A Tale of Two Chemists: Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Parks

Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Parks

Wednesday - Thursday May 10th - 11th , 2023

Arches, Canyonlands and Capital Reef National Parks are all relatively close to one another and I wondered if they might be very similar. However, this turns out not be the case and they all have a distinctive feel to them.

We spent Wednesday at Canyonlands whilst still based in Moab. Although warm, it was a cloudy grey day and this did impact the quality of the views. We quickly realized how lucky we had been with the conditions we had experienced the previous two days. The park is centered around the vast canyons created by the Colorado and Green rivers, which converge within the boundaries of the park. There are four discreet areas - the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze and then the rivers themselves. Each area is accessed from independent entries which can be two hours or more drive from each other. The different regions reflect various altitudes in the park an there situation relative to the rivers. The high plateau is the “Island in the Sky” and is the highest, sandwiched between the Colorado and Green rivers; the “Needles” are a lower tier to the east of the convergence, The “Maze” is the most remote area in low lying sandstone canyons to the west of the convergence… and the rivers are the rivers!

We visited the most popular “Island in the Sky” section which is accessible in a regular car. As we drove around the park roads, stopping at various pullouts and taking a number of short walks, we saw countless, astonishing views. Walking up to the edge of the canyons and looking down caused my palms to sweat, my heart rate to increase and the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end! I am not exaggerating when I say that the drop-offs made me feel physically uncomfortable. Reading about the park and seeing some of the sights, we started to appreciate how large it is, and what a tiny fraction of the area has paved roads. However, there are a number of dirt roads and one of the main activities for people visiting Canyonlands is to mountain bike or drive the remote areas using vehicles suitable for rough dirt roads / off-road. One such adventure is the 100 mile “White Rim Road” which we could see from above. This is typically a 2 day journey. Other routes described in the brochure are more extreme and involve steep, exposed switch backs, negotiating rock steps, driving through deep water, steep river banks and dealing with quicksand. All wheel drive is not enough, you need 4-wheel drive with low gearing, and it’s recommended you travel in convoy with another vehicle, each having winching capability! Anyway, we din’t get into any of that … but it does sound like an interesting adventure! Maybe a guided tour would be a smart idea. Because the light was really flat, particularly in the morning, it’s perhaps not fair to make direct comparisons, but I definitely enjoyed Arches more than Canyonlands, although the latter is incredibly impressive.

On Thursday we packed up and left Moab, driving to our next destination at Otter Creek State park, about 200 miles to the east. It was mostly a beautiful journey, with Capitol Reef National Park on our route. We stopped there for a few hours and followed the 10-mile scenic drive through the Park. Once again this is a stunning place, with incredible views of countless layers of sedimentary rock of all different colors. There is a river that runs through the park and pioneers established a settlement here over a hundred years ago, creating irrigations systems and planting fruit orchards. The Park Service is trying to maintain the area as it was and it looks so green and verdant against the red sandstone cliffs. At the end of the scenic drive there is a ~2 mile section of dirt road that works its way through a steep sided canyon, and can be followed further on foot. This is the site of the original road through the mountains. The current tarmac road that traverses east to west through the mountains was only completed in 1962. Prior to that travelers were forced to make their way through this canyon, presumably on horseback or foot. It’s hard to imagine getting a wagon, let alone a car through this route.

We have two nights at each of four state parks in Utah before we move on up to Idaho on route to Spokane.

Mike

The first viewpoint we stopped at in Canyonlands - you can see the switchbacks of the Shafer Trail road that drops down from the high plateau to the White Rim Road. It looked horrifying to me.