South Central and Southwestern Utah Parks

May/June 2021

Temple of the Moon, Cathedral Valley, Capitol Reef Nat’l Park

We revisited one of our favorite Utah parks: Capitol Reef. We booked a 4-hour tour of remote Cathedral Valley with Fremont River Guides. It was not cheap, but we did a tour because the dirt road is very rough, and would have been difficult to navigate in total darkness, as we wanted to see the Temples of the Sun and Moon at sunrise for the best color. Another reason why we booked a tour was we didn’t want to risk a flat tire in such a remote area with no cell service. Only 10% of visitors to Capitol Reef visit this part of the park. We were on the road at 4:00 a.m. in order to get there before sunrise.

Temple of the Sun, Cathedral Valley, Capitol Reef N.P.

We had already hiked to Hickman Bridge and Cassidy Arch on previous visits, so this time we did an easy hike through Grand Wash. Parts of that trail were open and in the hot sun, but part of the trail narrowed till we felt like we were almost in a slot canyon.

Navajo Dome, Capitol Reef N.P.

We stayed in a campground outside Torrey, Utah, close to Capitol Reef, while we also took day trips to Goblin Valley State Park and the Pando Aspen Grove next to Fish Lake. This grove of aspens share a single root system, and are genetically identical, so it’s considered a clone, and the largest (in weight) single organism on earth.

A very small portion of the Pando Aspen Grove

Goblin Valley is in the desert in the middle of nowhere about halfway between the town of Green River and Capitol Reef N.P. The funny shapes of these hoodoos reminded me of boots, gnomes, and pigs. Kids seemed to love climbing on and hiding behind the hoodoos. It was a little hot and there was no shade, so it would have been better to visit in spring or fall.

From Torrey, we traveled west to another favorite park, Cedar Breaks National Monument. It’s 10,000 feet up and the air temperature was much nicer than down in the hot valley! We hiked the South Rim Trail to Spectra Point for a fantastic view. At the top of the first photo below, the fence is Spectra Point, where we stood to take in the view. The second picture is a small part of the view! It is a lot like Bryce Canyon, except you can’t hike down to the hoodoos at Cedar Breaks. The upside is it’s a lot less crowded than Bryce.

Along the trail to Spectra Point, we saw several bristlecone pines.

We had already been to Zion and Bryce on previous trips to Utah, so we skipped the crowds and heat there this time around. We are really impressed with all 5 National Parks in Utah, and have seen several excellent state parks before, as well, including Dead Horse Point, Kodachrome Basin, and Coral Pink Sand Dunes.