Upper Muley Twist Canyon in Capitol Reef National Park is accessed via a three mile four wheel drive road from the Burr Trail Road west of the the point where that road climbs out of Strike Valley. A high clearance vehicle is recommended for this roadway, as it is rugged with some sizable rocks that one must navigate over. However, we saw one or two Subaru Outbacks, that are capable vehicles, at the trailhead. So experienced drivers might be able to safely navigate this road with such vehicles; but definitely, ordinary, low clearance vehicles should not attempt this roadway. The road is narrow in portions with room for only one vehicle.
We were on this roadway several times during this visit to Capitol Reef National Park. The trailheads for both the Strike Valley Overlook and Upper Muley Twist Canyon begin at the parking area, which is large enough to accommodate at least 4 vehicles.
The full loop hike of the canyon is a nine mile round trip. The canyon hike was secondary to our purpose for being here, so we never tried to do the full hike. According to the map of the canyon, there are 4 arches in the canyon. The first arch is about 1 mile from the trailhead. We hiked to the first arch, prior to going to the Strike Valley Overlook for late day photography. We did not have time to go any further on that visit here and still get to the Strike Valley Overlook.
We returned here to hike further into the canyon one day prior to a sunset shoot at a nearby location and again we did not have time for the full hike, so we settled for shooting at the first and second arches along the hiking route.
The canyon wall has interesting features, such as the holes eroded into the solid rock walls. There were many of these similar to the one in the photo above.
The canyon walls are steep and sheer rock along portions of the route with stains from water runoff. This green tree against the colorful canyon wall made an interesting photographic subject.
We hiked past the first arch to the second one that is know as Saddle Arch. This arch is easily visible from the canyon floor, as one rounds a bend in the canyon. It is high up on the canyon wall, requiring a steep climb up a sandy slope to get nearest to it.
I made a number of images from various vantage points. The time of day was not the best for great lighting, but it was the only time we would be here. The colorful sandstone layers add interest to the photos and geologists will enjoy viewing and studying such exposed features.
I’ve included some of the neighboring canyon wall to give a contextual feeling for the setting.
I suppose a well prepared hiker/rock climber could get to the area directly beneath and behind the arch; but that would be a dangerous undertaking for a most hikers.
On the hike out we stopped by the first arch to try to get closer photos. More on that in the next post.
Ken