Capitol Reef NP

Map of this blog's locations click this link to open the map

After our 10 nights in Bryce Canyon Utah, we headed to Capitol Reef National Park next. We had managed to reserve a campsite within the national park at the Fruita Campground. Not many national park campgrounds have sites large enough for us but this one does. Of course there are no utilities other than a dump station within fresh water fill. Since we’re here for just 4 nights our solar arrays and lithium batteries should suffice. The last time we had visited this part of Utah back in 2017 was over Memorial Day weekend and the only campground we could find a spot was in Doctor Creek Recreation Site about 45 miles northwest of Capitol Reef. We had managed to make it into the park a few times during that visit for some excellent hikes. We were hoping to find more this time and enjoy being close to the trailheads instead of having an hourlong drive each way.

Fruita Campground is about 65 crow miles northeast from Ruby’s. The most direct route would be along Utah Route 12. But we’ve driven the car on that road, sightseeing during our last visit and knew that while it is a beautiful drive, it is also quite curvy and hilly. The safer albeit longer route is back over to US 89 and over Utah Route 62 - 145 miles. We did find a place an about halfway along the drive to stop for lunch and kill some time to deal with the 3 PM check in time at Fruita. The boyhood home of Robert Leroy Parker has a pretty large parking lot for us to look around and have lunch. Of course nobody knows Robert by his given name but you likely will have heard of Butch Cassidy. In fact, we had recently rewatched the movie with Newman and Redford - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - in honor of our planned stop.

Butch Cassidy's Boyhood Home

There are a couple of buildings and one of them is even unlocked during the day so visitors can go inside. It likely wouldn’t be a stop people would go out of their way to visit but if you’re traveling on US 89 in this part of Utah, it’s a nice rest stop. There was a picnic table in the shade of a large tree which worked out nicely for lunch. While we were there, a surprising number of other visitors stopped. Maybe this is more popular than we thought. We got to talking with one couple that actually lives nearby and used to travel the country in their RV. We compared notes on some other things to see and do in the area.

The Log Cabin

Just after we turned off of US 89, a car passed us. That isn’t all that uncommon but the problem was that as is crossed back in front of us, a stone was kicked up and hit our windshield. It sounded like a hard hit and it didn’t take us long to determine we had a chip with inch long cracks radiating from it. We typically have a windshield chip repair kit with us, but we must have used it without buying a replacement. Fortunately there was an auto parts store along our route in the town of Loa. The road had a parking lane so I was able to pull over and go in to get a chip kit so I can deal with it at the campground.

The Cottonwood Fire has been burning since late June less than 10 miles west of US 89. It had grown to many 10’s of thousands of acres so we knew there was going to be a lot of smoke in the area and we’re a bit concerned about how it might impact our stay. We had smoky skies for some of the drive but they cleared up a bit as we got into Capitol Reef. We made it into the campground and got positioned in our rather large site without problems. The biggest issue was actually going to be the temperature. Having had cool weather in Bryce Canyon, coming back to 90 degree weather wasn’t pleasant. Of course dropping over 2000 feet in elevation had a lot to do with that.

Our Site at Fruita

The campground here has a few bathrooms but no shower facilities. It filled up most nights with other campers but the majority of them were in some sort of rental RV and typically only stayed one night here. Based on the foreign sounding languages we heard, it probably isn’t too surprising that visitors don’t spend much time in the park. They likely have to fit all five of the Utah National Parks into their travel schedule. There is absolutely no cell coverage in the campground - neither Verizon or T-Mobile. To check on the fire status or predicted smoke levels, we needed to drive the mile or so up the  visitor center which has decent WiFi which is an improvement from the 9 years ago when they had none. We saw that the forecast for the park the next day was for moderate smoke and continued high temperatures. So we come up with an alternative plan.

Looking at the smoke forecast, we found that if we headed towards the town of Boulder along Utah Route 12 we could get away from the smoke. We picked the Chriss Lake Loop Trail. This is an 8.7 mile loop with over 1400 feet of elevation gain - so on the longer side for us. But it starts at an elevation of 8700 feet so it should get us much cooler temperatures being 3400 feet higher than the campground. It is an hour drive up into the mountains but it’s a pretty one and sure enough as we got near the parking lot, the skies around us were fairly clear and it was down to the low 70’s - nearly perfect weather. Ours was the only car in the parking lot so we should have the trail to ourselves. We were on the trail by 9:30.

Chris at the Start of Chriss Lake Trail

Heading Up the Trail

We follow the loop in a clockwise direction which puts the majority of the climbing in the first 3 miles when it’s cooler and our legs are fresh. It was a pretty start to the trail with some open field, some wooded sections and some rocky climbs as we continue up.

Aspen Forest

Rocky Climb

About a half hour into the hike, we are startled by some movement in the brush to the side of the trail. As we scanned the area we realized that we weren’t the only creatures out here, there were several cows munching on the vegetation 20 feet away. They noticed us but didn’t seem too concerned with our presence.

Moo

A little more than 1.5 miles into the hike we have climbed roughly 750 feet and reach Chriss Lake. It did have water in it although it’s not a huge lake - maybe a couple of acres. But it was a pretty spot to have our first snack break.

Chriss Lake

Damsel Flies

Chriss Lake from Opposite Side

As we continue up the hill, we are following beside a creek that was flowing more than we expected for mid August. We came across more cattle and had to make a creek crossing. Given the wet conditions near the creek, we decided that the cattle grazing here have really damaged the hiking trail.

Creek Feeds Chriss Lake

More Cattle Watch Us

Balance Beam Water Crossing

After 3 miles, we are done climbing and have a rather large open field to cross. Even more cattle are grazing here. They watch us as we walk past. This part of the trail was somewhat hard to follow since the cattle have trampled across the trail so much, we need to check our GPSr at times to convince ourselves we are heading across the field on the right track.

Nice View From Trail

Still Being Watched

Water from Gresham Spring

We spotted some mushrooms along the trail which is something we haven’t seen in quite some time given our travel route this season. Around the 4.5 mile mark, we start the slow descent down the other side of the hill.

Mushrooms

This One Didn't Make It

More Obvious Trail

When the trail turns towards the south, we get some distance views that are greatly obscured by the smoke hanging in the air. Fortunately the air quality here didn’t seem impacted. We find a bit of a wooded section with a huge boulder that looked like a good spot for lunch. As we approached the rock, we spooked some more cattle and they trotted down the trail.

Smoky Views to the South

Cow Departing

At 6 miles, we have reached Route 12 again but we are 1.3 miles from the parking area. The loop trail has us crossing the road and continuing downhill. This part of the trail is more like an ATV trail. Along it we see sections of an old plastic pipe that was buried below the trail but has been exposed and broken in many spots. There is also a newer plastic pipe that runs on top of the ground. It is there for about a mile before it follows a different path. In fact, we had gotten so accustomed to following the pipe, we went a few hundred feet past where our intended path went. We never did figure out where this pipe goes.

Rutted Trail on South Side of Road

Plastic Pipe Leads the Way

This trail continues downhill a very rutted trail from ATV activity and water runoff. It leads to another creek crossing. The last mile of the hike is uphill. It isn’t super steep but our legs are tired by now so it feels steep. As we near the road again is some sort of paddock likely used for rounding up the cattle that are grazing this area. Back at the car, we run into another couple of hikers that had just arrived to do a hike. We warned them that they will likely come across cattle on their way to the lake and the trail can be difficult to follow at some points. We enjoyed the 8.9 mile hike and the cool temperatures but it wore us out.

Washed Out Trail

Creek Crossing

Cattle Paddock

On the drive back to camp, we stop at the Wildcat Ranger Station to see what additional information there might be on trails in the area. We end up having a long talk with the volunteer work camper about our travels and got some information on other possibilities in the area if we are forced away of Capitol Reef from a smoke standpoint. There are also numerous pullouts along scenic drive. We stop at Larb Hollow Overlook to see how the view is and find a geocache. There was a large group of motorcyclists there. We checked out the view, hoping they would leave so we could look for the cache. When it was clear they weren’t in a hurry, we walked up to one to let them know why we were heading into the woods just off the parking lot. When we came back they asked if we had found it and we chatted about their trip. When we got back to camp, it was still hot. When generator hours arrived, we decide to use the chance to run the air conditioning for a couple hours to try to reduce the heat inside the rig at least a bit.

View from Larb Hollow Overlook

We took it easy the next day since it was still quite hot. We headed to a morning ranger talk at the nearby Petroglyph Panels parking area. The ranger explained all about the petroglyphs right off the parking lot and suggested we check out more that are along a boardwalk all along the cliff.

Petroglyph Panel

There aren’t signs at the various ones along the boardwalk so you need to be keeping an eye out for them. We spotted a few but may have missed some of the fainter petroglyphs.

Historical Grafitti

Various Animals

I took advantage of our down day to fix the chip on the windshield. I needed to get creative to deal with the sunshine for the parts of the process that should be done in the shade but it seems to have worked. That evening was a ranger talk at the amphitheater that is very near our campsite. A very young volunteer arrived with several big horn sheep props for her talk. We ended up having a thunderstorm come through midway into the talk and we were all told to head back to shelter from the lightning. Later it cleared up a bit and I was able to get out to watch the two bucks that were slowly wandering through the campground.

Two Bucks in Campground

With just one full day left in Capitol Reef, we wanted to get a hike inside the park especially since we are camping here. We had done several of the more popular hikes during our last stay. You can check out that blog post HERE to read about them. This time we wanted to try some other hikes since there are a fair number of them. We were still experiencing hot weather so we didn’t want to do too long of a hike. The Rim Overlook Trail looked like a good choice. Listed as a 4.4 mile out and back hike with 1082 feet of elevation gain, its trailhead is not too far away from the Fruita campground. The parking lot is fairly large but it is also used for a few other hikes including the very popular Hickman Bridge Trail. We get an early start and are on the trail by 8 AM. It starts out on a walkway next to the Fremont River which was flowing pretty good.

Along the Fremont River

About a quarter mile into the hike is the split between the hike to Hickman Bridge and the Rim Trail. We stay to the right to continue up the side of the canyon. The trail was in good shape and we seemed to have it to ourselves. There are lots of cool rock formations along the way.

Pectols Pyramid

At about the 3/4 mile point is a sign pointing to Hickman Bridge Overlook. Definitely walk over to check it out. We can see several groups of people down below on the other trail. The bridge is quite large and visible from this vantage point but does blend into the background rock formations so you need to look closely.

Hickman Bridge

The next mile or so of the trail continues up at a steady slope. There are several side canyons that force the trail to do some zigzags back into them to a safe point to cross. It is rather pretty. We saw our first person in this trail as she worked her way back down. So we aren’t completely alone.

Looking Up Side Canyon

Some of the trail sections are on large open expanses of rock. The park has the trail in these areas lined lined with rocks to lead the way. We finally make it to the sign pointing to the Rim Overlook. It is quite the view since we are 1000 feet higher than the valley below. We can see our campground but there are too many trees to actually see our rig.

Follow the Stones

View from Rim Overlook

Fruita Campground and Orchards Below

We sat down in the shade of a small tree to enjoy the view and have a snack. While we were there, another couple of hikers came up, took a quick look and continued on. They are likely heading to a spot called the Navajo Knobs which is nearly 2.5 miles further on the Rim Trail. It did sound interesting but with the heat coming on, we decide to head back down and try a different hike if we decide to. Even heading down the same trail was interesting since we saw things we missed on our hike up. There were a lot more people coming up now that it was mid morning.

Rim Trail Continues That Way

Cliff Wall Art

Fremont River

We felt we had some energy left so we continued the drive through the park about 2.5 miles and pull over at a small pullout for the Grand Wash. This trail is just like it sounds - up a wash which is currently dry. The wash/trail continues for around 2.5 miles before reaching Cassidy Arch. We had visited this arch during our last trip but had driven up Grand Wash Road from the south side of the park. We knew we wouldn’t go nearly that far but we wanted to check out the beginning section of the wash from this end. There were a few other people heading back as we started out and a half mile into the hike we got passed by a mountain biker heading up the wash too.

Starting Up Grand Wash

Mountain Biker Passes

It is an impressive thing to see with the sides of the wash towering up 700 feet or more. There are some portions where the trail get fairly narrow. Not slot canyon narrow but only 20 feet wide and with the high cliff walls, it looks quite narrow.

Narrow Section

Water has definitely done some incredible artwork in the sandstone. There are so many small honeycomb like holes all lined up almost like some animals had built an apartment complex. We made it nearly 1.5 miles up the wash but decided it was time to head back since we hadn’t bothered to bring lunch since we had gotten such an early start. We made it back to the car after 2.9 miles. That evening, there was a ranger talk at the amphitheater on the geology of the region which was quite enlightening.

Honeycomb Pattern

Our Turnaround Point

Mini Arch

The next day would be a travel day, but our planned stop is a simple overnight stop on our way to Nevada with no sightseeing expected. That means we could prep the rig for travel and then wander around the Fruita Campground before taking off. It’s an interesting and unexpected place where there are thousands of fruit and nuts tree planted by the Mormons - thus the name. The valley isn’t all that large with towering cliffs but there’s a river and stream that provides a decent supply of water to irrigate the orchards. When the land became part of the national park system, the fruit aspect of it was kept alive. In fact, some of the orchards are open for picking already. The rule is you can pick and eat fruit for free while wandering the orchards or pay a fee if you want to pick a peck or so.

Apple Orchard Next to Campground

Cliffs Surround Fruita

Cool RV!

One other related attraction by the campground is the Gifford House. This home dates back to 1908 but was home to the Giffords for 41 years before selling it to the national park service in 1969 just before the are became Capitol Reef National Park in 1971. Nowadays the home has been preserved and is used as a gift shop of local crafts. The most famous and popular craft here are the fresh baked pies. We had stopped early in our visit to try one and realized we should get more before heading out.

Gifford House

Crafts for Sale

Pie Cabinet

We enjoyed our stay here. We just wish it hadn’t been so hot because not having electricity to run the air conditioning was a problem. We walk back to the rig and head out before lunch with our pie and cinnamon rolls for some upcoming dessert.

Horses

Cinnamon Roll and Pie

Our next real destination was across the western side of Utah and into Nevada to visit Great Basin National Park. The total drive is around 260 miles but we are planning to boondock at some federal land for 5 nights so we really need to add a stop partway at a campground with full hookups so we can get caught up on laundry and other chores. There is a Love’s Travel stop where we will need to get some diesel for the motorhome and they have a camping area built just across the road. We’ve never tried one of these but for our current needs it should work out perfectly. We are able to easily book the site online, drive the 81 miles to Salina Utah, fill up with fuel and then drive over to the camping area. They have about 80 sites and after entering our code at the gate, we back into our site for the night. I doubt there were even a dozen rigs there that night so it was fairly quiet except for some road noise from Interstate 70. It was a little more than $57 for the night. That’s not cheap for what we get but it was definitely convenient and easy. Tomorrow we will head west along the “Loneliest Road In America” as we explore some of central Nevada.

Nearly Empty Campground at Love's Salina

Our Site