Spring 2025 Utah, 4.16.25 - 5.14.25, Part 4, Capitol Reef National Park, Chimney Rock Loop, Sunset Point, Rim Overlook Trail

After Escalante we said goodbye to Mike and Greg (and Brinley). It only takes an hour and a half to drive from Escalante to Torrey, Utah. That drive is even prettier than the drive from Cannonville to Escalante. As a matter a fact (or opinion I suppose), the entire drive from Panguitch, Utah along US 12 to Hanksville on US 24 is one of the most scenic drives we’ve ever been on. I would rank it up there with the Beartooth Highway for scenic value and that’s saying a lot.

As we left Escalante, we drove past a really nice overlook for upper Calf Creek and spotted Mike and Greg so we pulled over for one last hug and goodbye. Then we had to stop at the Kiva Coffee House which is a cute little hideaway for a hot cup of coffee and a breakfast burrito smothered in green chile. We pulled into Torrey, Utah at ten and our site wasn’t ready yet so we parked at the Wayne County Visitor Center across the street. From there we hopped into the Jeep and drove about ten minutes to the Chimney Rock trailhead. We have been to Capitol Reef before but it is such a beautiful park and there is so much to do there that this time we scheduled eight glorious days to really sink our teeth into this magnificent park.

Chimney Rock is an iconic pillar right next to the highway between Torrey and the visitor center so we had passed it many times on our last trip. I was eager to hike the Chimney Rock Trail but I had no idea it would as great as it turned out to be. The trail is what is referred to as a lollipop loop. You start going up the stem, then do the lollipop and then hike back down the stem. For this trail, the stem was only a half mile long and gained about six hundred feet but it didn’t feel very steep. At the junction we took a right to do the trail counter-clockwise which left us less elevation gain at the end. As we climbed higher, the morning sun was lighting up Chimney Rock and the great cliffs of Capitol Reef and Meek’s Mesa were bright orange.

**Beautiful cliffs typical of Capitol Reef**

**US 24 winds its way towards Torrey, Utah**

Easy hiking put us on top of a long ridge above Chimney Rock. We followed the ridge east to the far end and almost sucked wind at how great the view from there was. Not only were we looking at huge orange cliffs right in front of us, but we could now see towards the Fruita District and the uplift of the Waterpocket Fold running along the Scenic Drive. I had thought that Sunset Point was a great spot to photograph the sunset and it is, but the short hike to this spot would be the ultimate sunset photo spot under the right conditions. Wow!

**What a view! Scenic Drive on the right, the Fruita District down by the trees and Navajo Knobs right in front of us.**

**Navajo Knobs on the right and a line of orange cliffs**

From the end of the ridge, we dropped down and crossed over to the base of the huge orange cliffs. Soon we came to a junction with another trail that drops down into Spring Canyon. This is supposedly a very beautiful hike in its own right, but it will have to wait for our next visit to Capitol Reef.

At the junction, we continued on the Chimney Rock Loop. As I was was walking along, a Midget Faded Rattlesnake crossed the trail right in front of me. I was under the impression that these are very rare to see but this was our second sighting of one of these beautiful snakes in less than a year. Then only a week later I found out that our friends Greg and Cindy saw one in Zion!

**Great colors on the Chimney Rock Loop**

Soon after spotting the snake we finished the loop and hiked back down to the Jeep. We both agreed that the Chimney Rock Loop was a real gem and we thoroughly enjoyed the entire hike.

Back at the Navibahn, we were able to check into our site at Wonderland RV Park. This is the same park we stayed in when we visited with Bob and Dana in 2022. Once checked in we met up with our close friends from Lake Stevens, Greg and Cindy. They had driven down to meet up with us for a couple of days on their own trip to Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion.

After dinner we all went out to Sunset Point which is only a few minutes down the road from Torrey. I had seen an incredible sunset from here with Bob on our last trip. It’s only a .7 mile round trip hike and the view is fantastic from there. We hung out for awhile as the sun set but unfortunately clouds muted the light. Then, just before dipping below the horizon, the sun broke undernerath the cloud cover and we had about a minute of great light before it was over but that was all we needed for some beautiful sunset shots.

**Last rays of the day from Sunset Point**

Bridgit and I were excited to be in Capitol Reef with Greg and Cindy. They only had two days so we wanted to get in as much as possible and give them the best bang for their buck. We started out on an early morning cruise up Scenic Drive. It’s not a super long drive so we included the beautiful side trip down the Capitol Gorge Road. By the time we got back down to the Fruita district, the Gifford House had just opened. Any visit to Capitol Reef just isn’t complete until you’ve had a personal pie from the Gifford House. Options include strawberry rhubarb, apple, cherry, mixed berry and peach. A side cup of vanilla ice cream is essential to the experience.

**Pie for breakfast in Capitol Reef National Park**

Now that we had finished a healthy breakfast we were ready to do some hiking. We drove to the Hickman Bridge trailhead and snagged the last spot in the parking lot. This is an extremely popular trailhead but the vast majority only go to Hickman Bridge which is a short easy hike. We started out on the Hickman Bridge trail but soon branched off on another trail that climbs up to a spot called Rim Overlook. The total hike is 4.4 miles round trip and eleven hundred vertical gain so it’s not too brutal.

As we climbed higher, the views just kept getting better and better. Capitol Reef has a whole lotta rock and vast areas of solid slickrock stretched out before us. The route to Rim Overlook was mostly on slickrock as it angles up a shelf overlooking the Fruita valley. We saw several people on the trail but most of the time we were alone. THe scenery was gorgeous the entire way to Rim Overlook! Big rock walls, slickrock shelves, an overlook down to Hickman Bridge and a sea of wild rock peaks with names like Pectols Pyramid and Fern’s Nipple.

We arrived at Rim Overlook around one and hung out for about forty-five minutes. We had great views looking down to the visitor center, the Fruita campground, the Pendleton Barn next to the Gifford House and the Cohab Canyon trail.

**This is where we left all the people behind**

**Looking down on the visitor center and the beginning of Scenic Drive from Rim Overlook**

**The Cohab Canyon Trail. We would hike that a couple of days later.**

**Outstanding views across to Pectols Pyramid**

A long time ago I had seen a photo of Pectols Pyramid with large black bowling ball sized round rocks in the foreground. It was a beautiful composition and ever since I had been eager to hike up to Rim Overlook and find that spot. On the way up I never found it and even though I had thought it was taken from Rim Overlook, it was clear that the photo must have been further back on the trail. As we descended, Pectols Pyramid began to look more like the perfect pyramid I had seen in the photo. Then I spotted a hill just above the trail and it was covered in these black rocks. As I climbed up to the spot I knew this was where I’d seen the view in the photo. The black rocks made for a great foreground and Pectols Pyramid is just a beautiful mountain subject. I took both color and monochrome shots. I will post both for comparison but I think the monochrome really came out nicely.

Spring 2025 Utah, 4.16.25 - 5.14.25, Part 4, Capitol Reef National Park, Chimney Rock Loop, Sunset Point, Rim Overlook Trail

Spring 2025 Utah, 4.16.25 - 5.14.25, Part 3, Escalante/Calf Creek Falls, Big Horn Canyon, Devil’s Garden

Spring 2025 Utah, 4.16.25 - 5.14.25, Part 5, Capitol Reef National Park, Cathedral Valley, Cohab Canyon