Utah parks – Car Full of Harmony

Day 3 of our trip – we got up nice and early, and got on the road since we were staying 45 minutes away from Arches National Park. That was supposed to be our first stop of the morning. We arrived at Arches at 8:30 am. You are probably thinking “hey, why are you talking about Arches when the post is supposed to be about Canyonlands?” Well, sadly, it is because Arches had a big ‘ole sign at the entrance telling everyone that the park was closed due to being at capacity, and we should try to come back in 3-5 hours. Apparently, 8:30 in the morning is not considered early at Arches! Hubby went onto the Arches Twitter account and read that the park actually closed not long after 7:30 am. That’s crazy to me!!! So, we decided to continue following the Arches Twitter account and flipflop our order for the day – which meant we were off to Canyonlands instead (thank goodness they are only 40 minutes apart)! We went to the Islands in the Sky section exclusively.

Once in Canyonlands, after hitting the Visitors Center, we drove out to see the Upheaval Dome and Whale Rock. We stopped at few amazing scenic overlooks and pull offs to enjoy the view. We were going to do the Mesa arch hike, but the lot looked super busy, and I really wanted to hike at Arches with the girls. Because of the heat and the fact that Arches was now going to be in the hottest part of the day, I knew I had to pick carefully. Instead, we drove out to Grand View Point Overlook and hiked around the rim. It was crazy to stand on the edge of those cliffs. Unfortunately, the pictures don’t even come close to the feeling of being on the edge of the earth that you get standing at this viewpoint!

I tried to get the edge I was standing on as a way to gauge the drop off…still doesn’t even come close to the feeling of being on that edge 6,000 ft up

We had a lot of fun hanging out in that area, and I’m glad we went all the way down. Hubby and I had been to Canyonlands for a brief jaunt before, so we had to hit our favorite spot from last visit – the very first view in the park: Shafer Canyon Overlook. There’s a nice little path that takes you down some stairs to get to a landing that sticks out into the canyon. Last time this was our first view – this time, it was our last view! The girls and I went out to the edge of the rock formation in search of the shade of the rocks (more work but great rewards), while Hubby stayed on a little more solid ground. We just sat on the rocks and thought about how lovely the views were.

My view from my rock seat in the shade. 🙂

The girls noticed a road down the side of the canyon, so we had a blast watching everyone go up and down those crazy dirt roads. I’m pretty sure if I would have recommended going down that road, my entire family would have thrown me off the cliff after yesterday’s adventures! Hahaha.

After that, Hubby checked out his Twitter feed and saw that Arches was accepting visitors again, so we hightailed it out to get to Arches! Until next time, Canyonlands!

Well, after the bust at the slot canyons earlier, we were off to Capitol Reef National Park. I was really excited to see this park, as I wanted to see the Pioneer Register (and redeem myself).

We drove the entire length of the Scenic Drive (which definitely lived up to its name)!. Where the road ends, there is a dirt road turnoff for the Capitol Gorge. Due to our last experience on a dirt road, you can imagine my hubby’s look at me as we made this turn. However, it was a MUCH shorter excursion.

We drove in and around these rock formations and enjoyed the view until the road ended at the trailhead parking lot. Then it is just a 0.5 mile easy hike to get to the Pioneer Register.

Just as I was about to doubt myself and thought we might have missed it (since my confidence was definitely shaken), we came across another family and they told us it was just ahead. In fact, right next to them was a sign saying that the area was under camera surveillance. I thought this was odd, until I saw that we were at the Pioneer Register, and the National Park Service was deterring other people from adding their own graffiti to the wall. It was really neat to look at these old signatures that are still on the walls today. The people stood in their wagons and carved (or in some cases SHOT) their names on the walls of the rock.

Standing in the same exact spot as this person from 1888.

The scenery around Capitol Reef was gorgeous. My only regret in this park is that we didn’t get there early enough to have pie from the Gifford House. More unfinished business in Utah, I guess! 🙂

Tag: Utah parks

Canyonlands National Park

Capitol Reef National Park