A Pleasant Drive

Besides Capitol Gorge Road at the end of the Scenic Drive, there is another unpaved road off to the right known as Pleasant Creek Road. It’s three miles to the creek, which we were able to easily navigate in our car, but once the creek is reached, 4-wheel drive is needed to not only cross the creek but to travel the remaining 10 miles or so called South Draw Road.

Along the way we passed the Capitol Reef Field Station (http://www.uvu.edu/crfs), a facility located in the heart of the park and dedicated to education and field research. A dirt road off to the left takes you to the station which is situated on top of a mesa so we took a little side trip up the hill. We stayed in the car and only toured the parking lot since prior approval is needed for a visit. Its four modern-looking, energy-efficient buildings blend in well with the surrounding landscape. Opened in conjunction with Utah Valley University in 2008, the dorms can accommodate 24 overnight guests and allows students and teachers a classroom environment for field observation, research, and interpretation.

Back on Pleasant Creek Road, we also passed the remains of Sleeping Rainbow Ranch, a former dude ranch built in the 1940s that was so named by its original owners for the layers of colorful rock found in Capitol Reef. Unfortunately all that’s left are a couple of old crumbling buildings and corrals.

When we reached the creek, we naturally got out to explore the area. The creek seemed to be flowing pretty good but without 4-wheel drive, there was no way we were going to cross it. Even though this is a desert environment, with the nearby creek there were plenty of flowers in bloom and not just cactus flowers. We would have stayed longer to explore, but there were some nasty biting flies swarming around (and biting!) so we high-tailed it back to the car (after getting some photos, of course).
































Since we could go no further, we headed back towards the Scenic Drive, and once there, decided to take another drive down Capitol Gorge Road. Different times of day create different views depending on sun and shadows, and it seems there’s always something you missed the first time through. The drive also afforded us another spectacular view of The Golden Throne.