Utah Day 4 – Capitol Reef & Arches

Capitol Reef National Park is the least popular among the Mighty 5. This is made obvious by the lack of manned entrance station. The park still charges a fee of $20, the travelers will need to put the money in a metal box by the park sign. The Capitol Reef scenic drive will be under renovation and expansion this year between April and October. I suspect a manned entrance will be constructed then.

Cassidy Arch Trail

This is a beautiful hike with some challenging climbs. The Cassidy Arch can be seen from a distance, but the close up view is so much more grand.

The trail started with clear sign and markers. But throughout the trail, there were just sporadic cairns and lines of small rocks to mark the actual trail. Overall, it’s not greatly marked.

It was very safe to walk to and stand on the arch.

Grand Wash

After descending from Cassidy Arch trail, we took a left turn and walked part of the Grand Wash to the narrows. It was easy and relaxing.

We left Capitol Reef at around 2:30pm and drove to Moab. I experienced dehydration for the first time in my life. The strange thing was that I didn’t sweat or even feel thirsty, yet I was tired, light-headed and I found it hard to focus while driving. It wasn’t until a couple hours later I realized I was actually dehydrated. So, regardless whether you feel thirsty or not, make sure to drink plenty of water!

Arches National Park

After a quick refreshment at our hotel in Moab, we drove to Arches National Park. At 6pm, the scenic drive and parking lots were quite empty. It was a very efficient to get from one view point to the next. We got through the prettiest ones before the sunset at 7:30.

As we were leaving the Double Arch, I turned around and looked at it one more time, and here it was, sunset’s vibrant golden ray shone on the arches.