Capitol Reef National Park Highpoint Trip Report
Date: September 20, 2013
Author: Chuck Bickes
Follow Charlie's driving instructions. FR209 sign is small and posted so you can't see it
coming up the hill. I was following the odometer so I knew where to look.
I could not make it to the 3-way at the end with my little Pontiac Vibe,
and stopped less than a 100 yards short of it. Before that the road was ok.
Charlie is not kidding about the campsite. It has to be one of the best backcountry
campsites I have seen. You look right into the National park and the canyons with all the colors.
I am going to guess that after taking the left fork you will go down hill about a quarter mile
before you hit the junction post where you turn right.
Again follow the instructions to the summit. I think Charlie meant to say go to the right
because that is where I found the cairns after some searching.
I knew where it was from my GPS position I took from a map so I did not go to the left to start.
The cairns are very small!! You might see one out of place rock
on top of a boulder and that would be the cairn.
The jar was still there with scraps of paper people left with names and dates.
The round trip took me about three hours. One hour was looking around and taking pictures.
One could skip the entire trail and go overland from the very start.
From the starting 3-way go straight ahead past the gate instead of going left.
Walk all the way to where it drops off down hill and you will see Billings Peak
straight ahead with Billings pass below you. Easy straight-through hike from there.
Saves you about 45 minutes.