Fremont Indian State Park and Museum
Personal Notes
This page presents our personal notes on our visit to Fremont Indian State Park in Utah.
Friday, May 10, 2002
We left Sandy right at 3:00 p.m. and arrived at 5:45 p.m. On the way down, we came through Scipio to Aurora and then took I-70 past Richfield to the park. We spotted a bald eagle on the way between Scipio and Aurora
The park's Museum and Visitor Center are on the north side of the freeway and the campground is on the south side, out of sight.
Castle Rock Campground
The campground is nice, with lots of tall trees that make for considerable shade on a sunny afternoon, and give homes to a considerable number of woodpeckers. The campground is in a narrow canyon surrounded by steep walls of a buff to brown sedimentary deposit. Possibly sandstone or mudstone. Surprisingly, there are not many people in the campground. Maybe it is too early in the season.
The campground did not fill in overnight, either, and we, in Site 15, did not have anyone immediately near us. However, there were several vehicles that pulled in, with trailers loaded with ATVs. There are several noisy kids in the campground, and there is at least one set of ATV folks who have decided to ride up and down the camp road for a short time, even though that is prohibited.
The campground has modern rest room facilities, but no electricity nor showers. The restrooms are clean, though small. The campsites are spacious, with picnic tables and fire pits. Wood collecting is not allowed, but they do have wood for sale. There are water spigots throughout the campground and we were lucky enough to have one right across from out spot.
We had used the State's park reservation system for the first time, and it seems to work well, although there is an additional charge of $7.00 to make the reservation. The site cost us $11.00 per day. But it was nice not having to worry about getting a space, even though, at this time of the year, in a small, out of the way park, we might have been able to get a good spot anyway. It seems that sites 11 through 31 are reserved, set aside for reservations, and it seems that they are actually the better sites, having more shade and perhaps larger spaces.
It was cloudy and windy as we drove down, and it rained from about 8:00 p.m. until sometime before Midnight. We grilled burgers over coals from an open fire, and it began to rain just as they were ready to eat. So we retreated to the trailer and ate there.
We were able to fill up our fresh water holding tank with a hose, right from the water spigot across the road. The ranger came by as we were doing this and waved. We saw him drive through again later.
Saturday, May 11, 2002
Camping Overview
We got up briefly at about 5:30 a.m. to use the facilities, then jumped back into the warm bed for a while longer. Right now it's about 7:45 a.m. and Anne is still in bed. The sky is lighted, and has been for about an hour, but the sun hasn't made it up over the tops of the surrounding cliffs. I'm sure it will warm up nicely once the sun makes its appearance.
It got quite cold overnight, to the point where my toothpaste was pretty hard, and our honey, which we use for our hot tea, was pretty solid. I had to warm it in some hot water to soften it up. When she got up, Anne was able to produce "smoke" when she blew out a breath.
There is the smell of damp sage in the air. It reminds me of my days of working and living in Nevada. It's a common scent which some love, and others hate. I find it pleasant and refreshing and it always brings back memories of the good and bad times of the 1980s, the years that I spent in Gabbs and Hawthorne and Austin and Ely and several places in between.
Last year, on our first trip out for the season, we tent-camped and forgot to bring our sleeping bags. Huge mistake. That was the only time that has happened, but we weren't that stupid again this year. The only things we forgot were the dish soap and a pair of batteries for the little clock that we leave in the trailer. No great loss on either account.
We had taken the Coleman trailer in to the dealer to have the high pressure gas line blown out, so that we can use the outside gas stove on occasion, and we had the brakes adjusted and the bearings repacked. They also fixed the refrigerator, which wasn't working well last year.
Over the winter we bought a solar panel to charge the trailer's battery when we are "remote," so that we can use the lights, etc. But I haven't mounted it on a frame yet, so we left it at home. Because of that we didn't use the furnace last night nor this morning. That would have made things a little more bearable, although the furnace does burn through the propane very quickly. Also … the hot water heater went out over night. Maybe because of the wind. We had a little trouble with that last year as well.
One of the other camping items that we purchased over the winter was a portable chemical toilet. It should fit into a closed slot near the door to the trailer if we ever need to bring it along. Or we can take it with us tent camping when we're going remote that way. We also just bought an 8 x 8 foot square self-standing canopy. It's a bit on the heavy side, at something like 48 pounds, but it will come in handy on very sunny or rainy days, especially when we're camped in some location without tall trees. We're going to buy an insect screen for it to expand its usefulness. At some localities there are a great number of mosquitoes and/or gnats and flies and other nasty critters. It just makes it nice to be able to sit outdoors without fighting the bugs.
For the port-a-pottie, about a year ago, we bought a self-standing "tent" that is just large enough to function as a privy shelter. It is also set up for use as a shower room. We have two solar water bottles that are designed with shower heads and will slip right into the netted compartment in the top of the little shelter. But when I say little, I should add that there is plenty of head room for me ( at 6'2") to stand beneath the water container. We haven't had the opportunity to try this out yet, but we plan on it this year. We also plan on trying out our Dutch oven as well, which we've had for several years, but have never gotten around to using.
More later. I guess I'd better go out and see if I can get the hot water heater started so that we can wash up before we head over to the museum and go hiking.
Campground
There were not many people in the park, but the ATV folks sure made enough noise to make it seem like a bunch. Between riding their machines up and down the roads (which was illegal) and playing their radio loudly and talking and yelling as if they were the only ones in the park, it certainly detracted from the natural peacefulness of the area. And late Saturday evening a VW bus pulled in with two guys from Oregon, about college age, who played their music quite loud and then proceeded to talk over it. In spite of being two campsites farther up the hill, we could still almost understand every word they said. But there is always the possibility to this type of camper wherever one goes.
Saturday night was cold and rainy again. We were able to grill our chicken before it started raining. Then later, it stopped, and we were able to get the fire going again and roast marshmallows and make smoors. Just as we were finishing up it began to rain again.
The battery in our trailer went completely dead. We're not sure why, unless it was the fan on the heater that drained it before we realized it was on. We were also using the water pump and that may have drained it.
Museum and Visitor Center
The Museum is very nice, very modern, and the exhibits are professionally done and informative, taking the visitor through the history of the park and an exploration of the Fremont people, with many examples from the local excavations.
Fremont Indian State Park was the site of a large Fremont Culture village atop Five Finger Hill (which is mostly gone now because of I-70 construction). Along the steep cliffs of the canyon surrounding Clear Creek are many pictographs and petroglyphs. There are several guide sheets available at the main desk within the Museum that help you interpret what you're seeing.
Near the Museum they have an outdoor exhibit of a reconstructed pit house and a storage pit. You can actually go down into the pit house. Very interesting and well done.
Trails
There are fourteen short trails, ranging from a short walk to two miles, all totaling just over nine miles. The trails are spread along several miles of paved road and well marked, and generally work their way through the rugged canyon walls along the south side of the freeway. However, there are several exhibits and trails on the south side of the freeway, accessible by following paths below that ribbon or concrete.
It was a cold and rainy day and we didn't get started until after 11:00 a.m., so we were not able to walk all of the trails. Most are easy to moderate and are in generally good condition, maintained for tourists rather than true hikers. Although, we did discover that several trails leading into the Fishlake National Forest join these trails. If you are interested in longer hikes, these trails would be your best bet.
Rather than reiterate what the Park provides, I'll defer comment on these trails to the excellent trail guides provided at the museum. You may select individual sheets, or purchase a packet of all fourteen guides for $2.00.
Critters
Along the road to access the trails we spotted several marmots and gray squirrels. The fractured and broken rock probably make great havens for them. We also saw mountain blue birds, robins, and heard several woodpeckers around the campground.
Sunday, May 12, 2002
Sunday morning brought us clear blue skies and sunshine. That helped while breaking camp, drying the tent and other equipment so we didn't have to pack it while it was still damp.
Campground
One of the problems we encountered within the campground were the seed casings from the local trees. They were long, yellow to orange in color, and quite sticky with sap. They stuck to everything, especially the soles of our shoes and boots. We have a mud mat outside of the entrance to the trailer and were able to clean off most before entering, but some still got in. And, of course, as we broke down the tent we had to clean them from the surface there.
~ ~ ~
The drive home was uneventful and there weren't as many vehicles on the road as usual. It is still early in the season and it was Mother's Day and we were driving through the main cities earlier in the day than most people who camped would be passing through.
By the time we got home the battery on the trailer was fully charged.
