After spending four months as a seasonal interpretive volunteer at Capitol Reef National Park, I have completed a whopping 46 blog posts for Live and Let Hike about Capitol Reef, including 42 detailed descriptions of the park’s trails and routes. Alas, despite wishful thinking, your average visitor to Capitol Reef is not likely to research …
Continue reading Top 10 Hikes in Capitol Reef National Park’s “Frontcountry”
The mostly level and shady Capitol Gorge Trail continues up the narrow canyon where the scenic Capitol Gorge Road ends. A geological cousin of nearby Grand Wash, Capitol Gorge also played a central role in the area’s human history. For nearly 80 years, despite its extreme narrows, the canyon was the only reliable transit point …
Continue reading Capitol Gorge Trail, including the Tanks (Capitol Reef National Park, UT)
To those who know Capitol Reef National Park well, the Old Wagon Trail is often considered the red-headed stepchild of the park’s front-country hikes. Though the 3.8-mile stem-and-loop—starting right off the Scenic Drive—features one excellent viewpoint, it comes at a price: a long and monotonous slog 1,080 feet up the dip slope of pinyon- and …
Continue reading Old Wagon Trail (Capitol Reef National Park, UT)
The purpose of the Golden Throne Trail is to provide fine views of the trail’s namesake, a 7,042-foot sandstone dome that shines a deep yellow in the sun. However, visitors hoping to summit Golden Throne—or even to touch it—are likely to be disappointed: the 2-mile trek ends abruptly at a rock outcropping a good distance …
Continue reading Golden Throne Trail and Golden Throne Canyon (Capitol Reef National Park, UT)
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