Although Capi­tol Reef is not as well-known as Utah’s oth­er nation­al parks, the lack of tourists makes it all the more excit­ing to explore. Locat­ed north of Grand Stair­­case-Escalante Nation­al Mon­u­ment and west of Canyon­lands, this park offers diverse ter­rain. You can see much of Capi­tol Reef Nation­al Park from your car. The main Scenic Dri­ve stretch­es just about 8 miles and takes pas­sen­gers past the park’s notable geo­log­i­cal fea­tures like the Moenkopi For­ma­tion, Water­pock­et Fold, Grand Wash and Wingate Sand­stone. You can also opt to dri­ve the near­ly 60-mile Cathe­dral Val­ley Loop, which weaves through a more remote sec­tion of the park, pass­ing mas­sive sand­stone struc­tures like Tem­ple of the Sun (the peak of which sits near­ly 6,000 feet above sea lev­el).
Vis­i­tors who would rather explore the park on foot have many mem­o­rable hikes await­ing. The easy-to-mod­­er­ate Hick­man Bridge (1 mile round trip) and Cas­sidy Arch (1.7 miles round trip) trails show­case Capi­tol Reef’s stun­ning sand­stone arch­es, while the leisure­ly Grand Wash Trail (6.25 miles round trip) brings hik­ers through nar­row canyons. The Frui­ta His­toric Dis­trict – home to old Mor­mon set­tle­ments, a school­house and a fruit orchard – is also worth explor­ing on foot. What’s more, ranger-led pro­grams like geol­o­gy talks and full moon walks are avail­able for free.