An Epic Public Lands Day in Utah’s National Parks

By Andrew Last updated Oct 17, 2020 1,378 0

I woke up inside my Kia Soul “Camper Van” (and outside Arches National Park) at 3:13am on Saturday morning, 47 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I tried to go back to sleep, but at 3:34 I decided this was close enough, so I threw on some clothes, and started driving towards the entrance in the pitch-black morning. Thus, an epic Public Lands Day in Utah’s National Parks had begun.

Hiking to Delicate Arch

If you’re going to Arches National Park, this is *the* thing to do. But my gut told me that if I wanted to have a good experience, I should get there as early as possible. Especially on a Saturday in September. Turns out I was right. Public Lands Day means FREE access to National Parks, so getting there early was *definitely* the move. Folks who arrived later had a three hour wait to get in. Woof.

Unsurprisingly, I was the first in the parking lot. A little after 4am, I switched on my headlamp and wandered into the abyss. I quickly realized there’s a reason for headlamps with higher lumen count than I’ve got. I couldn’t see more than 20 feet ahead of me, but I figured this was a super popular trail – it couldn’t be too hard to lose it.

Hah. Yeah. It’s amazing just how easy it is to get disoriented when you can’t see where you’re going or where you’ve been. There’s a section of the trail that’s just a blank lake of rock with only signs to point your direction every couple thousand feet. Problem is, if you can’t see twenty feet, a couple thousand ain’t gonna cut it.

After wandering the wrong direction for a bit, I finally pulled out my phone and despite the lack of cell service, guided the little blue dot back to the dotted green line of the “trail”. Lord.

First to Arrive, But Not for long

By about 5:15am I was at Delicate Arch. I mean I could only see the circle illuminated by my headlamp at any given time, but that outline is unmistakable. And the stars. Y’all. It’s worth going that early for the stars alone. And that inky solitude in pre-dawn stillness. Couldn’t hear anything but the wind and the occasional click of a bat’s echo location. It was perfect. For about an hour. Until the people started showing up.

Ugh. People. Amiright? But, to be fair, I am also a person, so how frustrated can I really get at others? I’m so glad you asked.

Why are You here?

National Parks, to me, are places of awe-inspiring natural beauty. They’re places to disconnect and appreciate the world around you – and how small and silly so many of the things we worry about really are. They’re a place for peace and serenity and power.

But it’s hard to be inspired when you’re screaming and jumping up and down and doing fake spin-class style agro yoga for the ‘gram. There are few places where the selfishness and complete lack of consideration for others is more apparent than a popular tourist hot spot like Delicate Arch. Like, ma’am, you and your girl gang are NOT the only people here – you realize that, yeah? Lordt.

My time lapse got so fucked up from people walking in front of it that I ended up scrapping it – despite the whole getting here at 5am thing. Whatever. That wasn’t really why I came, but it was still frustrating nonetheless.

In typical rock climber fashion, I tried to find places other people couldn’t get to. Up, around, using precise footwork on an edge and shifting my weight over it so I wouldn’t slide down into the gulley. That helped.

I took eight billion photos, did some thinking, and then after scrambling around to find the perfect angle (without any people in the shot) I started back to see what this trail actually looks like during the day.

Spoiler Alert: It’s very straightforward. Lol.

So… now what?

When I got back to my car, it was hardly 10am. So like, now what? I was over the crowds of Arches, but I was glad to tick it off the list. Surprisingly, Arches was the last Utah National Park I hadn’t visited. I drove back and took in the epic views I’d missed in the morning darkness. Y’all. This place is UN. REAL.

I stopped at the visitor center and ate some lunch, trying to figure out what to do next. With all this time, I decided to head past tomorrow’s adventure spot at Goblin Valley, and visit my old friend Capitol Reef National Park. God I’m glad I did. This place is the best.

Capitol Reef National Park

No seriously. I think it’s my favorite National Park. It’s freaking Yosemite just colored red and with a quarter of the people. If that.
The bright greens of the apple orchards (with free pick ’em yourself apples) juxtaposed against the vivid red sandstone walls that shoot straight up on either side of you is a sight I’ll never get tired of seeing.

The first time I was here was in 2014 and I was sick with a bacterial infection due to washing dishes in river water. Oh how young we all were six years ago. The second time was in 2017 and we pretty much just passed through. So I’d still never actually HIKED here! Game on.

Cassidy Arch Trail

Cassidy Arch Trail is labeled “strenuous” in the visitor center trail guide, but the map says it’s only 1.7 miles long, so how hard can it be?

This is the part where Andrew learns a valuable lesson about reading his map a little more closely. Because that 1.7 miles was one-way (entirely uphill I might add). A quick jaunt rapidly became a struggle as my tired legs and feet began wearing out. That alpine wake up was catching up to me. But hey, I’m pot-committed at this point. Lord knows turning back isn’t an option.

After huffing and puffing straight up for about 45 minutes, I got to the top. The climb was worth it. The landscapes of the massively underrated Capitol Reef surprise you at every turn. The colors change from red to gold to white to teal to green and back again in the blink of an eye. You’ve got to come here. Although maybe on second thought, don’t… I really don’t hate the easy parking and comparatively unpopulated trails!

Camping at Capitol Reef National Park

This might be the best part of Capitol Reef. There’s abundant convenient *and* free camping literally right outside the Park. That never happens with any of the big name Parks. When you’re driving out the Eastern entrance, right as you pass the Capitol Reef sign, there’s a road that heads off to the right: Notom Bullfrog Basin Rd. Take it.

Then, not a quarter mile up the road, you can pull off to the right and follow the dirt road up to about six campsites with fire rings on a plateau overlooking the park. The view is to die for, and you’re a 2 minute drive to the bathrooms located at the Park entrance. This, my friends, is money.

I stayed up here in 2014, but the site was a bit further down Notom-Bullfrog Road, so honestly the potential for campsites here is pretttttty unlimited. If you find a better spot, feel free to let us know (or don’t – we’d understand).

Public Lands Day

It wasn’t until I arrived at this campsite that I realized I’d just had the most epic day ever in Public Lands ON the official Public Lands Day. Talk about serendipity. But this day is important. Public Lands are the most quintessential American invention. The protection and conservation of important wild places is something we’ve done better than anywhere else on Earth – and the rest of the world has (fortunately) stolen the idea. Public Lands are also incredibly bipartisan, and are supported by a vast majority (80+ percent) of *all* Americans regardless of political party.

In an age of hyper polarization, this is one thing that brings us all together.

But even that doesn’t make our Public Lands impervious to attack. The current Republican platform calls for the transfer of federal public lands to the states, which would allow them to be sold off to developers and private contractors. In other words, it would open our protected lands to drilling and mining. Regardless of which affiliation you ascribe to, we encourage you to reach out to your legislators and tell them that Public Lands belong in Public Hands – period – and to oppose any legislation that would lead to the privatization and sale of these vital wild places. Need proof? Here: It’s in their party platform – see below: