Over Presidents' Day weekend I took my girls to Capitol Reef National Park. The hubs was out of town so my friend Jami came to help me with the girls. 

I spent a lot of time at Capitol Reef when I was a kid. I hiked a ton of the trails and explored the whole area with my family. Since then I haven't been back so going back was like a time warp into my childhood that was so nostalgic. 

What I loved most about this trip was the fact that the park has honestly not changed for the last 30 years!  Literally everything was the same from my childhood, which was really fun to see and to show my girls.  The other great thing about this park is that  it's not a frequently visited park. During Presidents' Day so many other Utah national parks were like Disney Land, Capitol Reef  was practically empty. I really hate crowds and now with Ava using a walker  crowds are even more difficult for us, but this  was perfect because there was no one at the park.  The temperature in February is also very mild which makes it really great for hiking especially with my girls who aren't used to the heat.

There are lots of hiking trails and each trail is marked as to its difficulty on the trail map. You can get a trail map in the visitors center at either entrance of the park. We ended up doing Hickman Bridge, The Capitol Gorge and the Grand Wash and the girls loved  it. Tay was able to keep up and we turned around when she got tired. Capitol Reef is also a great driving park for those who are less active or have small children.  That's what I loved about this park, even if you aren't a hiker you can enjoy this beautiful country.  There are many places to pull you car over with markers identifying the scenery and mountains. There are also a few places to stop right off the road and see petroglyphs. Capitol Reef is also a star watching national park, meaning you can pretty much see every star in the universe there. Literally, I want to go back just to look at the stars! t

We stayed at Capitol Reef Resort and really enjoyed the accommodations. They have lots of different room options at all different prices. We stayed in their 2 bedroom cabin but they also have normal hotel rooms, smaller cabins, tepees and covered wagons to stay in if you like glampimg. Overall the rooms were very comfortable and actually would be fabulous in the summer as they have huge balconies with grills, outdoor dining tables and lounge chairs. The hotel has a restaurant that was open for breakfast and dinner which was great! We also had a full kitchen in our cabin so I did make the girls food everyday as well.  I must warn you, almost all restaurants and businesses in Torrey (city outside the park) are closed in the winter. We had only 2 options for food but made it work. Most of the restaurants and businesses open mid-March in the event you want to go when you have more options. 

Overall we had an amazing time at this beautiful park. I highly recommend Capitol Reef next time you visit Utah. Less crowds than the more famous parks, great accommodations and plenty to do for everyone!