Logo.png

Tuesday, 5/25/21: Capital Reef

Our new home - the sprawling Beas Lewis Flat BLM Dispersed Campsite, just outside of Torrey, Utah.

Moving day is always a little stressful for me - will we find a site in our preferred camping area? This time, I had five or six potential BLM sites to check out, so the anxiety was more subdued. Some were on the east side of Capital Reef National Park and some were on the west side. The world traveling couple we met at the laundromat in Tropic told us about a BLM site just outside of Torrey, on the west side of the Park. I looked it up and it was called Beas Lewis Flat BLM Dispersed campsite.


It was the first campsite that we checked out. It is a sprawling area with many side roads to set up camp. We quickly found a nice flat spot up on a hill with a bunch of hoodoos. We had a strong cell signal. The nearest neighbor was a friendly young couple. We set up camp. This is where we will spend the next week. After Memorial Day, we will move to the Moab area. So, thanks Pascal for the tip. What a terrific name - Pascal.


Out of curiosity, we drove to the other BLM sites. Most of them could have worked, but none had any cell service. The signal, although not essential, will be nice.


The friendly neighbor is from Denver. A month ago, they hit the road as full-timers. Wow, what a decision to make at such a young age. They both work remotely, so a cell signal is essential. I wonder what kind of work they do? Hmmm, that will be fun to ponder.


Capital Reef National Park is spectacular. To a sailor, the escarpment running some 80 miles down the long narrow Park looks like an ocean reef, ergo the name Reef. I guess some old dude, say Popeye the sailor man, took a wrong turn and made his way out here and came up with the comparison. Some of the round white mountain peaks resemble capital domes, ergo the name Capital. That seems like a pretty convoluted way to come up with a name, but that’s what we read on an info plaque. To be honest, the plaque didn’t actually mention Popeye by name.

Some scenes along Highway 24 through Capital Reef National Park.

Petroglyphs. This is proof that UFO’s and aliens visited these ancient peoples (lol).

The Fremont River was the life-line when this area was first settled.

Anyway, we picked up some Park maps at the Park’s visitor center; stopped at a few turnouts in the Park; found a small National Forest Campground where we can get water from; and drove through both Torrey and Bicknell, the next town down Highway 24. Bicknell has a restaurant with a large outdoor wood fired pizza oven. We made a mental note to go back some afternoon for pizza.


We had to check out the Chuckwagon General Store and Deli plus the town park. My schoolmate, John, recommended this. Chuckwagon turned out to be the only grocery store within what seems like a 1000 miles. The store is small and the prices are big - a winning combination for the owner. The deli was closed but the menu looked tasty. We bought some groceries. There is a Chuckwagon food trailer outside that we will have check out later. The park was small but provided some nice amenities. Thanks John for the tips.


The rest of the evening was spent planning for hiking. Tomorrow, I think, we will start off with the 4.4 mile Grand Wash Trail.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

Get Vaccinated To Save Lives.

Virtual Business Card

North America . Europe . Mexico . Asia . Product Reviews . Books & Maps


Please send us your thoughts and any errors we may have missed. We're on the road and cellular service is intermittent in the remote areas. As soon as we get online, we are eager to read all of your messages.


Text: 715-252-6664 | 715-252-3326

Email: alloverthemaptravelventures@gmail.com

Visit our Website
Pinterest Share This Email