Driving Tours

As with most national parks, it would be easy to spend a week or more here, hiking the trails, admiring the views, and loafing about the campground. However, those with a limited amount of time, and those who prefer the comfort of a car to the demands of the hiking trail, will still find Capitol Reef relatively easy to explore.

Start at the visitor center, where you can watch a short slide show explaining the park's geology and early history. From the center, the paved 25-mile round-trip Scenic Drive leads south into the park, offering good views of the dramatic canyons and rock formations that comprise Capitol Reef. Pick up a copy of the Scenic Drive brochure ($2 at the visitor center) and set out, stopping at viewpoints to gaze up and out at the array of colorful cliffs, monoliths, and commanding rock formations.

If the weather's dry, drive down the gravel Capitol Gorge Road (5 miles round-trip) at the end of the paved Scenic Drive for a look at what many consider the best backcountry scenery in the park. If you're up for a short walk, the relatively flat 2-mile (round-trip) Capitol Gorge Trail, which starts at the end of Capitol Gorge Road, takes you to the historic Pioneer Register, a rock wall where traveling pioneers "signed in".

Another dry-weather driving option is the Grand Wash Road, a maintained dirt road that's subject to flash floods, but in good weather offers an easy route into spectacular backcountry. Along the 2-mile round-trip, you reach Cassidy Arch; famed outlaw Butch Cassidy is said to have hidden out nearby.

Utah 24, which crosses Capitol Reef from east to west, also has several viewpoints offering a good look at the park's features, such as monumental Capitol Dome, which resembles the dome of a capitol building; the aptly named Castle formation; the historic Fruita Schoolhouse; and some roadside petroglyphs left by the prehistoric Fremont people.