Capitol Reef and San Rafael Swell planning

[audrey]

We'll be in Utah for a week next month and will be based in Torrey.

Any recommendations besides the following:

Upper Muley Twist Canyon;
Spring Canyon via Chimney Rock;
Ferns Nipple via Grand Wash and Bear Canyon (probably not all the way to the summit), explore Shinob Canyon too if possible;
The Gulch (upper) (Escalante) or something else along the Burr Trail;
Little Wildhorse Canyon/Bell Canyon Loop (Recommended by askus3, thanks).

I don't plan to drive all the way to Canyonlands/Arches/Moab etc. That's for next year, maybe.

 

[DougPaul]

A spectacular area...

Something else worth doing:

Burr trail, Boulder Town to Notom (a drive).
2-wheel drive if the road is in good condition. (Do not attempt if wet.)

Doug

 

[DougPaul]

A few more items:

* Goblin Valley State Park (plus there are some canyoneering routes nearby).

* Rte 12 between Torrey and Boulder Town (on the way to the Burr Trail).

* Rte 12 to Escalante
- Escalante Petrified Forest

* Kodachrome Basin

* (and if you follow Rte 12 a bit farther, it leads you to Bryce Canyon...)

I just digitized the (film) pics from my trip to the area...

Doug

 

[audrey]

A few more items:

* Goblin Valley State Park (plus there are some canyoneering routes nearby).

* Rte 12 between Torrey and Boulder Town (on the way to the Burr Trail).

* Rte 12 to Escalante
- Escalante Petrified Forest

* Kodachrome Basin

* (and if you follow Rte 12 a bit farther, it leads you to Bryce Canyon...)

I just digitized the (film) pics from my trip to the area...

Doug

Thanks Doug. Goblin Valley is near Little WildHorse, so we'll get a look at that weird place.
We've been to Escalante and Bryce several times. I got enough of Bryce, but Escalante is the most beautiful place in the world, IMO...and the crowd factor has a lot to do with it.

 

[audrey]

Okay...if you're willing to check out Goblin Valley State Park, then you HAVE to at least make a stab at visiting the western-most (******* stepchild) section of Canyonlands...

...Horseshoe Canyon and the petroglyphs there.

It's on the other side of Route 24 from Goblin Valley State Park.

C'mon!

Yes and thank you! You convinced me and it's on the list. I checked out some websites; it looks stupendous, and I never knew about it.

 

[bristlecone]

Beautiful area, great choice. There's so much to do right around there, don't spend too much time driving.

The swell has a fair bit of OHV use as I recall.

In case you haven't experienced it, dirt roads over shales can quickly turn to "snot" when wet, plan accordingly with the weather.

 

[roadtripper]

Another vote for Little Wildhorse Canyon! Also, don't forget to eat at the Capital Reef Cafe ($) and Cafe Diablo ($$$) in Torrey.

 

[JohnL]

I was only able to spend an afternoon in Capital Reef on my drive from Bryce to Moab last October but it has some spectacular scenery, all of which I saw from the Scenic Drive within the park. A few of my photos from CRNP are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/loomstone/4348693667/in/set-72157623284867927/

Have a good time.

JohnL

 

[LittleBear]

JohnL - those photos are stunning!!!!!

Audrey - I wish I could go with you!!!! But, with the pending arrival of my first grandson, I'll just hang around here instead.

Have fun!!! I'm jealous!!!

Kris

 

[roadtripper]

I don't plan to drive all the way to Canyonlands/Arches/Moab etc. That's for next year, maybe.

This should be a definite =)......I'd budget 5-7 days for the Moab area, which is probably my favorite area of the country.

 

[Stan]

We're planning to take the Burr Trail Road through Grand-Staircase Escalante to camp at Cedar Mesa, hike Strike Valley Overlook Trail and then head to Torrey.

In Capitol Reef we plan to visit Hickman Bridge, Fruita, the Petroglyphs, Scenic drive and the Chimney Rock loop trail.

The trails we hope to hike in Bryce Canyon NP, which is probably less than 100 miles from Torrey, are Queens Garden and Navajo Loop, Bryce Point, Rainbow Point and Bristlecone Loop.

A couple of dining destinations are Burr Trail Grill (we'll be passing through there at lunch ... it may be the only place to eat there?) and Cafe Diablo in Torrey.

I like the National Geographic's Trails Illustrated series of maps for national parks, May have to order Theodore Roosevelt and Capitol Reef on-line since no one seems to have either on the racks.

 

[DougPaul]

Okay...if you're willing to check out Goblin Valley State Park, then you HAVE to at least make a stab at visiting the western-most (******* stepchild) section of Canyonlands...

...Horseshoe Canyon and the petroglyphs there.

It's on the other side of Route 24 from Goblin Valley State Park.

C'mon!

Rats! Missed it when I was there.

I did, however, find some useful urls: http://www.climb-utah.com/Roost/horseshoe.htm
http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/horseshoecanyon.htm

Looks like a potentially "interesting" drive... And a neat area.

Doug

 

[DougPaul]

I was only able to spend an afternoon in Capital Reef on my drive from Bryce to Moab last October but it has some spectacular scenery, all of which I saw from the Scenic Drive within the park. A few of my photos from CRNP are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/loomstone/4348693667/in/set-72157623284867927/

By all means, do the "standard" tours in Capitol Reef. I also took the short hike to some tanks (narrow depressions holding water) along a historic route off the scenic drive. (Sorry--don't remember the trail name.) Plus, of course, the other suggestions that people have offered...

Spectacular area.

Doug

 

[audrey]

Stan,
The Trails Illustrated Capitol Reef map (Glen Canyon NRA) is awful.

The Earthwalk Press map is much better. I picked it up at the visitor center, but it ought to be available online.

Queens Garden and Navajo Loop are great, and PeekaBoo is just as good if time permits.

 

[DougPaul]

I just did a bit of a rush job and put some of my slides of the area (from my trip out West in May 2001) on my website. (I haven't even had a chance to look them over carefully myself.)

They cover:
* Kodachrome Basin
* Escalante Petrified Forest
* Rte 12, Escalante to Boulder
* Burr Trail (portions twice because I had a camera problem and drove it a second time to reshoot much of it)
* Waterpocket Fold (junction with Burr Trail to Notom).
* Capitol Reef
* A short hike to some historic tanks (off the Capitol Reef scenic drive)
* Rte 12 over Boulder Mtn, (Torrey to Boulder town). Views into CR-WF from above.
* Goblin Valley

Sorry if the pics are a bit small--I had to fit it all into ~5MB.
http://mysite.verizon.net/dbpwebjunk/west-2001/index.html
EDIT 2: Reprocessed pics to make them a bigger at the cost of some compression artifacts.

Enjoy.

Doug

EDIT 1: added url (oops!)

 

[audrey]

Doug, would you post a link to your website?
Thanks.

 

[DougPaul]

Doug, would you post a link to your website?
Thanks.

Sorry about that... I was just out taking a walk and realized that I had forgotten the link. But I had to wait until I got back to fix it.

http://mysite.verizon.net/dbpwebjunk/west-2001/index.html

Doug

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

Sounds like a fun trip. Those are areas I haven't been too, but Steve has been to Capitol Reef. His pictures are here. After a canyoneering trip in Robbers Roost he stayed in Goblin Valley and said it was a nice spot as well. Have a good time!

 

[DougPaul]

If anyone is interested, I reprocessed my pics to make them a bit bigger at the cost of more JPEG compression artifacts. Takes some trade-offs to fit 164 images + an interface into 4.3 MB...

Same url: http://mysite.verizon.net/dbpwebjunk/west-2001/index.html

Doug