Postcard from Capitol Reef – Fruita

When you descend the last few miles on Highway 12, you come back into Red Rock Country, but a different kind of Red Rock than what you saw earlier along the highway. These are tall mountains and cliffs of white and deep red rock in all kinds of shapes, sizes and formations.

Highway 12 ends in Torrey, UT. Turn right onto Highway 24 and head east for 10 miles along side these tall cliffs, and you come to the boundary of Capitol Reef National Park.

This is one of the newer parks in the system. FDR signed legislation making it a National Monument in 1937. It became a National Park in 1971. The park itself runs north to south for about 75 miles, wider in the north, then becoming gradually thinner as you head south. The park gets its name from a huge up-thrust of land called the Waterpocket Fold, similar in appearance to an ocean reef.

Much of the park is inaccessible by road, although there are some some unpaved roads in both the north and south that can take you to some beautiful, remote places. The only paved roads are Highway 24 which runs east to west, meaning you can traverse the park in a very short time…and a 10 mile paved scenic road that runs from the visitor center along some of the beautiful rock cliffs and other geological wonders…with two side roads that take you into the narrow Grand Wash and Capitol Gorge.

Coming into the park, you pass through some interesting sites including Chimney Rock and The Cathedral (photo #1). When you arrive at the visitor center, you are also entering the historical district of Fruita. This was a Mormon farming community founded in the 1880’s that had a large number of fruit orchards. In fact, they are still there, still tended and continue to bear fruit. Park visitors can go into the orchards and eat all the fruit they want for free…or bag it and only pay $1 per bag.

Fruita is a very serene, lovely place to walk around…beautiful trees of all kinds nestled up against red cliffs. Wild animals such as deer also wander free, unafraid of humans.

Fruita is also the site of a 53-site campground in one of the most beautiful settings you can image…tall oak trees give you shade during the day. Fortunately, I arrived there at the right time of day between the time folks leave and new ones arrive. I camped there for four days, and the campground was filled each night…about 80% of which were RV’s. Like most of my trip, I had beautiful weather during the day, and moderate nights.

I spent a fair amount of time exploring the gorges and washes in the park, but must admit, I took few of the dirt roads to the far off wilderness sites. But, I will share more of the pictures from the areas I did explore in the next couple of blogs.

Stay tuned.