Capitol Reef National Park: Upper Muley Twist Canyon

Essence: One of Capitol Reef's most repeatable hikes wanders through a landscape of contrasts from high and wide-open to a slot inside the earth. The stem and loop incorporates four elements: Upper Muley Twist Canyon, Waterpocket Fold, multiple sensational arches, and views spanning from Strike Valley to the Henry Mountains. Walk on sheets of creamy white Navajo Sandstone while hunting for windows eroded in matte-brick Wingate Sandstone. The conventional clockwise loop begins in the canyon, returning on the Fold. This description traverses the Fold first when morning sun highlights the arches across the Twist. Wear sticky shoes and bring some courage for two, steep slickrock friction pitches. According to park literature, the canyon served as a wagon route for Mormon Pioneers in the 1880s. The passage was narrow enough to "twist a mule," hence the name, Muley Twist. 
Travel: Measure distance from the Visitor Center and drive east on Utah State Route 24 for 9.1 miles. Turn right on Notom-Bullfrog Road. Over the years the pavement has been extended further south. In 2020, it was paved for 16 miles before transitioning to graded clay and dirt. The track can be seriously impassable when wet and has short segments of deep sand when dry. The road typically worsens after re-entering the park. Peek-a-Boo Arch, visible high on the wall to the west precedes the right turn onto the Burr Trail at 32.5 miles. Drive carefully up the steep switchbacks cleaved into a break between stone walls. Turn right on Strike Valley Road, 3.1 miles from the Notom-Burr Trail junction, following the sign for "Upper Muley Twist Canyon, 3 miles." (The actual mileage is 2.8.) If you are approaching on the Burr Trail from Boulder, the distance from the west entrance of the park to Strike Valley Road is 2.1 miles. Two wheel drive vehicles with standard clearance should park at this intersection. There is a parking lot with a trail register in 0.4 mile but even that stretch will be too rough for some vehicles. To reach the trailhead, 4WD with good clearance and sturdy tires is recommended. Most of the track is buff but there are some seriously rocky sections. There is room for six to eight vehicles at the shared parking lot for Upper Muley Twist Canyon and Strike Valley Overlook. No facilities, no water. 
Fees and Camping: Please link to the Capitol Reef National Park website for current information. 
Distance and Elevation Gain: The Upper Muley Twist loop is about 10.3 miles with 1,100 feet of climbing. Strike Valley Overlook adds 0.8 mile and 60 feet of gain.  Every resource posts different mileages for the loop. These statistics allow for some off-trail exploring. If you must park at the Burr Trail, add 5.6 miles roundtrip.
Total Time: 5:30 to 7:00
Difficulty: Wash bottom and cairned route; navigation moderate--experience following cairns is recommended; Class 2+; mild exposure; carry all the water you will need and avoid on hot summer days and when there is any threat of electrical storms or rain.  
Maps: Bitter Creek Divide, UT 7.5' USGS Quad; Hiking Map and Guide: Capitol Reef National Park; Trails Illustrated: Capitol Reef #267, all available at the Visitor Center. 
Latest Date Hiked: October 5, 2020
Reference: Capitol Reef National Park: The Complete Hiking and Touring Guide, by Rick Stinchfield. Westcliffe Publishers, Boulder, Colorado, 2010. Available at the Visitor Center. 
Quote: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. Lao Tzu

Morning sun alights on canyon walls while shade pools in the constricted passageway. A hiker who has visited this canyon many times over a quarter century strides forth with anticipation. (Thomas Holt Ward, photo)

Route: Hike northwest upcanyon to the signed junction with the Rim Route. Climb east to the top of Waterpocket Fold. Follow cairns to the north end of the Rim Route and then descend west to the canyon floor. At the downstream end of a lengthy bypass, explore a slot canyon before walking southeast to the trailhead. If you wish, from there walk northeast to the Strike Valley Overlook. 

From the trailhead at the end of Strike Valley Road, elevation 5,860 feet, walk north-northwest in Upper Muley Twist Canyon. Living along the sides of the flat-bottomed, gravel and rock-filled watercourse are Great Basin sagebrush, rabbitbrush, snakeweed, roundleaf buffaloberry, ephedra, fourwing saltbrush, cliffrose, Harriman's yucca, prickly pear, and Indian ricegrass. 

A tributary joins upcanyon-left at 0.2 mile. The Twist has carved a rift in the Waterpocket Fold exposing the interplay of Navajo and Wingate sandstones. A soaring, vertical, red Wingate wall abuts the canyon floor on the east, its otherwise smooth, water-burnished surface textured with solution cavities. Deep green Utah junipers and two-needle piñon pines contrast with the colorful tapestry wall streaked with the black sheen of desert varnish. 

A second wash enters upcanyon-left at 1.2 miles. Begin watching for Muley Arch on the left at 1.5 miles. You can stand under its sharp-edged, inverted catenary curve. (THW, photo)

Walls close in, elements are reduced to stone and sky. At 1.8 miles, muscular Saddle Arch with its expanded aperture rises from a banded platform on the west wall. Beyond are two caves, arches under development. (THW, photo)

Rim Route

The loop initiates here and can be done in either direction. For us, hiking north on the Waterpocket Fold is optimum. The exposed rim is traversed in morning coolness, strong shadows highlight arches, and there is some afternoon shade in the canyon. However, if you are more comfortable ascending friction pitches, go clockwise, the conventional direction. An old wooden sign marks the turnoff at elevation 6,000 feet. (THW, photo)

The route to the rim is not a groomed trail. It winds all around through boulders while exploiting breaks in cliff bands. Follow the plentiful cairns carefully. 

As you crest the Fold, 2.2 miles, 6,260 feet, look back across the canyon at the stand-alone, globular stone structure that embraces Muley Arch. 

In the east is a highly unusual landscape of linearities all running north-south. The Notom-Bullfrog Road cruises along at the base of scalloped, pink hued Oyster Shell Reef. Above the sinuous oxbows of Halls Creek rests an ultra-flat golden bench incised with trenches abutting a straight-as-an-arrow rib. Next, is the fluted Mancos Shale escarpment of Tarantula Mesa. And finally, the three blocks of the Henry Mountains, off-image. Southern Utah is usually graced with a clear and brilliant sky. In October, 2020, smoke from wildfires savaging western states all summer long obscured the park's signature domes to the north. (THW, photo)

The monoclinal Fold spans nearly 100 miles from Thousand Lake Mountain in the north to the Colorado River in the south. The traverse north on the Rim Route stretches for 2.6 miles before diving back into the canyon. The route undulates and weaves all around so link cairns to keep on track and out of trouble. A mix of sandy patches and slickrock transitions to pure stone walking. Shallow potholes, or waterpockets, are weathered into the surface. The precipitation they capture and store is essential for the survival of all desert creatures. The name "Waterpocket Fold" references these depressions and "Capitol Reef" in turn, refers to the Fold. 

Navajo Sandstone is characterized by domes and smoothly rounded cream-colored forms. Look across the canyon to the older Wingate Sandstone. Its uniform, flat-brick color is brightened by a hint of salmon. The uplifted wall has eroded into soft-edged pilasters, pillows, reclined fins, and most notably, arches. Arch hunting is sensitive to the angle of the sun and varies with the seasons and even time of day. On one hike, we spotted nine arches from the Fold alone. Every time, we see a different set of windows. 

If you are counting arches you might want to pack a pair of binoculars. (THW, photo)

The ridge narrows to six feet with mild exposure at 2.9 miles. Granular Navajo Sandstone is fairly sticky underfoot.  

The near vertical sheer wall, shown, is interrupted only by a series of shallow alcoves. (THW, photo)

We were attracted to a crack in the west wall and agreed to explore it on our hike downcanyon. 

Point 6,470', 3.1 miles, is at the abrupt north end of a ridge block; if you were to continue on the spine you'd get cliffed out. Bypass to the west on a short friction pitch, losing 100 feet in elevation. (THW, photo)

Walk north on a dirt trail dug into a steep, east-side slope. This image looks back to Point 6,470'.

The trail leads back onto stone and climbs Point 6,626', 3.9 miles. The steepest friction pitch, shown, is shortly north of this point. The route leaves the ridgetop and steps down to the east on a slanted sandstone slab. Let the cairns guide you. This may challenge those hikers with a fear of exposure. To maximize your traction, take short steps and deliberately flatten your footsteps onto the rock to create suction. 

The route drops into a notch. Now what? Look directly north across the saddle and find the trail climbing steeply up a buttress and back onto the ridgecrest. 

The last segment along the Fold is mellow and broad. Effortlessly pass over the highpoint of the hike, elevation 6,660 feet. Look across to the south wall of a substantial gap and locate a north-facing arch (off-image). 

Reach the north end of the Rim Route at about 4.8 miles. Well before you arrive, you will see the Canyon Route sign guiding you down off the Fold. 

The route drops along the west side of Point 6,726' which looks like a sherbet banded whale. There's one, 

Class 2+ scramble down a ten foot wall with nice holds. 

Contact the floor of Upper Muley Twist Canyon at about 5.2 miles, 6,380 feet, 4.9 miles upstream of the trailhead. Downclimb a 20 foot pouroff or ascend a small sandy hill, bypassing the dryfall downcanyon-right. Just as the fluted waterway begins to slot up and deep tanks develop, the route leaves the wash for a 0.8 mile bypass. Watch for cairns downcanyon-left leading you steeply out of the drainage. The bypass threads ledge systems together with mild exposure so, once again, follow the cairns. This image looks down on the slot from one of the ledges. (THW, photo)

Assuming a clear weather day, upon returning to the wash walk upstream and into the slot canyon. Glowing light in this slender finger canyon highlights tafoni, smooth-edged cavities in rock surfaces, also known as honeycomb weathering. (THW, photo)

In just 0.1 mile a 12-foot pouroff turns around casual hikers. Shallow divots in a vertical wall can be scaled by canyoneers but while the slot can be explored further, it can't be passed through. (THW, photo)

A few minutes downstream walk into a gap to stand under Upper Muley Twist Arch, also known as Cap Arch. The backdrop for the horizontal span is a vertical wall stained with black streaks of varnish. (THW, photo)

If you have the time, playing around in this canyon is irresistible. 

Flaring red walls contact the flat floor allowing easy passage through the corridor.  

Be on the lookout for arches, all unique in form. Below, is substantial Dome Arch or Rimhandle Arch. Next, scan the south wall of a gap for two small skylights. (THW, photo)

We were able to barge through brush to enter the crack we'd seen from the Fold but didn't make it very far before the passage got technical. (THW, photo)

Close the loop at Saddle Arch at 8.5 miles. On the 1.8 mile jaunt back to the trailhead, you are sure to see arches you missed at the beginning of your hike. 

Strike Valley Overlook

The walk to the overlook is 0.8 mile roundtrip and takes about ten minutes each way. Begin at the east side of the parking lot and follow the trail through a piñon-juniper forest. The soft dirt path transitions onto sheets of sandstone as it heads northeast through a wide gap in the Waterpocket Fold.  

This simple walk is a fast and effortless way to get up onto the Fold. The vantage point replicates much of what was seen from the loftier perch on the Rim Route. In addition, at the center of the image below is the Bitter Creek drainage separating Tarantula Mesa from Swap Mesa. The Henry Mountains were unfortunately shrouded in smoke. Mount Ellen, the tallest prominence in the range at 11,522 feet, is on the left. Mount Pennell is image-center, and to its right is Mount Hillers. This strike valley could also be called a longitudinal valley because it follows the strike of the rock strata along geological fault lines. (THW, photo)

We saw few blooming plants in October but this Desert Indian Paintbrush flowering well past its season was exceptional. (THW, photo)

The east face of Peek-A-Boo Arch is visible from the Notom-Bullfrog Road, shown. As you drive along Strike Valley Road watch for its west aspect.