Utah Rocks!: Part 2

We spent a lot of time in Utah, and did a lot of things there. Following Glendale, we were going to visit the town of Escalante, but realized that the RV would have a tough time getting through the mountainous, windy road to get there. So we improvised, and spent the week in Circleville. It’s ok if you haven’t heard of it. Although if you have, it was probably regarding the famous outlaw Butch Cassidy. Cassidy spent his childhood in Circleville, and we were able to visit his home. It wasn’t much, especially considering he had 12 siblings!
​Something that made Circleville memorable for all of us was the RV park owners, Mr. Glen and Mrs. Tanja. They’re very hard working folks, and they were extremely nice to all of us. Mrs. Tanja even arranged for two girls down the road from us to bring their pony for Nate to ride! Circleville RV Park will always hold a place in our hearts.
While we were staying in Glendale, our plan was to rent a UTV for a day. However, I had been fighting a stomach illness and we were unable to go. Circleville was a reasonable distance from Glendale, so we decided to rent the UTV while staying there. This was an incredible outing that we all enjoyed. We drove on back trails to Peekaboo Canyon, an amazing slot canyon accessible only by foot or UTVs. The 18 mile in-and-out trail was great for all of us, and we really enjoyed the experience.
Also while in Circleville, we took the day to travel Scenic Byway 12. Scenic Byway 12 is a 123 mile byway that begins at Capitol Reef National Park, and ends at Bryce Canyon National Park. It cuts through Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument, Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, Dixie National Forest, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and a whole lot more! We were able to see Native American pueblos at Anasazi State Park, snow covered mountains, petrified wood,  and lots of breathtaking views of the surrounding area.
We did a lot while staying in Circleville, and we thoroughly enjoyed our whole experience there. However our time in Torrey was also highly enjoyable. Torrey is only 10 miles away from Capitol Reef National Park, so beauty surrounded us. Capitol Reef is known for its towering red cliffs and monoliths. We loved the entire thing. One hike that we did was called “Hickman’s Bridge”. It was here that we were able to get some awe-inspiring looks at a natural arch. We really enjoyed our views at the end. Another incredible hike was one that led us through a dry creek bed, and up to what were called “tanks”. These tanks were pools of water on a hill. This was pretty cool, especially since you could climb around in that area.
Something that was not as near to our RV park, but was totally worth the drive was Goblin Valley State Park. Goblin Valley gets it’s name from the hundreds of boulders in the state park that are stacked on each other, giving them a look of little “goblins”. It’s slightly difficult to picture this in your head, so look at the pictures for a better image. We all really liked climbing on these rocks, playing hide-and-seek, and enjoying the beauty of it all. I’d definitely recommend this State Park.
We had a blast while in Torrey, and really liked Capitol Reef and Goblin Valley. Heading to Grand Junction, Colorado was a strange transition. For more details, stay tuned!

At the trailhead for Peekaboo Canyon.

Peekaboo Canyon had some incredible looks!

At the beginning of Scenic Byway 12.

This was on top of one of the mountains that we drove over on Scenic Byway 12.

At one of the Pueblos in Anasazi State Park Museum.

One of the petrified rocks at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park.

You can see Hickman's Bridge behind us.

You can see the "goblins" in the picture. They're each about 10 feet high.

This was Butch Cassidy's childhood house.

Here's Nate riding the pony that Mrs. Tanja arranged for these two girls to bring over.