Capitol Reef National Park is one of Utah’s “Mighty Five” parks, attracting visitors to the unique Waterpocket Fold feature. If visitors come after March they may be dismayed. Roadwork and campground rehab will prove to be major disruptions.
Capitol Reef Scenic Drive shutdown
For the largest number of visitors, the biggest part of the work this year will be the shutdown of Capitol Reef’s Scenic Drive. The roadway is showing serious signs of wear and tear, as do some associated parking lots. A big part of the project will be rebuilding the roadway’s foundation.
While road crews are addressing those issues, park staff thought it wise to try and bring some consistency to the drive’s width. In some areas, the road is a squeaky-narrow 17’ which leads to vehicles having to go onto the shoulder when meeting up with oncoming traffic. They will widen out curves that pose difficulty. The Park Service says in the end, the roadway will be safer, but still keep the look and feel of a backcountry byway.
Some have wondered why on earth the Service would pick April through November for a major roadway job. After all, it’s the height of the tourist season. But while time waits for no man, road construction materials do wait for the appropriate working temperature. The pavement needs to be 50 degrees or warmer to cure properly. Using flaggers to keep the roadway open for traffic was considered. If the flagger option is taken, it will likely prolong the agony for two years. So, the Service opted to close down Scenic Drive completely and get it over with.
Fruita Campground shutdown—minor in comparison
The next issue that will affect some RVers involves the Capitol Reef’s major campground. From June 3rd through the 14th, Fruita Campground will be closed. Workers will repave the campground, turning off reservations during the process. While open at other times, campers can expect truck traffic on the Scenic Drive past the campground. They’ll be hauling construction materials and antagonizing late sleepers.
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Well it’s a good thing we visited those areas some years back.
It was worth the trip from Seattle.
When they get the work done go check it out!
I saw them paving in Pa when it was snowing.
We missed staying at Fruita Campground by 1 camper in May 2015 as the RV ahead of us pulled into the last open FC-FS site in the south half of the cg. But no RVs were occupying the north half because it was closed for repaving! So apparently Fruita, in hot, dry, southern Utah has to paved every 9 years or less? NPS must be taking the lowest bid.
Wish the major arterials near me that carry 10s of thousands of cars each day were paved that often! I’ve lived in this neighborhood for 46 years and nearby CO121 has been repaved once in that nearly 1/2 century.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! Great to know what park places will be closed well ahead of the traditional camping season; thank you! 🙂
Bit of a bummer as we will be at Capitol Reef toward the end of April. It will be the last stop for us to complete “The Mighty Five”, so we will enjoy it immensely regardless of the scenic road being closed.