Picking apples
Capitol Reef is a park that most people don’t even realise is there. And of they do, they just drive through quickly. The funny thing is, that Capitol Reef is the second largest national park in Utah, and it has scenery that anywhere else in the world would be awe-inspiring. But Utah is so magnificent, that it seems more of the same that one has seen elsewhere in the South West.
The big highlight for us was Fruita – this is now the park headquarters, but it once was a functioning village, with its own school and stores. Fruita is an amazing place to take kids – firstly, because the original orchards are still there, and one can pick and eat fruit in the orchard for free! Well, if you take any out of the orchard you have to pay, but the picking and eating was lots of fun! Secondly, there is a very fine bakeshop in Fruita, with a huge selection of fresh-baked fruit pies. And thirdly, one can visit the old single room schoolhouse – a real life lesson for kids of today when they see what school really was like back in the “Little House on the Prairie” days.
The old schoolhouse
Ther are also some very fine hikes and drives in the park – one could easily stay a few days. As for camping – there is a great campsite right in Fruita itself – the best campground that I saw in the whole South West.
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