As much as we enjoyed our time in the Moab, Utah area, it was time to move along to our next stop. We drove north to Rt 70 then west over to Highway 24 and south to Capital Reef National Park.
Highway 24 actually goes through the park so we followed it through the park to the west side and found our next boondocking site. We found a site in Capitol Reef Overflow Dispersed Camping area.
There were other campers in this area too but we all had nice views surrounding us.
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| The black and white trailer in the distance is us. |
After settling in, we took a drive to the visitor's center to get info on the park so we could decide what we wanted to do while in the area.
Capitol Reef National Park is a hidden treasure filled with cliffs, canyons, domes, and bridges in the Waterpocket Fold, a geologic monocline (a wrinkle on the earth) extending almost 100 miles.
In the 1870's, Pioneer Settlers including Latter-Day-Saints (Mormons) arrived in the area and set up homesteads along the Fremont River in what is now the town of Fruita within Capital Reef NP. In 1880, Nels Johnson moved into Capitol Reef country and staked his homestead in Fruita. Fruita settlers recognized the abundance and accessibility of water and heat that reflected off canyon walls to the soil. Johnson planted the first orchards of apples, peaches, pears, plums, walnut, and almond trees. Later he married Mary Jane Behunin, the daughter of another early Fruita resident, Elijah Cutler Behunin.
Behunin led a group of pioneers to clear a wagon trail through Capitol Gorge which allowed settlers, church officials, miners, outlaws, and others to pass more easily through the Waterpocket Fold.
Behunin also donated land for the Fruita Schoolhouse which was completed in 1896. His 12 year old daughter, Nettie, was the school's first teacher. The school remained open until 1941 when classes were consolidated and students were bussed to Torrey schools.
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| Merin Smith Place Orchard |
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| Johnson Orchard |
No more than ten families at one time were sustained by the fertile flood plain of the Fremont River and the land changed ownership over the years. Dewey Gifford was one of the area's last settlers, raising four children with his wife Nell in a two story house by the Fremont River, now known as the Gifford House. Gifford farmed the orchards, worked on a state road crew, and later ran a small motel as visitors came through Capitol Reef National Monument. In their late 60s, Dewey and Nell moved to a new house in Torrey, becoming the last settlers to leave Fruita.
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| Gifford House and Museum |
Fresh fruit pies were sold in the Gifford Homestead and so we had to try a couple. We found a picnic table in the park and ate one of our mini pies. Oh was it good!
Today, the orchards are preserved and protected as part of the Fruita Rural Historic Landscape listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The orchards contain approximately 1,900 trees.
Park staff maintain the historic character of these extensive orchards using heritage techniques. The same flood irrigation ditches pioneers dug in the 1880s water the trees today. Pioneers sometimes lost trees and entire orchards to floods and droughts. Today, the climate poses challenges for managers. Warmer temperatures may cause trees to bloom early or out of sync with pollinators, which could reduce the harvest. The National Park Service maintains the orchards year-round with historic cultural irrigation practices, pruning, mowing, pest management, planting, mapping, and grafting. Preserving healthy orchards remains a central goal for Capitol Reef National Park.
When the fruit is ripe, it is free to pick and eat right from the trees. If you want to take it with you, there is a price per pound. Unfortunately when we were there, no fruit was in season. Still, we enjoyed the greenery provided by so many fruit trees.
To further check out the park, we drove on Scenic Drive for 8 miles on paved road and then further on some unpaved road to the end of the road which took us south and deeper into the park.
At the end of the road we did some hiking.
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| Parking area at the end of the Scenic Drive unpaved road and trailhead. This view is from our hike on the Golden Throne trail. |
Another trail from the same parking lot was this one.
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| Pioneer Register with names carved in to the rock from many, many years ago (1888, 1911, 1912). |
We did the additional half mile trail up to The Tanks.
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| This Tank (bowl) was dry |
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| There was just a little bit of water remaining in the upper Tank |
After our hiking we drove back out on the unpaved road......
and then the paved road.
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| Scenic Drive |
The Waterpocket Fold is the major geologic feature that defines Capitol Reef National Park. It is a buckle in the earth's surface, almost 100 miles long, running north-south from Thousand Lake Mountain down to Lake Powell.
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| Ariel Image of the Waterpocket Fold, photo courtesy of Google Images |
Views of the Waterpocket Fold from the ground.
Another day we did the Hickman Bridge Trail which was almost two miles roundtrip with 400' of elevation gain.
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| Looking down to the orchards |
Al continued on for another 4.6 miles round trip and 1100' elevation gain on the Rim Overlook trail. I stayed behind and enjoyed the view of the orchards from the elevated location.
I guestimated Al's return to try and catch him on the trail hiking back down.
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| Can you find Al in this photo? (Answer below) |
Before we left we picked up a couple more pies for the road! The mixed berry was our favorite!
We enjoyed our visit to Capital Reef National Park. The fruit trees were a pleasant surprise after being around all the beautiful rock in southern Utah.
This park is very large and we only got to see a small portion of it with our lack of desire to go 4x4'ing deeper into the park.
Next we're headed for Grand Staircase Escalante.
