CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK BASIC ITINERARY

This itinerary is specifically designed so you can use it any year. You’ll get access to an exclusive section of my website with major updates that may affect the itinerary. So, you can use it this year, next year or in five years’ time, and still have access to any current updates that might affect your trip.

The itinerary includes activities for one day or two days, so you can easily adapt it for however long you have.

Yes. You can check your self-planned trip against this itinerary. You are bound to pick up some extra tips and get some extra ideas for when and where to go.

Two days is generally long enough to experience the two most accessible parts of Canyonlands National Park. However, if you want to spend longer, you can use the itinerary to know what to do and then slow it down to suit your own pace.

Yes. The national park is open all year. However, some roads may be closed temporarily for snow – always check with the National Park Service.

This itinerary is designed for first timers to the park. If you’ve been before, you’ll probably pick up some new tips, but overall, it may not be the best option for you.

Yes, it’s easy to adapt the itinerary. The suggested length of time is included for each step of the itinerary, so you can cut parts out and add other parts in from another day to customize your itinerary.

Yes. There are plenty of viewpoints you can see and things to do with no or minimal hiking.

Yes. Day 1 has several hikes and you can add some more in. If you like to do some longer hikes, consider adding an extra day and using the itinerary as your guide, but adding some extra hikes in.

I recommend 2 days. The two districts covered in this itinerary – Fruita and Cathedral Valley are very different from each other and are both worth seeing.

While that’s true, itinerary and ai-generated blog posts are invariably pretty general and not always correct.

This itinerary is completely different from a typical blog post. It has a detailed breakdown of what to do with timings, so that you can use it to guide your whole trip. It also includes driving information, hike details, and a mini-guide with links you can use to book your whole trip. It’s a one-stop planning shop.

Guidebooks provide information about every place to stay and place to eat and lots of things to do. However, they don’t curate all that information into a workable itinerary. You need to do that yourself, and with so much information to try and digest, it can be hard to know exactly the best things to do / see and when.

At the same time, they also lack really helpful information such as detailed driving directions from each point in your itinerary to the next, and detailed hike descriptions.

My itineraries have done all the heavy lifting for you. I have sifted through all the information you’d find in guidebooks (from my personal experience) to create a step-by-step schedule – and added in all the practical information you need to know when you get there.

The itinerary includes all the highlights of the two most accessible areas in Capitol Reef National Park – Fruita and Cathedral Valley.

While it’s impossible for me – or anyone – to guarantee you won’t encounter crowds, if you get an early starts and follow the order of each day’s schedule, you’ll have the greatest possibility of minimizing any impact from other visitors to the park. It’s impossible to avoid the crowds completely, but traveling at shoulder season will also help.

It’s generally very easy to download the PDF at the time of purchase. However, technical problems may occasionally happen. If you have any trouble downloading the itinerary you purchased, just email me james@parkscollecting.com and I’ll email you a link to your itinerary.

I created Basic Itineraries for parks that are easier to plan and have fewer options. They are all you need, so I don’t charge extra.

The Deluxe Itineraries are for parks that I find to be more complicated to plan for. They have more options and include more information, alternatives for different interest and activity levels, more detailed driving instructions and maps, exact timings throughout the day, instructions on how to adjust the scheduled timings for different places to stay, Bonus Extras, and more. They have everything you need for the ‘more complicated’ parks.

The Basic Itineraries include all the essential information you need to plan your trip, links you can use to book your trip, and a schedule for each day. They include how long each activity takes, but not exact times of the day, so you can start them any time you like without needing to adjust them. They have everything you need for the ‘simpler’ parks.