We continued to enjoy the cooler temperatures and beauty from our campsite near Capitol Reef National Park.  One day we took a break from the park and spent the day driving half of Utah State Highway 12, also called “Scenic Byway 12”, “The All-American Road” or “A Journey Through Time Scenic Byway” and known as one of the most scenic drives in America.  One website even called it the 2nd most beautiful highway in the world which I believe is a bit of an exaggeration!  The road took 40 years to complete and has Capitol Reef on one end and Bryce Canyon on the other.  Most of the land is public land as we drove through Dixie National Forest, the largest forest in Utah.  We saw bison, llamas, cattle and deer as we climbed to 9,636 feet. One section of the road was along a neck of the road no more than 30 feet across before dropping back down to Escalante where we stopped by the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Visitor Center.

Lady I am trying to cross here – move along please!

We enjoyed our time in Capitol Reef National Park and head next to Panguitch, Utah near Bryce Canyon where hopefully it will be even cooler!