The fifth and final national park in Utah: Capitol Reef

• Continue to the Capitol Reef National Park
• Driving the Scenic Drive in wonderful weather
• Listen to a ranger lecture on the lost Fremont culture
• Hike to the Hickman Bridge

This morning we continue our journey to Capitol Reef National Park, after Zion, Arches, Bryce and Canyonlands the fifth and last national park in Utah. After consulting the travel guide, I changed my mind about the itinerary. Instead of visiting Arches National Park again, we head south via Capitol Reef National Park. Highway 95 over the Colorado River is said to be an extremely attractive route.

The rapid drive on Interstate 15 is followed by Highway 15 and 24. The latter, in particular, becomes a feast for the eyes as the duration increases. The landscape shows that an above-average amount of rain has fallen in the last few days. Sometimes even some flowers bloom. With the first red rock walls we already reach the desolate Torrey, the entrance gate of the national park. The backdrop with the bright blue sky, some clouds and spectacular rock formations is hard to beat. We inform ourselves in the Visitors Center and immediately afterwards visit a ranger's day. This is about the still enigmatic petroglyphs of the Fremont people who inhabited this region almost 2000 years ago.

Further in the valley is the abandoned Mormon settlement of Fruta with some orchards, where visitors can now pick fruit for consumption free of charge. I buy a long-awaited piece of fruit cake and Niki a beef jerky. Then we drive down the park's scenic drive, which is well worth seeing. We get to see more exciting rock shapes in the afternoon sun.

Then we start the hike up to the Hickman Bridge, a 40m large rock arch. Unfortunately, clouds now mostly cover the suns, which cannot deny the beauty of the Arches. At Panorama Point we enjoy the last rays of sunshine of a great day. We drive back to Torrey where we camp.