The Mighty Five – Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef

Another break…we are sorry again. When we say we are part-time campers we really mean it. We have been so busy recently but have a lot of awesome updates coming to the blog including…..a van conversion! If you don’t already you can follow us on Instagram @offtheclockcampers to see real-time updates of this project. Back to the Mighty Five…

We have decided to do the last four parks in this series in pairs. First, we have Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef. Next, we will feature Arches and Canyonlands.

Dixie National Forest – Night One

For this leg of the trip we spent a couple of nights camping in two different campgrounds of Dixie National Forest and they were some of the best nights of camping.

The first night we felt very secluded at Pine Lake Campground. There were lots of trees and plenty of space between us and our neighbor. Also, there was a short trail to a beautiful lake where we did a sunset hike.

The next day we woke up bright and early for a long day of hiking at Bryce Canyon.

Hiking Bryce Canyon

We arrived at Bryce Canyon open to hike whatever was most highly recommended by the rangers and visitors. At the visitor’s center we came across several hikes of interest but finally settled on the Peek-A-Boo Loop Trail. This trail has everything from taller peaks that over look the park to deep valleys and switchbacks that give you an amazing view of those famous Hoodoos. This is a strenuous 5.2 mile loop with a steep elevation gain. One thing that makes this trail a little harder is that it starts by descending into the canyon and ends by hiking a steep uphill. Many people choose to do smaller portions of this trail or even take it on horseback!

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Those Famous Hoodoos

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This hike took a few hours and was brutally hot even early in the day. Also, as stated, this trail is shared with horses so watch your step!

Dixie National Forest – Night 2

When we left Bryce Canyon we spent another night in Dixie National Forest, this time at Single Tree Campground. This particular camp site may have been our favorite of the entire trip. Behind our site we were greeted with a beautiful overlook and, thanks to some light rain, a double rainbow!

Hiking Capitol Reef

We did two different hikes at Capitol Reef, both were easy-moderate trails. The first hike we did was at Slickrock Divide. To be fair we did not follow an actual trail so I do not know exactly how long it was. In complete honesty, we just kind of hiked around what looked interesting. We managed to hike to a couple of high points and take in amazing views. Also, at the beginning of this hike we walked straight up a fairly steep hill, which led to us then having to run back down when we descended. The coolest thing that happened was on this warm day we were greeted with a very cool (ice) rain at the top, but it was very much welcomed. We also started singing Africa by Toto, because what else do you do when you are being rained on after a very hot hike.

Our next hike was the Capitol Gorge Trail. This is an easy hike that you can really make your own. Again, there are offshoots that allow you to go a bit off trail and see many different natural and “un”natural features. Some key views on this trail are the Pioneer Inscriptions on the canyon walls, petroglyphs, the “tanks” and potholes or large holes in the canyon that are often filled with water, and bighorn sheep.

The road to get to this trailhead is unpaved and can be harder on some vehicles.

This trail is an out and back of about 1 mile, but again make it your own!

Details:

• If you are exploring any of these parks in the summer, start your hikes early! It gets hot at mid day and makes the hikes that much more strenuous. Also, summer is very crowded so it is best to avoid mid-day as much as possible. During the Peek-A-Boo trail ascend we saw rangers helping someone out of the canyon who had gotten over-heated and we had to make frequent stops ourselves.
• We highly recommend staying in Dixie National Forest. There are many sites available to reserve and they are a bit less crowded.
• Try to be flexible with your hikes and do not over plan your trip so you have room to stumble upon some great sites.
• Visit those Visitor Centers! We go to every visitor center to discover new hikes and actually learn some of the unique features of that park.

Specifics:

• Places Visited
  • Bryce Canyon National Park
  • Capitol Reef National Park
• Camp
  • Dixie National Forest:  Pine Lake Campground
  • Dixie National Forest: Single Tree Campground
• Hikes
  • Peek-A-Boo Trail (Bryce Canyon)
    • Distance: 5.2 miles | Elevation Gain: 1,453 ft Feet | Type: Loop | Difficulty: Strenuous
  • Slickrock Divide
    • Off Trail Hike – Off of Scenic Drive (7.9 mile paved drive)
  • Capitol Gorge
    • Distance: 1 mile | Type: Out and Back | Difficulty: Easy