We have been interested in seeing the National Parks lately. Colin researched various parks and we decided to do some of the lesser known parks on our 23 day vacation. Capitol Reef was a true “gem.” We just couldn’t understand why we hardly saw people at this National Park, because it is so majestic and unique. There are no shuttle buses and food services like Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone, but its beauty is really unbelievable. Perhaps you must get on your hiking boots and actually HIKE a lot of the park, which is a turn off to some people.
The Park is named “Capitol Reef” because pioneers believed the formations to look like the Capitol building in Washington D.C and “Reef” because it was a true barrier for people to settle the land, much like the barrier in the ocean.
An Old Mormon schoolhouse. Many people have settled the area. The Native Americans, and most recently Mormon pioneers. There are orchards with plums, cherries, apricots, apples, in which visitors can pick fruit at various times. We camped at Fruita campground, which was a beautiful area next to the orchards, horses, and the beautiful formations all around us.
Our little Hikers. Shelton and Liam hiked about 5 miles and even Rowen hiked about 1 mile total for the day.
Hickman Bridge
The Junior Ranger Program at Capitol Reef was so enriching. There was a building with all sorts of activities for the kids to learn about geology, earth science, weather patterns, as well as cultural patterns of the Native Americans and pioneers. They had activities such as “Paint with Dirt” and grinding corn.
Other cute pictures:
We have left Capitol Reef in a state of amazement. We have also felt a lot of “healing” from being together as a family. We are on our way to Great Basin National Park, which is supposed to have even less visitors than Capitol Reef!?
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