Go to Category
June, 2026
Nature, Outdoor adventures, Travel
The Longest Day Knows What It Is Doing
So the summer solstice is coming up this Sunday, June 21, which means Capitol Reef is about to get about as much daylight as it knows what to do with. Around here, that is a little under fifteen hours of sun. […]
June, 2026
Nature, Outdoor adventures, Travel
When June Finally Cools Off
So here’s one of the better tricks for visiting Capitol Reef in June: don’t spend the whole day trying to beat the sun at its own game. The sun is very good at that game. […]
June, 2026
Education, Nature, Outdoor adventures
The First Fruit Of Summer
So here we are at the start of June, which means Southern Utah is beginning to do its summer thing. The mornings are still pretty nice. The afternoons are starting to make their point. And over in Fruita, the orchards are doing something that is always worth paying attention to. […]
May, 2026
Nature, Outdoor adventures, Special Places
The Milky Way Wakes Up: Stargazing in Capitol Reef
May is a transition month. The bright band of the Milky Way’s core is waking up after a winter of being on the wrong side of the sun. […]
May, 2026
Nature, Outdoor adventures, Wildlife
What’s Moving in the Cottonwoods: Spring Birding
Most people come to Capitol Reef for the rocks. That’s fair. The rocks are why the park exists, and they’re unavoidable. […]
May, 2026
Outdoor adventures
The 100-Mile Wrinkle: Capitol Reef’s Waterpocket Fold
So here’s a fun one. You know how Capitol Reef is full of cliffs and domes and canyons that don’t look quite like anywhere else? […]
May, 2026
Outdoor adventures
Cathedral Valley: Capitol Reef’s Remote North
There’s a version of Capitol Reef that most visitors never see. It starts about an hour north of the Fruita Visitor Center, at the end of a set of dirt roads that stay impassable for much of the year. […]
April, 2026
Outdoor adventures
A Spring Break Family Itinerary for Capitol Reef National Park
Spring break with kids is its own particular kind of trip planning. You need things that hold a ten-year-old’s attention and don’t completely exhaust a seven-year-old. […]
April, 2026
Outdoor adventures
Private Waters and Blue Ribbon Trout
When people think about the Lodge at Red River Ranch, they think about Capitol Reef. The hiking, the red rock, the quiet remoteness of it all. And that’s fair — the park is right out the front door, and it tends to be the main event. […]
April, 2026
Outdoor adventures
The Fruita Orchards in Spring: Capitol Reef’s Most Overlooked April Moment
Most people associate the orchards of Capitol Reef with summer — baskets of peaches, apricots straight off the branch, the satisfying ritual of a u-pick afternoon. And that’s all real, and it’s all worth doing. […]