Southwest Desert Trip X: Bullfrog Basin and Lower Calf Creek

By John CarrFebruary 9, 2024

Lake Powell

The seventh day of our trip included a significant amount of driving. With more than some reluctance, we said good-by to Moab and began heading south and west. There was a fresh skiff of snow on the ground a few miles south of Moab and a cold chill in the air.

Our first stop was Bullfrog Basin on the Colorado River in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. After a short wait, we took the ferry across Lake Powell. This was a fun way to see the area.

We then headed north for sixty miles on the scenic Notom Road to the Waterfold Pocket in the Capitol Reef National Park. At this junction we hit the Burr Trail Road. (We had been at this intersection on the third day of the trip but headed north on Notom Road since we would have been too late to catch a ferry at Bullfrog Basin.)

Along Highway 276 to Bullfrog Basin

Lower Calf Creek

The views along the steep, curvy Burr Trail Road to the top of the Waterfold Pocket were simply amazing. We again traveled through Long Canyon on the way to Boulder near the Escalante River Canyon. Here we stopped and took a short, but scenic hike along Lower Calf Creek in the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument. If we had had more time, we could have hiked to the Lower Calf Creek Falls, one of the more photographed sights in the Monument.

It was a relatively short drive to the Bryce Canyon area from Escalante. We ate dinner at Ruby’s Inn Cowboy Buffet and Steak Room, a must stop for anyone in the area. Harold’s Inn was our stop for the night.