Hike Sulphur Creek Capitol Reef National Park, UT

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May 29, 2017 — Sulphur Creek is a wet gorge encountered shortly after entering Capitol Reef National Park. The hike requires two cars to complete this as a one-way. One car would create an out-and-back, adding around 500 vertical gain and 5.5 miles. Assuming you do have two cars, park the ending car at the Capitol Reef visitor center at 38.291361,-111.2613156. After dropping our car, we headed to the upper trailhead (Chimney Rock Trailhead), the button above.

The descent into Sulphur Creek begins in a deepening section of dry canyonbed, a side drainage that will lead into the main watercourse. There was a short down-climb along the way. We reached Sulphur Creek, which at this point was wide enough that we didn't need to wade just yet. The walls grew taller and the twisting bends in the canyon began to be more significant. Then the most narrow section began, which lasted far longer than we expected. The ankle-deep wading cooled us off, a few small waterfalls requiring short Class 2 down-climbs to avoid, and the bright red walls made this hike a great time.

After the third waterfall, we encountered many more people and knew we were nearing the mouth of the canyon. Most don't seem to continue past this final waterfall, having started from the Visitor Center. A trail led us to our second car.

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Starting down the wash from the Chimney Rock Trailhead.

Entering Sulphur Creek.

Entering a narrow section with a waterfall.

Pretty narrows.

Narrows widen for more walking down Sulphur Creek.

Another pretty waterfall with a short scramble.

A short section of narrows toward the end.

A final small waterfall.

Approaching the Capitol Reef Visitor Center.

Hire me or show me some love!

Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I’m not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!