We decided to take one of our weekends and go to Capitol Reef. I have to be honest, before I met Mark, I had never heard of half of the amazing places there are to see in Utah, but once I learned about it, I definitely wanted to go.
Now here’s the thing, when you leave from Kanab area which is where we set out from, you have to go through a TON of amazing places first just to get on the road to Capitol Reef.
Okay, on to our drive. We went on to Utah State Route 12 – known as “Highway 12 — A Journey Through Time Scenic Byway,” there is really no way to describe how beautiful this drive is.
When you look at the Capitol Reef National Park website, you will see it is called “a geological wrinkle in the earth.” That is so apparent as you come in to the park, especially if you take Route 12 the “scenic highway,” which we did. The drive alone was worth the trip. We saw SO many beautiful spots. We couldn’t stop stopping! We kept saying “okay we are NOT going to stop until we get there.” And then we would say “OKAY JUST ONE MORE STOP” because one vista was more stunning than the next!!!
Here are a couple of pics from the drive, but the photos just don’t even come close to doing the scenery justice….just get out there and see for yourself.
We finally rolled into the part JUST before it closed so we didn’t get a lot of time to spend at the visitor’s center, but it was worth the stop because the park ranger gave us some good tips on what to see on such a short trip. The camping grounds were full, so if you plan to camp, make sure you make reservations or get there early!!!
The Ranger recommended “Scenic Drive,” which is the road the Visitor’s Center is on and we were not disappointed! We drove all the way back to what was a long and impressive canyon…steep walls on either side and wow was it neat. We were surprised at how quiet it was and we still don’t know if was just luck or if the weekend after 4th of July is normally quiet. Apparently it is a zoo the rest of the summer.
Mark taking a picture with the REAL camera LOL:
And then we drove up to Sunset Point and I got this beauty just as the sun was setting….sigh….
Check out the Capitol Reef National Park Website for yourself:
https://www.nps.gov/care/index.htm
