CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK, Utah — It’s impossible not to think about water right now.
The temperature, not surprising for late July, is in the high 90s, even in what little shade can be found under trees that would have been rejected as too spindly for “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” There’s one wispy cloud smeared across the sky, so isolated one wonders how it managed to muster any moisture.
Four miles remain on this 6-mile-plus hike, and while we’re carrying as much water as our backpack bladders can hold, we’re slurping it like, well, like we’re in the desert and we might not have enough. Between gulps, my tongue feels like a dog biscuit.
On days like this, Capitol Reef National Park is God’s Easy-Bake Oven, and we’re the little pouches of instant brownie mix. Just add water — but you’d better be carrying it with you.
A river does run through this slender valley — the healthy, fish-filled Fremont, fed by spring snow and responsible for having carved out some of Capitol Reef’s most magnificent slot canyons, like the one we’re slowly sweating our way toward.
This popular hike along Sulphur Creek draws families and those looking for a leisurely meander from the trail’s end near the visitor center, the ones who long to play a mere mile in at the waterfall, with its added feature of a 6-foot drop into a rock-lined pool. From the other end, where we started, Sulphur Creek attracts day hikers from a trailhead area that also services the more strenuous 3 1/2-mile loop around the aptly named Chimney Rock.
The payoff at the top of Chimney’s 600-foot climb is sweeping panoramic views of the surrounding honey-gold, rust-brushed, varnish-dripping cliffs, domes and other rock formations that stretch for Capitol Reef’s official 75 miles along Utah’s Waterpocket Fold. The Fold is a monocline (a step-like fold in rock) that looks for all the world like a gigantic, gorgeous mistake, a crack with a dip and an upthrust of angry earth.
But without the Waterpocket Fold, there would be no Capitol Reef, which sits 220 miles southeast of Salt Lake City and 150 miles east of St. George. The park’s name came from two unrelated visuals: The domes and cliffs made of chalky-white Navajo sandstone that line parts of the fold are reminiscent of the U.S. Capitol, and the park’s impermeable ridges running perpendicular to the roads reminded early visitors of ocean reefs.
In 1937 the federal government saw fit to make 378 square miles of the Waterpocket Fold a national monument, and then a national park in 1971. Within its boundaries can be found many of the usual delights of a national park — exceptional hiking, wildlife viewing and scenic drives — but Capitol Reef also has a few hidden and unique offerings, most notably the products of a startlingly green valley tucked like taco filling into a shell of deep red Reef rock. These fertile orchards contain cherries, peaches, apricots, apples and pears that visitors may pick and then pay for at a self-serve station.
The orchards are remnants of the Mormon settlement that began as Junction in 1879 and was renamed Fruita in 1902; other evidence of the settlers’ lives that remain in the park are a restored early 1900s schoolhouse and a farmhouse. Nearby are picnic areas where families stop to gnaw ripe peaches and paw through just-picked cherries.
Despite the heat, there are a handful of families doing just that, although far larger numbers normally make their way to Utah’s flashier parks. According to the National Park Service, in 2007, Bryce Canyon National Park to the southwest saw 1,012,563 visitors, Arches National Park, close to the Colorado border, attracted 860,181, and the clogged drain between the two that is poor Glen Canyon National Recreation Area withstood 1,894,114. By contrast, Capitol had 554,907 visitors.
And that’s part of what makes Capitol Reef so appealing: no crowds, and a satisfying feeling of isolation. There’s no jostling to get to the long row of Fremont petroglyphs that line a wall at the pullout on Utah 24, and on the easy canyon hike into Capitol Gorge, you are likely to see only one or two other groups on their way to check out the Pioneer Register, where early settlers carved their names during their own solitary treks through the Reef.
Made for movies
“Sometimes living here can feel a little close,” says James Anderson, who moved to one of the towns near Capitol Reef, Bicknell (population 330), for good in 1997. “Everybody does kind of know everybody’s business in a huge way.”
It doesn’t help that Anderson’s business, with wife Nanette, happens to be one of the more popular in a rather sleepy town that hurts a bit for entertainment: the Wayne Theatre. Built in 1947, the theater sits on East Main Street and shows second-run movies over the weekends.
The Andersons, originally from Salt Lake City, bought the theater in 1994. They had been living part-time in Bicknell since 1991.
“This is just a scenic wonderland, you know, right down the road from the park,” Anderson says. “I had been coming here for years, going to Boulder Mountain, to Thousand Lake Mountain, all around the area to fish and hike, go duck hunting. We finally just said, what the heck, this is where we want to be.”
Bicknell is 12 miles west of Capitol Reef, and between the two sits Torrey, population 171. One of the best things to do in Torrey is stop by Robber’s Roost Books & Beverages — named for one of Butch Cassidy’s favorite area hideouts — and browse the unique collection, so wonderfully focused on the West, Southwest and the environment, and sip a latte. The store also is home to the Entrada Institute, a nonprofit that supports the environment and the arts in the desert Southwest.
It just so happens that Anderson is on the board of Entrada, and as also seems to happen in towns of this size, the degrees of separation become far fewer than six — and so Entrada is a supporter of the annual Bicknell International Film Festival, which is why we timed our visit for this, one of the hottest in Utah. “The BIFF,” as it’s affectionately known, celebrates “Better Living Through Bad Cinema!” and July 25 and 26, 2008, will be its 13th annual.
“BIFF started as just a way for people to get together from around the area and do something fun,” Anderson says. “And then it just kind of grew into this crazy thing.”
The founders of BIFF were Lory Smith, one of the starters of the Sundance Film Festival, and Trent Harris, a director who had worked with Smith on “Rubin and Ed” — filmed in Hanksville, about 37 miles from Capitol Reef’s visitor center — and the only BIFF movie shown in its inaugural year. Subsequent BIFFs have offered at least three movies and been themed, last year’s a Christmas focus, and the upcoming one to feature Westerns.
The important thing to know about the themes is that they inform one of the festival’s more bizarre sights: the “world’s fastest parade,” during which the several hundred attendees are encouraged to decorate their vehicles and then parade from Torrey to Bicknell. Participants are asked to keep it tasteful and at 55 mph.
“The great thing is, people sort of end up in the parade driving through, and they don’t even know it,” Anderson says. “They just think they’re driving behind crazy people.”
The partying begins
The temperature cooled considerably once the sun went down, but the Sister Wives are starting to heat things up onstage at Cafe Diablo, a stylish Southwestern restaurant that sits on the sparsely populated highway running from Bicknell to Torrey to the park.
Diablo chef/owner Gary Pankow, a longtime BIFF supporter, is hanging out by the food, air-guitaring to the Sister Wives and doing quality control on oversized platters of hot pot roast sandwiches and coconut snowballs.
In keeping with the Christmas theme, Pankow is dressed sort of like an elf — as the evening and the beer-drinking has progressed, various costume parts seem to have gone by the wayside — and is pleased with the turnout, which is made up of BIFF attendees and folks who drove from Salt Lake to see the Sisters.
Most of the crowd right now is trying to cram onto the dance space, and former strangers are getting close. Four women out of Salt Lake City who belt out the blues, the Sister Wives keep the throng moving.
“We aren’t sisters, at least not to each other, and some of us are wives, but that’s not what’s important,” says lead singer Mona Stevens, and the band launches into a deeply soulful and very rocking rendition of “Gimme Shelter” as about a hundred people ranging in age from toddler to not-telling cut loose on the eatery’s lush green lawn.
The Sister Wives are, of course, irreverently but also fondly named for the Mormon women in a polygamous relationship, and the fact that we are all at a giant party in the middle of Mormon country at a restaurant named for the devil drinking Salt Lake City-brewed beer does not seem to be lost on anyone. “Happy Birthday, Jesus!” the crowd sings as an enormous birthday cake, with those words written on it in icing, is carried out, and a conga line weaves its way around the restaurant grounds.
“The farthest someone came this year is from Montreal,” Anderson says. “We always ask who comes the farthest, and they get a prize.”
Right at this moment, the reason they come seems fairly obvious. There may be red rock and sandstone, curvy slot canyons and hidden streams, but no one is eating “Visions of Sugarplums” cookies while dancing to “Rock Me Baby” at the edge of Arches.
Kyle Wagner: 303-954-1599 or travel@denverpost.com
Insider’s Guide
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
