the smart Hell’s Backbone Grill. The choice was mainly driven by the analogy with nearby “Hell’s Backbone Ranch”, where we had booked a four hours trip on horseback. I say nearby and strictly speaking this is true, but it took us a while to find the ranch, tucked away along the slow Hell’s Backbone dirt road. We were embarrassed to arrive with twenty minutes delay, but thankfully the owner and our guide, Becky, reassured us that she was used to people not easily finding her remote place.
Becky and her family own around 15 horses, cattle and several other animals. As such, the horses we got to ride on were working horses who are used to being cowboyed. The animals were fantastic on the rough terrain and a pleasure to ride on I would not recommend the ride to beginners though, since the terrain is rather technical and requires some confidence). We had brought a packed lunch, which we ate on the terrain in the shade of a tree.
We finished in the early afternoon and decided to squeeze in a short visit to the Anasazi State Park. A native American village, consisting of partially real excavations and partially reconstructions, provides a good insight in the lives and history of the tribes that used to live in the area. Notably the “pithouses” or underground living quarters are worth seeing.
Driving the Burr Trail
For the way back to Torrey, we had selected a different route – the Burr Trail cutting through Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument. You can follow the road all the way to Bullfrog for close to 70 miles, but we took a side road halfway and drove through Capitol Reef back to our tipi. The road is a dirt road. It doesn’t need a 4×4, but high clearance is a must. Weather conditions impact the state of the road, so check before you travel.
Sandstone formations, shaped into soft and rounded domes as a result of erosion made up the first 10 miles of the road. We made a stop at “The Gulch” gorge for a short hike into the slot canyon. It was very much overgrown and moreover it was getting late, so we didn’t stay long. For the next 10 miles, we followed the road winding through Long Canyon. The colour of the sandstone turned redder here and the sheer cliffs on either side of the road were impressive. At the highest point, we stopped to enjoy the views and socialise with a German couple who were planning to camp out there for the night. As we approached the boundary of Capitol Reef National Park, elevation dropped quickly. We drove very slowly down a series of steep, narrow switchbacks and I could only pray no cars would approach us from the other direction!
We saw a couple of signs to nearby villages, but they were no more than a couple of ranches grouped together, mostly looking deserted. We reached out tipi late in the evening – the time it takes to drive the winding dirt roads is not to be underestimated.
First slot canyon experience
On our last day in Capitol Reef, we were planning to drive onwards to Bryce Canyon, but we had a packed programme prior to that. Once again, we took Highway 12 to Boulder and made a breakfast stop at Hell’s Backbone grill. With all our luggage packed into the car, we were noticeably slower! We then drove another 30 miles to a side road just before the town of Escalante. Another 20 miles on a dirt road took us to the trailhead for Peek-a-Boo and Spooky slot canyons. When I was preparing the trip, I was intrigued to discover how many slot canyons are dotted around this part of Utah, so if you don’t want to drive as much, options are plenty. However, Peek-a-Boo and Spooky are great for those new to slot canyons (like me) since they don’t require any climbing equipment and are not very long. You can check out the Relive animation of my walk here.
In case you’re not familiar with slot canyons, they are narrow, deep canyons that are prone to flash floods. Having only one entrance on each end, one can be miles away from a safe escape if the weather closes in unexpectedly.
When we finished the walk, and our lunch, we drove back to the main road via the same route we came. If you have time, have enough food and water and are driving a 4×4, it is possible to take another route – the backcountry here is a labyrinth of dirt roads.
Once we reached the main road, we turned left and headed into the town of Escalante. This is, considering the remoteness of the area, a significant town. There is are schools, a sizeable supermarket and a number of other stores. It is also the home of the Escalante Heritage Centre, where you can get all information about the protected areas and hiking options. After a quick stop to resupply, we headed to Bryce Canyon for the next leg of our trip.
Top tips for getting around
I hope you are now motivated to discover some of the hidden corners of Utah! If you are, keep on reading the final section of this post for my top tips for getting around.
1) Get a sturdy car
Being from Europe, I find American cars rather large by default, but for a trip around Utah you might want to go for an even bigger vehicle than you normally would. Or rather: sturdier. You won’t need a 4X4 if you are not planning on extensive off-road driving, but high clearance is essential given the large amount of dirt roads and all-wheel is a bonus for the sandier and rockier sections. We hired a Hyundai Santa Fe and it was just what we needed. We did skip a significant part of Capitol Reef National Park (the Cathedral section) as this is only accessible to 4×4.
2) Hop around
We spent four nights in the Capitol Reef Resort’s tipis in Torrey and it was lovely. However, if I were doing the same trip again I would hop around more to cut out some of the driving time (there was quite some duplication). We weren’t exactly sure about what how we would fill our days in the area since access to the unpaved roads and canyons is very much weather-dependent. In hindsight, splitting the nights between Torrey and Boulder would have been ideal and both locations offer hikes and other activities that can still be done in case of rain.
3) Prepare for the worst
Utah is a vast state with relatively few inhabitants, since a large part of the land is covered by deserts and desolate mountain ranges. We were very often out of telephone reach, there is hardly any data connectivity and definitely don’t expect wifi anywhere beyond the largest hotels. In most villages grocery shopping will be limited and it is not guaranteed there will be a petrol station. So stock up and make sure you have a spare tyre and know how to replace it. We effectively incurred damage to our car’s ground plate whilst out on the Hole-in-the-Rock road. It was minimal and we could patch it up, but it shows how easily you could get stuck and have to spend and unexpected night in the backcountry.
Links & references
Photo diary of my 3-week road trip
National Geographic article on Grand Staircase – Escalante
Relive animation of Capitol Gorge walk
Relive animation of slot canyon walk:
Book your rental car for the USA
