Serenity, scenery go hand in hand at Utah's Capitol Reef National Park

The title for this post comes from this article in the LA Times. It describes Capitol Reef National Park as a scenic wonderland with plenty of opportunity for auto touring and hiking. Below are excerpts.

Instead of honking horns, Capitol Reef is about serenity and spectacular scenery. "We are remote," says park ranger Lori Rome, "which is part of the appeal of this place."

Capitol Reef is a hiker's park, with trails ranging from gentle to challenging. One of the most popular is the relatively easy hike to Hickman Bridge, a natural rock span that rises 125 feet above the trail. From the parking lot, the well-marked trail climbs about 400 feet to the "oh, my gosh" view of the bridge. This bridge is on par with those found farther north in Arches National Park.

Perhaps the best known of the many monoliths in Cathedral Valley are the 400-foot-tall Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon. Sunrise on these monoliths can be amazing and almost otherworldly. We rose at 4 a.m. to arrive in time for sunrise, and it definitely was worth the effort. From there, you have several choices and can easily spend a full day observing the different monoliths.

It is a pretty good article. I wanted to make one tiny factual clarification: From Capitol Reef, Arches National Park is east, not north.

Below is a fun video highlighting Capitol Reef.