Weekend in Boulder, Utah Trip Report
May 13th, 2026 | 08:06 PM
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Joined: Jan 2007
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Weekend in Boulder, Utah Trip Report
My husband and I went for a weekend end get away to Boulder, Utah in the middle of April. Boulder is on Route 12-between Escalante and Torrey. Home of the truly famous Hell’s Backbone Grill.
We stayed at Boulder Mountain Lodge, which is a collection of buildings spread out across a beautiful green property. The room was very nice and spacious. There is a bird sanctuary on the property and lots of lovely green space.
The only issue with Boulder is that there are not many places to eat. Yes, there is the AMAZING Hells Backbone Grill—and we ate there twice and it was incredible both times. But it is expensive—understandably give the food they have in the middle of nowhere. But it will hit your wallet. We also ate at Sweetwater Kitchen, which is on a guest ranch about 15-20 minutes away from Boulder. My husband was very skeptical that the place actually existed but calmed down when he saw some signs. The specialize in beef that is raised on their property and it was very good. Both places are very laid back—think hiking shorts and fleece. But the service is fantastic. Of the two, yes, the Grill is better. But Sweetwater Kitchen is quite good and had very attentive service. While there were kids in these restaurants—it’s not really the place for kids like my oldest who is not a “wide variety” eater. If you are coming down south with your family, you will be better served staying in Escalante or Torrey.
For breakfast, we at the food truck on property—Little Bone. They had good coffee and these amazing cheddar/apple scones!! For lunch, the small convenience store in town had great cheese, meats, and crackers that we packed with us. That place is well stocked and has a decent selection of camping supplies. I was impressed!
The first day we drove down the Burr Trail Road into Capital Reef National Park. This is a beautiful drive and there are some good hikes off this road. I was nursing a foot injury so I needed flat and not too long. We hiked the Strike Valley Overlook trail on Saturday—about 6 miles round trip. We were able to drive down the path/road to the first 2 wheel drive parking area—where there is a sign in box. You could hike from the Burr Trail Road but just about any car can make it to that first lot if you take it slow. Depends on what you are used to. The hike goes through a lovely canyon and then you go to the side to look over the Reef into the Strike Valley below. Very pretty. It took us just over an hour to reach the Overlook. We had lunch, relaxed, and then hiked back. There are a bunch of arches in the canyon to find/see. And there were plenty of flowers/shrubs starting to bloom. You hike in and out on the 4 wheel drive road—we saw all of one car. Once you leave the road for the overlook, the trail is obvious until you get to slick rock and then you have to look for cairns.
We then drove further into the park to hike Surprise Canyon. This starts with a boring slog across the flat dirt but then you get into a pretty little canyon with a little bit of rock scrambling until you reach a pour off. If it hadn’t been the end of the day, I think we could have made it over that pour off into more of the canyon but we were done and had to get back for dinner anyway. This is a 2 mile trail so very easy.
The second day we hiked Lower Calf Creek Falls. This is around 6 miles of fairly flat hiking. It took us just a little over an hour to reach the falls. The hike along the way is very pretty—it’s a riparian area and there are pictographs and some old granaries to see. The falls are truly beautiful. I have done this hike a handful of times and I always enjoy it. You cannot get lost on this trail! They are charging a $5 usage fee—which I totally understand. There is a solar-powered credit card machine which was great!
Then we went to hike to the Hundred Hands Panel-and 2 nearby rock art sites. It’s about 2 miles round trip. Download the All trails map or something. There are social trails all over the place and they have rerouted the trail in a couple of places. It worked for us—we are experienced desert hikers. But I questioned myself a bunch of times. The trail to the panels starts at the Escalante River trailhead—on the opposite side of where the trails start for the various river hikes. I though the panels were along the river. Nope, you have to climb up some steep stuff with some exposure to get up higher. It wasn’t a hard climb, just a little sketchy to someone who does not like heights. But we were fine. We then looked for the granaries that are on the walls right where the river crosses the road. We found them—you can see them without binoculars. The best view point is if you walk under the road bridge and then you just cross a small foot bridge. At the end of that bridge turn around and you will see the granaries on the wall on the other side of the road.
On the last day, we packed up and headed over Boulder Mountain to go back home to Salt Lake City. It is always so nice to get away to the desert!
We stayed at Boulder Mountain Lodge, which is a collection of buildings spread out across a beautiful green property. The room was very nice and spacious. There is a bird sanctuary on the property and lots of lovely green space.
The only issue with Boulder is that there are not many places to eat. Yes, there is the AMAZING Hells Backbone Grill—and we ate there twice and it was incredible both times. But it is expensive—understandably give the food they have in the middle of nowhere. But it will hit your wallet. We also ate at Sweetwater Kitchen, which is on a guest ranch about 15-20 minutes away from Boulder. My husband was very skeptical that the place actually existed but calmed down when he saw some signs. The specialize in beef that is raised on their property and it was very good. Both places are very laid back—think hiking shorts and fleece. But the service is fantastic. Of the two, yes, the Grill is better. But Sweetwater Kitchen is quite good and had very attentive service. While there were kids in these restaurants—it’s not really the place for kids like my oldest who is not a “wide variety” eater. If you are coming down south with your family, you will be better served staying in Escalante or Torrey.
For breakfast, we at the food truck on property—Little Bone. They had good coffee and these amazing cheddar/apple scones!! For lunch, the small convenience store in town had great cheese, meats, and crackers that we packed with us. That place is well stocked and has a decent selection of camping supplies. I was impressed!
The first day we drove down the Burr Trail Road into Capital Reef National Park. This is a beautiful drive and there are some good hikes off this road. I was nursing a foot injury so I needed flat and not too long. We hiked the Strike Valley Overlook trail on Saturday—about 6 miles round trip. We were able to drive down the path/road to the first 2 wheel drive parking area—where there is a sign in box. You could hike from the Burr Trail Road but just about any car can make it to that first lot if you take it slow. Depends on what you are used to. The hike goes through a lovely canyon and then you go to the side to look over the Reef into the Strike Valley below. Very pretty. It took us just over an hour to reach the Overlook. We had lunch, relaxed, and then hiked back. There are a bunch of arches in the canyon to find/see. And there were plenty of flowers/shrubs starting to bloom. You hike in and out on the 4 wheel drive road—we saw all of one car. Once you leave the road for the overlook, the trail is obvious until you get to slick rock and then you have to look for cairns.
We then drove further into the park to hike Surprise Canyon. This starts with a boring slog across the flat dirt but then you get into a pretty little canyon with a little bit of rock scrambling until you reach a pour off. If it hadn’t been the end of the day, I think we could have made it over that pour off into more of the canyon but we were done and had to get back for dinner anyway. This is a 2 mile trail so very easy.
The second day we hiked Lower Calf Creek Falls. This is around 6 miles of fairly flat hiking. It took us just a little over an hour to reach the falls. The hike along the way is very pretty—it’s a riparian area and there are pictographs and some old granaries to see. The falls are truly beautiful. I have done this hike a handful of times and I always enjoy it. You cannot get lost on this trail! They are charging a $5 usage fee—which I totally understand. There is a solar-powered credit card machine which was great!
Then we went to hike to the Hundred Hands Panel-and 2 nearby rock art sites. It’s about 2 miles round trip. Download the All trails map or something. There are social trails all over the place and they have rerouted the trail in a couple of places. It worked for us—we are experienced desert hikers. But I questioned myself a bunch of times. The trail to the panels starts at the Escalante River trailhead—on the opposite side of where the trails start for the various river hikes. I though the panels were along the river. Nope, you have to climb up some steep stuff with some exposure to get up higher. It wasn’t a hard climb, just a little sketchy to someone who does not like heights. But we were fine. We then looked for the granaries that are on the walls right where the river crosses the road. We found them—you can see them without binoculars. The best view point is if you walk under the road bridge and then you just cross a small foot bridge. At the end of that bridge turn around and you will see the granaries on the wall on the other side of the road.
On the last day, we packed up and headed over Boulder Mountain to go back home to Salt Lake City. It is always so nice to get away to the desert!
May 14th, 2026 | 10:42 AM
#2
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 364
Likes: 0
Sounds like a fun little trip. We've driven route 12 twice now on trips between Moab and Bryce, loved it all except that hogback section. A little too narrow and windy with drop offs both sides in spots. We to enjoyed Calf Creek Falls and the Kiva Coffeehouse a bit south of the trailhead.
