This is simply the most beautiful park that you’ve never heard off. In the shadow of the more famous Bryce, Arches, and Zion parks – this one surprisingly has a whole lot to offer, and is only missing one big thing: crowds. Also right by the entrance (in Torrey), a few nice low cost chain hotels and some really interesting local restaurants. We stayed at one of the chains (country inn and suites?) and in the back they had a bunch of hay bales set up so people can sit and listen to nature talks. We moved the next 2 nights to the campground in the park though, it’s really nice there and like all NPS campgrounds, affordable. Here we had one of our more memorable park experiences. While sitting and relaxing at our campsite and viewing the surrounding hills at the end of the day, we suddenly heard a “beep beep beep” as a huge RV pulled backwards right into our field of vision, and then right into our view. At the time, not so relaxing, but now whenever we sit down somewhere to admire a view, one of us inevitably will go “beep beep beep” and it’s good for a hearty laugh.
My favorite things to do here
- The fruita campground
- Hiking the capitol gorge
- Swimming at the Freemont river waterfall (ask a local how to find it)
Things I want to come back to do
- Come in fruit picking season to sample free fruit from the orchard
Fun Facts
- Mountain biking is prohibited in the park
National Park Service Website: http://www.nps.gov/care/
NPS Map: http://home.nps.gov/applications/hafe/hfc/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=care
