Your Guide to Capitol Reef National Park
Capitol Reef is the most over-looked of Utah’s Mighty Five national parks. But don’t let that fool you as Capitol Reef has some amazing sites and hikes.
In this guide to Capitol Reef National Park, I’ll cover everything you need to know to plan a perfect trip based on my experience visiting the park.
Let’s get started!
Capitol Reef is open 24/7 every day of the year.
Park fees are $20 per vehicle which can be paid into a self-serve tube at the beginning of the Scenic Drive. If you’re planning on visiting multiple national parks an annual pass can be purchased for $80 and gives you access to all Federal fee areas for one year.
Parking is available at multiple trailheads.
The park tends to be less crowded than other National Parks in Utah, and as such, parking usually isn’t an issue inside the park.
Hickman Natural Bridge
Distance: 1.8 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation Change: 400 ft
Trailhead Access: Off of HWY 24 there is a parking lot at the trailhead. As the parking lot filled up later in the day, people were parking on the street.
Duration: 1 - 2 hours. Hike is mostly uphill with a little bit of scrambling at the end to be rewarded with a 133 ft natural bridge that you can get right up to and under.
Trekker Tip: Do this hike early as there is limited shade on the trail.
Gifford Homestead
Is open from March 14th (Pi Day) to October 31st.
Typical opening times are from 8:00am – 4:30pm with closures between noon and one.
There are multiple items for sale including reproduction utensils and household tools used by the original Mormon pioneers. Other popular items for sale include soaps, candles, books, jams, jellies, honey, and ice cream.
The most popular item for purchase is locally baked fruit pies. Pie flavors include apple, strawberry rhubarb, mixed berry, peach, and cherry pies. There is limited availability each day, so I recommend coming early if interested in getting some pie. From my experience, it’s definitely worth it!
Grand Wash
Distance: 4.4 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation Change: 200 ft
Trailhead Access: Parking is available at either end of the canyon, but the parking off of HWY 24 is easier to get to as you’ll have to take an unpaved road if you choose to access the trailhead from the scenic drive.
Duration: 1 - 3 hours.
Hike into the deep canyon as far as you want. As this is an out and back trail, you can turn around whenever you’re ready.
Trekker Tip: I’d recommend to at least go to The Narrows section to view the tightest spots in the canyon.
Petroglyphs
Trailhead Access: Can be accessed via wood bridges off of HWY 24.
Duration: You can spend 10 minutes - 1 hour here.
You can see the first petroglyph within one minute of parking. By continuing down the wooden bridge path, you can see a variety of petroglyphs.
Trekker Tip: Do this in the afternoon when it starts getting hotter out as this is an easy stroll.
Scenic Drive
Take the 8 mile paved road into the park and stop at any of the many pullouts.
You can add on another 2.4 miles along the unpaved Capitol Gorge Road to drive in between narrow canyon walls to reach the Capitol Gorge Trailhead.
Plan for about 1.5 hours to complete the scenic drive if taking the whole drive to the Capitol Gorge Road.
The Capitol Gorge road was in fairly decent condition when we visited and we saw several sedans on the road.
Capitol Gorge Trail
Distance: 2.0 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation Change: 80 ft
Trailhead Access: From the scenic drive, take the unpaved Capitol Gorge Road to reach the trailhead.
Duration: 1 - 2 hours
Hike through the deep canyon to reach the Pioneer Register which has inscriptions from some travelers from the 1700s and 1800s.
Continue along a short climb to reach the waterpockets (“tanks”).
There is limited shade on this trail, so be prepared with lots of water during hot conditions.
Panorama Point and Goosenecks
Finish your day be stopping at the Panorama Point and Goosenecks Overlook for views overlooking the canyon.
Goosenecks Overlook makes a good spot to view the sunset.
You can easily spend more than 1 day in this park. Some other hikes you can check out are:
Cohab Canyon
Distance: 3.4 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation Change: 440 ft
Trailhead Access: Hickman Bridge or Fruita trailhead.
Duration: 2-3 hours
Hike through the canyons with views of Fruita along the way.
Fremont River
Distance: 2 mile roundtrip
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation Change: 480 ft
Trailhead Access: 3 miles south of Torrey on the East side of the Scenic Byway 12.
Duration: 1 - 2 hours
Hike begins as an easy stroll along the river, but gets steeper as you climb up to panorama views.
Cassidy Arch
Distance: 3.4 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Strenuous
Elevation Change: 670 ft
Trailhead Access: Grand Wash trailhead.
Duration: 2 - 3 hours
Hike takes you to an arch you can hike up and onto. While we did not do this arch, if you’re looking to see one arch, I’d recommend the Hickman Bridge as a shorter, easier hike.
Frying Pan
Distance: 5.8 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Strenuous
Elevation Change: 810 ft
Trailhead Access: Take from either the Cohab Canyon or Cassidy Arch trail.
Duration: 4 - 5 hours
This hike connects the Cohab Canyon and Cassidy Arch trails.
Rim Overlook
Distance: 4.6 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Strenuous
Elevation Change: 1,110 ft
Trailhead Access: Hickman Bridge trailhead.
Duration: 3 - 4 hours
Hike around the rim to see panorama views of Fruita and the Waterpocket Fold.
Nearby Capitol Reef
Goblin Valley State Park
One hour Northeast of Capitol Reef National Park is the entrance to Goblin Valley State Park. This site features thousands of mushroom shaped hoodoos that are locally known as hoodoos.
At Goblin Valley there is no set trail, and instead you can wander as far as you want along the goblins.
Lodging in Capitol Reef National Park:
There is no lodging inside Capitol Reef National Park.
There is one developed campground inside Capitol Reef National Park at the Fruita Campground. There are two remote primitive campgrounds in the Park: Cathedral Valley Campground and Cedar Mesa Campground.
Lodging in Torrey:
Capitol Reef Resort: We stayed here and the resort had nice spacious rooms with a view of the nearby mountain. Our room as featured a patio looking out towards the mountain. The hotel also has stage coaches and teepees you can stay in.
Red Sands Hotel
The Lodge at Red River Ranch
Rim Rock Inn
The Gifford Homestead in Capitol Reef National Park offers baked goods, canned goods, ice cream, drinks, and more.
There is no restaurant inside the park.
Broken Spur Steakhouse is a nice, relatively inexpensive steakhouse in Torrey. The ribeye, sweet potatoes, and mashers were all really good. Service was prompt and fast.
Slacker’s Burgers in Torrey has a variety of regular and specialty burgers along with regular fries, sweet potato fries, and waffle fries. They also have a large dessert menu and we got a yummy orange crush ice cream float.
-
Helpful with the steep inclines at Hickman Bridge.
-
Good hiking socks to keep your feet comfortable when scrambling over rocks or climbing up inclines.
-
Bring waterproof hiking boots that are comfortable and you have a chance to break in before you set out on long hikes.
-
Keep your hands free while having space for your sunscreen, water, extra layers, quick dry towel, and more.
-
Is a must as Capitol Reef gets very hot and sunny and there are multiple areas that don’t have much shade.
-
Stay hydrated while you’re hiking in the hot sun.
-
A roll-up hat you can pack in your day bag to keep cool in the hot Capitol Reef sun.