Travels with Twinkles - July 13 -19, 2026 :
The ride into Capital Reef National Park is super impressive, in my opinion better than any other National Parks. It’s also very unique as it is a real town, Fruita, with quite a Mormon and native American history that sits in a green valley surrounded by towering peaks.
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| This is the view riding into the park |
They have a nice affordable campground, surrounded by fruit tree orchards, it’s like an oasis ! The apple and peach tree fruit was just made available for purchase, self pick, pretty great ! They also have a small store where they sell great ice cream, pies, breakfast pastry and several other food items.
The downside was that there were only a limited number of campsites with electric or generator hours, we didn't get one, and it was very hot.
On our first day, July 13, we hiked the Cassidy Arch via Grand Wash Trail which was short but a rugged uphill climb. The Cassidy Arch at the mid point of the trail was most impressive, definitely worthwhile. As Sue and I have not done much hiking this year, we were worn out from this moderate hike so it was back to the campground for the day. In the evening, where was a very light rail shower, but not much relief from the heat.
On our second day, July 14, we hike the Cohab Canyon Trail which is just across the road from the campground. This is another short but rocky, steep, uphill climb to the peak with a spectacular view looking down to Fruita. The Trail then levels out into a beautiful canyon with towering rock walls leading to a unique viewpoint. It was another trail considered to be of moderate difficulty, but seemed pretty strenuous to us old folks. Afterwards we stopped at one of the orchards to get some apples and peaches, not exactly fully ripe but still a treat.
On our third day, July 15, we do a hike on the Grand Was Trail which incredible with towering rock walls covering about 10 geological periods.
We then stopped at a roadside petroglyph exhibit done by Clovis Indians who lived in this valley around 1300. This area was inhabited by various Indian tribes way before the early Spanish explorers passed through. They farmed and hunted game for their survival and had a pretty good life in this nice protected valley.
On July 16, we depart Capital Reef NP heading north to the Goblin Valley State Park. Goblin Valley is at the southern end of the San Rafael Swell, a massive anticline that was uplifted about 40-70 million years ago. The goblins, known scientifically as hoodoos, were formed through the gradual erosion of Estrada sandstone, which was deposited about 170 million years ago when the area was a tidal flat situated next to ab ancient sea.
We then drove to Green River, UT where we visited the John Wesley Powell River History Museum showcasing the amazing adventures of discovery by Powell and his crew of adventurers. The museum has excellent history of the Green and Colorado Rivers and the adventurers who explored and documented the river back when it was virtually unknown.
I was particularly impressed by an exhibit; Glen Canyon Exposed: Now and Then by Dawn Kish and Tad Nichols. The focus of the exhibit was to show two perspectives, the iconic 1950’s images captured by Tad Nickols before the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam and the recent photos of Dawn Kish of the canyons stunning reemergence as the water levels have receded in recent years. The cool thing was that she was allowed to use Tad Nichols original Graflex Crown Graphic 4 X 5 Camera for the photography in addition to her modern equipment.
We splurge on a nice campsite for the night with water, electric and decent showers which we dearly need. It was attached to a beautiful manicured Disc Golf course adjacent to the Green River.
July 17 - We leave Green River in the morning heading on route 191 to Price, UT, It's a long drive with endless, brown desert views and distant mountains. I’ve been to Price a couple of years ago, but not much has changed, the beautiful old downtown remains, they try to keep it vibrant, but it seems to be a losing battle. There are several new murals which help, but the old treasurers, the old buildings continue to just decay and waste away.
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| Great old building, but appears closed |
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| Miners Monument, it was a dangerous job, many accidents |
We have a good lunch, then do laundry and visit the great USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum. It has great stuff on Dinosaurs, archeology, geology and native Americans. We then take the ARC for a ride just to cool off. It’s going to be a Walmart night, first one so far on this trip.
July 18 - We leave Price and head a few miles away to Helper, UT which is a favorite town of mine, except for the lack of bars, blame that on the Mormons. We park and walk around the downtown area which is looking good, many new shops with an artistic flair, although most are closed today on a Saturday. I just don’t understand why stores are closed on Saturday or Sunday in these towns. There is a big downtown event scheduled for next weekend, when we will be long gone, hate it when that happens.
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| I always check old Post Offices for these WPA era murals |
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| I'd like to get my hands on that 38 coupe |
In mid afternoon, as the skies are threatening, we leave Helper heading north on route 191. We have a forest campground on our radar which is about 25 miles away, but is a steep uphill drive on a wet road with many curves. We find the campground just off the highway on a dirt road. It's at approximately 9,000 foot elevation in a beautiful setting with a much cooler temperature, such a relief ! The forest is predominantly Aspen and Fir trees and lots of beautiful wildflowers.
July 19 - it’s Sunday as we leave this mountain campsite to continue on route 191 north. The mountain views are fantastic, but the grade is steep and curvy with many, many huge trucks pulling double tank bodies. Otherwise the traffic is light, kind of weird ? A valley along the road has many oil drill rigs and cattle ranches. Also signs warning of this being open range, so watch for the cows. Eventually we come to the town of Duchesne which has little of interest and then continue to Roosevelt, UT where we stop to tour a couple blocks of the Main Street, but nothing of special interest.
Eventually, we come to Vernal, UT where we stop for a good lunch and then have a lively debate about whether to stay at an area campground or continue moving north. Vernal has a lot to see and do as it’s sort of the Dinosaur Capital of Utah, but I’m a little tired of that, but also hate to leave as the scenery here is fantastic, its aways a difficult decision ?
We continue on route 191 over the Flaming Gorge Dam and then down a rough five mile dirt road to the Antelope Flats Campground which is on the shores of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir. We thought that there was a charge here, but there was no payment envelops, no camp host and no one came around to collect, it was a free night.
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| Bridge over the Green River |
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| The Green River Lake shore doesn't look healthy |
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| An Osprey has built an impressive nest |
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| Weird geology, the left area has eroded exposing the red rock |
The Flaming Gorge Reservoir is formed by the damming of the Green River which flows for 730 miles through Wyoming, Utah and Colorado and is the largest tributary of the Colorado River.
I've got many other photos to add to this blog, but I'm having issues with "Blogger" at present, will add more latter.
In the morning, we will be heading into Wyoming.
