Bryce Canyon National Park: We spent the last three days at Capitol Reef National Park, one of the lesser known parks in the NP system. “Lesser known” doesn’t mean unvisited, not even close. Since our last visit some 9 years ago, the nearby town of Torrey has probably tripled in size and in tourist amenities.
We stayed at an excellent RV park called “Wonderland,” which I have no reservations about recommending to you. There are also several newish motels, service stations, and restaurants. If you want a market larger than a convenience store you drive perhaps 16 miles west to the town of Loa which has a nice market.
The park itself has changed little. As the other DrC sagely observes, the nice thing about national parks is how little they change within a decade. I’d almost say “within a lifetime” though that is a slight exaggeration. The rock formations are very striking and scenic at Capitol Reef, and there are excellent petroglyphs too. If you come, buy the pie at the shop in Fruita, it’s tasty.
Today we broke camp and drove the 100+ miles on Utah 12 to Bryce Canyon National Park. We’ll be here 3 nights and do most of our touring tomorrow and the next day.
The drive this morning was spectacular, over a pass that goes to 9600 feet and through some amazing red rock canyons. There were still patches of snow over the pass and we’ve seen several deer, including a nice buck in velvet. It’s scenery you’ll not see in many places, that’s for sure.
