GET THERE: Capitol Reef is about an eight-hour drive from Denver via Interstate 70 west to Utah 24 south (exit 149) to Hanksville. Utah 24 changes directions and heads west to Capitol Reef National Park.
The park is about 220 miles from Salt Lake City and 150 miles from St. George. Delta, Frontier, United and US Airways offer one-stop service to St. George starting at $346 round-trip; the same airlines offer nonstop service to Salt Lake City starting at $108 round-trip.
STAY: The Torrey Schoolhouse, (150 N. Center St., Torrey, 877-425-2116, torreyschool ) is a 1914 building that once served to educate pioneer settlers and now serves organic breakfasts in a tranquil, nicely Xeriscaped setting. The rooms are spacious and lovely, with decor themes ranging from tea garden to Italian opera, and they manage to stop well shy of pretentious or stifling, with each one offering a Sharper Image rolling-action massage chair that is quite welcome at the end of a hard day of hiking. Add in a policy of allowing children only when they are well-behaved and over 12 and a hospitable, accommodating staff, and this is a recipe for success that many B&Bs would do well to emulate. Rates start at $110 per night for a queen room.
Fruita Campground inside Capitol Reef National Park (nps.gov/care/planyourvisit/ campinga.htm) has RV and tent sites, some with shade, and all with the cliffs of the Reef as a beautiful backdrop. The sites are first-come, first-served, and there are restrooms and running water but no showers. Rates are $10 per night; get there early in the day during peak season (spring through fall) as it fills by midday.
DINE: Cafe Diablo (599 W. Main St., Torrey, 435-425-3070, ) is simply the best restaurant in the area, with a menu of upscale Southwestern dishes such as pumpkin seed-studded trout in a cilantro-lime sauce and tamales lined with eggplant and poblanos steamed in a banana leaf. The diablo is in the details here, and so the accompaniments are almost better than the main events: brandied corn custard and char-edged veggies side with the tamale, a delectable deep-fried onion served with appetizer empanadas. Try to sit on the flower-lined patio.
Slacker’s Burger Joint (165 E. Main St., Torrey, 435-425-3710), the former Brink’s, always has a line of folks waiting to get at their top-notch Angus beef burgers, served on good buns with a side of thin, salty fries. The milkshakes are more like slightly thinned-out ice cream.
Castle Rock Coffee & Candy (junction of Utah 12 and Utah 24, 435-425-2100, castlerock ) sits in a small strip mall just before you hit Capitol Reef National Park and bakes superb sticky buns and croissants each morning, and makes a mean cafe au lait. They also feature a bunch of locally made stuff, such as jewelry, pottery and chocolate, including a killer mint meltaway in a small brick form.
Rim Rock Inn and Restaurant (2523 E. Utah 24, 888-447-4676, ) sits at the edge of the park and has great views from its casual steakhouse-style eatery and motel-style lodging (rates run $49-$79 a night; open March-November) on a 120-acre ranch. The menu is Western comfort food, such as pan-fried trout and pot roast, and when the weather is just right, the patio is the way to go.
The Sunglow Motel & Cafe (63 E. Main St., Bicknell, 435-425-3701) bakes up a variety of pies daily, including two you aren’t likely to see elsewhere — pickle, made from sweet pickles, cinnamon and sugar; and pinto bean pie, which really is made from pinto beans and tastes kind of like pecan pie, but with a distinct bean finish. The rest of the fare served in this very old-school diner spot is just OK; try the panko-encrusted deep-fried shrimp.
ENJOY: Capitol Reef National Park’s striking geology comes courtesy of the spinelike Waterpocket Fold; there’s also the Fremont River, countless canyons (including many hidden slots and streams), well-preserved petroglyphs and the famous Pioneer Register, where passers-by in the early 1900s carved their names, and plenty of wildlife still unused to much foot traffic.
Check out these trails: Capitol Gorge is at the end of the must-do (and paved) Scenic Drive; you’ll have to negotiate some unpaved road to get to the trailhead, which can be rough after a storm. This easy, 2 1/2-mile (round-trip) hike yields the Pioneer Register, great canyon walls along the level wash bottom and a final payoff after a short uphill of sprawling cliff views all around and “tanks,” or waterpockets.
The Grand Wash trail, a 2 1/2-mile point-to-point, is actually so easygoing that we accidentally did it as a round-trip; intending only to visit the “narrows” portion that sits halfway from the trailhead off Utah 24, we were surprised to find ourselves at the other end and so turned around and went back. The desert-varnish-streaked red rock walls are gorgeous.
Hickman Bridge is one of the most popular hikes in the park, partly because the payoff is an impressive natural bridge that affords some much-needed shade at the end of a haul that climbs 400 feet in one mile, one way — moderately strenuous and completely exposed, so you’ll find many people stopping frequently on days that hit the upper 90s. Water is crucial.
Chimney Rock is considered a strenuous hike, but mainly because the initial climb up the switchbacks is steep; the 3 1/2-mile round-tripper levels off to moderate about halfway in and gives away sweeping views around the park for your trouble.
Sulphur Creek, 6 1/4 miles one- way, is an easy introduction to canyoneering. If you access the trail from the Visitor Center, it’s family-friendly and features several waterfalls and pools that are very welcome on hot days. Be prepared for multiple creek crossings and scrambling, and if the water level is very high, some areas will be impassable. From the Chimney Rock trailhead side, cross the road and head south. Be prepared to get wet, and if you don’t have two vehicles or a car or bike shuttle set up, you’ll have to beg a ride back (there are so many people at the Visitor Center, this is usually easy to do, or hike the 3 miles back on the road).
Burro Wash is a challenging trip into a wash replete with slot canyons and several opportunities to wade, work past chokestones and scramble around other rock obstacles. The 8-mile round-trip hike is located off Notom-Bullfrog Road 9 miles south of Utah 24, and is marked along with several other trailheads on Notom.
Because Capitol Reef is part of the national parks system, the $80 annual National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass is good here. Otherwise, it costs $3 per individual or $5 per vehicle, which is good for seven days. Pick up a flier with trail descriptions for the most accessible hikes at the Visitor Center just inside the park on Utah 24, and visit for more information.
The Wayne Theatre (11 E. Main St., Bicknell, 435-425-3123) will host the 13th Annual Bicknell International Film Festival July 25-26 (motto: “Better Living Through Bad Cinema”) and promises a Western theme this year. While last year we watched some wonderfully awful Christmas movies and some naughty-but-nice ones too — no one should ever have to sit through Nicole Kidman’s first, um, film, “Bush Christmas,” but the 1964 flick “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” had some redeeming qualities, including the line “All this trouble for a fat little man in a red suit” — a good time was had by all. Included in the $50 “fast pass” for the weekend’s festivities are three movies, several meals, two concerts, the Teasdale Volunteer Firefighter Mutton and Taters picnic and other fun stuff. You also can pay $8 per movie and $15 for each of the other events. Check out the action at .
Robber’s Roost Books & Beverages (185 W. Main St., Torrey, 435-425-3265) is a worthy stop for its collection of Edward Abbey, Terry Tempest Williams and hundreds of other excellent reads, and it serves an excellent bunch of espresso drinks and offers Internet access.
Kyle Wagner
