Long Weekend Series: Capitol Reef National Park
Welcome back to my “A Long Weekend in…” series! In this series I’ll take you through an itinerary for three days in and around a national park or other public land. These itineraries are primarily made for people who enjoy hiking and are visiting a park or area for the first time and want to hit the main highlights. In addition to the highlights, I'll include some nearby alternatives that offer a similar experience.
A Long Weekend in…
Capitol Reef National Park
About the park
Capitol Reef National Park in Utah is one of those underrated places that you kind of hesitate to tell people about because you don’t want it to get overrun. Slightly off the beaten path among Utah’s Mighty Five national parks, it sees just a fraction of the visitors seen by Zion and Arches. It doesn’t boast any “marquee” national park attractions like Zion’s Angels Landing or Delicate Arch in Arches, but when you really get to know this park, you’ll find that Capitol Reef is truly outstanding. In fact, I would even consider it to be better than Zion *cue gasps of shock and horror*. I know, I know. This park is most famous for protecting the incredible Waterpocket Fold, an approximately 100-mile-long monocline which is essentially a wrinkling of geological layers along a fault. The area boasts natural bridges, arches, slot canyons, washes, unique rock formations, and even a historic fruit orchard. While most people only allot one day to visit this park, I would argue that you need at minimum three days to really do this park justice, if not more.
Entrance Fees
Capitol Reef National Park is technically free to visit with a caveat. Highway 24, the main road that passes straight through the park, is free, meaning you can see a good chunk of the park without paying anything. However, the official Scenic Drive does require an entrance fee of $20, or you can use your Annual Pass.
Day One
Start the first day with an early morning drive down the Scenic Drive as it meanders between the red, orange, and yellow cliffs of the Waterpocket Fold on your way to the trailhead for the Cassidy Arch hike. The trailhead is located down a dirt side road called Grand Wash. Said to be one of the hideouts of the infamous Butch Cassidy, Cassidy Arch is particularly interesting because hikers are able to look down at the arch rather than look up at it. I would say this is the park’s must-do hike as you get great views of the surrounding rock formations while you hike along slickrock as well as a chance to walk over the arch. The hike is short at 3.4 miles roundtrip and about 650 feet elevation gain. I won’t go into too much detail as I already wrote a post about this hike which you can read more about here.
If you’re feeling up for it while you’re already in this part of the park, take a short hike down the Capitol Gorge to see the Tanks. These “tanks” are depressions in the rock that fill up with water after a rain and are the namesake of the Waterpocket Fold. You can also see historical graffiti on the rocks with the names of the earliest white travelers who passed through the area.
Use the rest of the day to rest your legs and enjoy the stops along the Scenic Drive as well as Highway 24. I really enjoyed checking out the Fremont Petroglyphs off of Highway 24 which are accessible via a short boardwalk. The Fremont Culture people lived in the area from about 300 to 1300 CE and the petroglyphs they carved are one of the few physical parts of their culture that remain.
Other great short stops include the Fruita Schoolhouse, the Fruita fruit orchards (can pay to pick the fruit when in season!), Behunin Cabin, the Goosenecks Overlook, Sunset Point, and Panorama Point. The last two stops mentioned are both great for watching the sunset.
Day Two
This next tip is perhaps the most important of the whole itinerary because it has to do with pie. Yes, pie. The Gifford Homestead in the Fruita district of the park was created in 1908 by Calvin Pendleton; the Gifford family later occupied the farmhouse between 1928 and 1969 before selling it to the NPS. While the area is an excellent example of Mormon/LDS homesteading, the Gifford Farmhouse today is more famous for its fruit pies than its history. So much so that they tend to sell out before noon. So instead of going hiking right away in the morning, go straight to the Gifford Homestead at 9 am when they open and buy a pie (or two!). Let the pies sit in your car and warm up in the sun while you’re out exploring, then come back, buy some ice cream from the store, and enjoy the “fruits” of your good planning. Or just eat the pies for breakfast, you’re on vacation after all! All the pies are delicious, but my personal favorite is the strawberry rhubarb. The farmhouse is typically open between March 14 (Pi Day) and late November from 9 to 4:30.
After your pie acquisition, head down the road and hike the Hickman Bridge trail, a 1.7 mile RT trail (400 ft gain) that takes you to a really interesting natural bridge.
Optional add on: If you’re wanting a bit more of a challenge, backtrack along the trail to a trail junction and hike to either the Rim Overlook (4.3 miles RT, 1000 ft gain) or to Navajo Knobs (9.1 miles RT, 2100 ft gain) for stunning vistas of the park. If you choose to add the extra mileage, consider starting this hike early and save the pie acquisition for the next day.
If you opted to hike only to Hickman Bridge and want a little extra time on the trails without too much effort, either the Chimney Rock Loop or the Cohab Canyon are good options. The Chimney Rock Loop features a neat pillar-like rock formation along with beautiful views over the park and the area’s mountains, while Cohab Canyon is great for exploring the geology of the area and ends at an excellent overlook of the Fruita District. Sometimes rangers hold geology walks along the Cohab Canyon trail which I found really interesting!
For sunset, head just outside the park to the Moonscape Overlook near Hanksville for an “otherworldly” view. You can boondock here and enjoy some amazing stargazing as well.
Day Three
Explore the park’s Waterpocket Fold District and take a drive on the incredible Burr Trail. This area of the park is extremely remote but boasts some of the best scenery. There are several ways to do this “Loop-the-Fold” driving tour which you can read more about on the NPS website here. I personally started the Burr Trail from its terminus within the Grand Staircase-Escalante NM in Boulder, Utah, which I really enjoyed as I liked being able to drive towards the expanding views over the Waterpocket Fold. The Burr Trail itself, while partially unpaved, is generally accessible to most vehicles when dry but I would call ahead and check the road conditions first before heading out; be sure to bring enough food and water to last you several days just in case. I drove it in my AWD Subaru during one snowy February and was glad to have the extra clearance and maneuvering capabilities as the unpaved sections were a bit rough but overall very doable. I was not able to drive the Notom-Bullfrog Road all the way back due to road conditions so ended up taking a right at the junction at the bottom of the Burr Trail Switchbacks to continue along the Burr Trail to its junction with Hwy 276 near the Bullfrog Marina which was lovely drive in and of itself.
My favorite parts of this drive were Echo Canyon, the initial view of the erosion zone of the Waterpocket Fold, and the view from atop the Burr Trail Switchbacks.
There are several hiking trails and routes along the Burr Trail; however, most do require a 4x4 vehicle or several added miles of walking down a Jeep road. The two most popular trails in this area are the Upper Muley Twist Canyon (full day hike) and the Strike Valley Overlook (short hike if can drive all the way to the trailhead). Even if you can’t or don’t want to hike here, the drive alone is definitely worth the trip and is the absolute highlight of this park!
If you have extra time:
Hike the Sulphur Creek Route
Visit the Cathedral District
Explore the nearby Goblin Valley State Park and Little Wild Horse Canyon
And with that, a jam-packed long weekend! I hope that you come to love Capitol Reef National Park as much as I do because it definitely deserves more praise than it gets!
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Hey Victoria, always love your posts! I looked at going to this park before but plans fell through. Looks like it was as fun as I thought it would be.