Hiking Capitol Reef National Park (Utah)

Encompassing nearly a quarter million acres, Capitol Reef National Park is one of the least crowded of Utah’s five national parks (third most in any of the 50 states). Capitol Reef features colorful cliffs, massive domes, serpentine canyons, miles of slick rock wilderness, and a 100 miles long bulge in the Earth’s crust. The western park entrance is about 220 miles from St. George. This is the first visit for my wife Deb and I to this relatively unheralded national park.

For our first exploration of Capitol Reef we chose two easy hikes, representative of the entire area. The first, Hickman Bridge Trail features a massive arch with a 133 feet span. The second, Grand Wash is a 4.5 mile round trip through a spectacular, deep canyon.

Here is a link to my published story about our adventure at Capitol Reef National Park:

http://suindependent.com/hiking-southern-utah-capitol-reef-national...