The wonders of Wayne County

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 1, 2003 by Susan Whitney Deseret News staff writer

TORREY, Wayne County -- On Thursday morning we meet a woman who grew up in the East and whose parents often brought her to Utah for camping trips. She's here now for her honeymoon, staying at a bed and breakfast near Capitol Reef. Later, on a hike, we run into two women from Portland, Ore., who make an annual pilgrimage to Utah to drive Highway 12.

After lunch, we stop at a sign that says "Flute Shop" and we meet Vance Morrell, whose great-grandfather pioneered this area and helped lower the wagons through Hole-in-the-Rock. Morrell used to work in the uranium mill in Hanksville. Now the mill and mine are closed. So he makes flutes, and in front of his shop he's built a tepee that he hopes to rent for $30 a night. He says he'll do whatever he can to earn a living here, to be able to stay and raise his family where he was raised.

These are just some of the people we meet on Thursday. On Friday, we encounter a different cast of characters -- but they say the same sort of things.

In short, on any given day in this part of the world, you'll meet tourists and natives who share a long history of loving Wayne County.

It is one of the least populated counties in Utah, with fewer than 3,000 people -- one person per square mile. Wayne County is home to a stretch of rock called Waterpocket Fold, which, in 1971, was enshrined as Capitol Reef National Park. Today, according to the county's tourism association, Capitol Reef is the state's least- visited national park.

Its rural character not withstanding, this county has some sophisticated amenities. It boasts food that is good by any standard. And you can find lovely bed and breakfasts, affordable motels -- or you can camp in an orchard in Capitol Reef. And, of course, there's the scenery.

In early May, when we were there, the weather in Wayne County was iffy. We hiked into Grand Wash and got to the Narrows just as it started to rain, and then, not wanting to perish in a flash flood, we turned around and high-tailed it back to our car. At which time the sun came out.

So the next day, when it was snowing, we were undeterred. We decided to take the scenic drive to Fish Lake, sunshine or not. But after driving for an hour, and arriving at the turnoff to Fish Lake, we learned the road was closed for construction. Oh well, we told ourselves. There's always shopping. (Torrey has a bookstore and two art galleries.)

If you talk to the locals, they'll tell you that spring's always iffy and you should come back in the summer.

In summer, Salt Lake's Hale Center Theatre puts on plays in Grover. And this year, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in scheduled to perform on Aug. 14 at Red River Ranch, part of the Sunset Concert series that will also feature Dan Seals Wednesday, Gary Allan July 2, and the Bellamy Brothers July 30. "We are hopping down here," says Brenda Woolsey.

If you can't make it for a concert, come for Torrey's Fourth of July, she says. "They do it up right."

Woolsey and other Wayne Countyites have some suggestions for what to do when you get here:

The local's favorite hike: If you like to hike, you'll like Capitol Reef. (It's not a national park for nothing.) Three local people we talked to mentioned Grand Wash. It's one of the most well- known places in the park, but it is often uncrowded. The towering walls are striped in desert varnish where the wash narrows.

Eric Kinsman, who heads the county's tourism association, likes Chimney Rock Canyon just inside the park boundaries. You can hike the loop, but Kinsman prefers to walk about 2 1/2 miles up the canyon to the place where the trail intersects with the Spring Canyon Trail. From there you can hike up 6 1/2 miles or down 6 1/2 miles (either way you'll eventually reach a highway), or you can go back the way you came.

On a weekday afternoon, we saw birds and flowers and only a half dozen other hikers, once we got away from the loop.

Wayne County contains not only Capitol Reef but two national forests: Dixie and Fish Lake. One local woman and a couple of tourists recommend Velvet Ridge on Thousand Lake Mountain for a hike, jog or mountain-bike ride. They say it affords the best views of the Henry Mountains.

Other stuff to do on trails: Wayne Countyites like to ride horses and go four-wheeling in the Henrys.

At the tourist information center (junction of Highways 12 and 24 in Torrey), Elissa Stevens says her favorite place to ride mountain bikes is Tantalus Flats because it offers six miles of steep downhill. You can do this as a 12- or 22-mile ride, or even make it longer. If you don't want to make a loop, leave one car on the scenic drive in Capitol Reef National Park. Take another car to the junction of the Lower Brown Reservoir Road and Highway 12, on Boulder Mountain. Begin the ride from there, following the reservoir road to Jorgeson and Tantalus Flats and then along the South Draw Road into the park.

Other stuff to do in town: Elaine Morrell says her teenagers like to go to the movies at the Wayne Theater in Bicknell. (The Bicknell International Film Festival takes place July 25 and 26. This year's theme: Disco Delux.)