Lots of people skip Capitol Reef National Park. That’s a big mistake!
I’ve never even heard of Capitol Reef National Park!
Capitol Reef National Park is located in south-central Utah in the heart of red rock country and it’s the least visited of the Mighty 5 Utah National Parks with 1.4 visitors a year. We’ve been 3 years now and will keep coming back again and again. It’s so worth the visit.
President Nixon signed the law that created Capitol Reef National Park in Utah on December 18, 1971. The park was called Capitol Reef National Park because early settlers thought that the white domes of Navajo sandstone resembled the U.S. Capitol, and many said that the Waterpocket Fold in the park resembled a reef or rocky coral-like structure. Somehow those two names got together and stuck.
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One of the neatest things about Capital Reef is the huge variety of things you can see and do in the park. It has a river, arches, an orchard you can pick from, amazing baked goods, awesome 4-wheel drive adventures, slot canyon like hikes, an old Butch Cassidy hideout, petroglyphs and so much more. Here are some of the things you don’t want to miss.
Where is Capitol Reef National Park located?
This park is located in the middle of the Mighty 5 Utah Parks, west of Arches and Canyonlands and east of Zion and Bryce. It’s kinda in the middle of no where. The park is long and thin, and you can drive from the east entrance to the west in just over 15 miles on Highway 24 and in many places you can drive across in 6 or 7 miles. To go north to south it’s about 60 miles. Highway 24 goes through the park but there is no entrance fee charged to use this road since it’s a through highway.
How long do you need in Capitol Reef National Park?
If you have half a day!
You can see from the map there are very few established roads in the park. If you can do nothing else, at drive across the park on Highway 24 stopping at the overlooks and enjoying the Fremont River which winds along next to the highway. Then drive the 7.9-mile scenic drive off of Highway 24. The Capitol Reef National Park Visitor Center is at the start of the scenic drive and there is a self-monitored fee payment station just a little further down the scenic road. If you have a NPS pass you can show it at the visitor center.
Petroglyphs
Don’t miss the stop on Highway 24 where you can look at petroglyphs created by early Native Americans. It’s located between the Hickman Bridge hike and the Fruita area. It’s worth a quick stop. We often joke that petroglyphs are never worth the stop because they are often so hard to find but these are quite interesting.
Capitol Reef National Park Visitor Center
Visit the Visitor Center to take your pictures, get your park information and inquire about anything that’s closed or anything special going on. I always like to inquire about the ranger’s favorite hikes. If you are just there for a 1/2 day you can ask about their favorite short hikes.
Gifford House Museum and Store
We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to stop at the Gifford House Museum and Store right past the visitor center to pick up some of their personal size homemade pies and cinnamon rolls. They are AMAZING. In fact, they are so good that if you don’t get there by about 11:00 a.m. you may miss that days batch all together. The times we have stayed near the park for several days this is our first stop of the day every day before we head out to hike.
We were just passing through the area last summer, but I made my hubby drive out of the way and into Capitol Reef for a cinnamon roll and we were there at 11:15 and missed them. To say I was bummed is an UNDERSTATEMENT.
Historic Fruita
The area just past the Visitor Center is called Fruita and was settled in the 1880’s by Mormons who saw the value of this spot right near the Fremont River. They settled here and planted all these orchards you still see today. During certain seasons the fruit is available for you to pick, and you should definitely take advantage of this. It’s a lot of fun, especially if you don’t live in a part of the country where you are able to do this.
Historic Fruita has a few of the original buildings from the 1800’s including a barn, schoolhouse and the house that the pies and goodies are sold from. If you have time definitely check out the buildings and stop and eat lunch (or your baked goodies) in the orchard near the river where they have picnic tables. Keep in mind that this park doesn’t have any other food available so plan accordingly and bring a picnic. I’ll get to lodging and food places in just a bit.
Scenic Drive
After getting your snack and exploring the Fruita area you need to drive the 7.9-mile scenic drive. This is one of the most stunning parts of Capitol Reef National Park. You need to just drive it first to take in the views and just be in the moment. Then on your way back you can stop and take some pictures and explore a bit. First, just enjoy all the sights. There are several trail heads off this road and you can ask in the visitor center which would best fit you.
If you do the things I’ve shared above it will take you at least 1/2 a day and give you an overview of Capitol Reef National Park. However, this park has so much more to share that you can only see if you dig in and get to hiking. I’m going to share a few of our favorite hikes. There are so many more for every level of hiker. My favorite place to read about hikes and their difficulties etc. is AllTrails. You can read all the trail facts, see pictures, and read reviews. Definitely get this app before you head out and make sure you download the trails you want to explore.
Hiking trails in Capitol Reef National Park – Several of my favorites
Grand Wash
This hike is a point to point 6.1 mile hike which you can just do part of if you don’t have 2 vehicles or if you don’t want to do 12 miles to go there and back. It’s rated hard on AllTrails but if you start it at the eastern part of the trail off of 24 you can do about a 1 1/2 miles in and come back and get a good taste of the slot canyon like hike.
It’s really gorgeous and worth the work. If it’s hot, make sure you bring lots of water cause the sun will wear you out. Don’t do this hike if it looks like there will be any rain. There are steep cliffs on both sides of you and flash flooding sometimes happens and is dangerous. This is another thing you can check out at the visitor center. They keep up with the current weather to let people know if they should avoid some areas.
Gooseneck Overlook
This is a short 1/2-mile hike and is more what the name implies, an overlook. But there is a bit of elevation to get there, and you see more when you do the little bit of hiking. There are gorgeous views of the river’s gooseneck below. This is a nice spot for sunset as well. Get the trail details here as well as directions to get there. When I got these pictures, it was the middle of summer, and the water level was quite low. But the river does run higher different times of year.
Hickman Bridge Hike
Hickman Bridge is a beautiful hike that we did the last time around sunset. It’s only 1.7 miles and is what we call a lollipop hike because it’s a loop at the end of an out and back section. It’s rated as moderate, and you gain almost 500 feet of elevation in that 1.7 mils. It’s such an interesting trail and there is always something cool to see along the way including the bridge/arch that you get to see from both sides. This trail is right off of Highway 24 and won’t take you too much time.
Cassidy Arch Hike
The Cassidy Arch hike in Capitol Reef National Park is probably my favorite hike in the park. This hike gets its name from Butch Cassidy who was said to have hidden out near it when he was being pursued by various lawmen. This hike is just over 3 miles and almost 700 feet of elevation. It’s almost all in the sun so be prepared with plenty of water and sunscreen and of course, snacks. There is so much interesting to see along the trail and the arch is one you can walk across when you reach it. I would do this trail again and again.
This trailhead is down a dirt road which can get washed out in a big rain. When we were there this was the case and the only way we could do this hike was to walk from the scenic road to reach the trailhead. This added 3 more miles of flat road walking to our hike, but the hike was still more than worth it. If this happens while you are there just go. You will just need to bring extra water.
Drive a backroad in Capitol Reef National Park!
Because there are so few paved roads in this park much needs to be seen by renting a Jeep and hitting the backroads. There are many to choose from and I recommend checking with the Visitor Center before deciding which to attempt. Current conditions need to be considered each day. Some require crossing streams, and some may be washed out. If you are interested in renting a Jeep, check out Capitol Reef Jeep Rentals.
Capitol Gorge Road & the Pioneer Register
The last two times we were in Capitol Reef this road was closed because of rain having washed it out. We will try again the next time but hopefully you will have better luck. Capitol Gorge Road is at the end of the Capitol Reef National Park Scenic drive. If there had been flooding, there is a closed gate. If it’s open, continue to the left to drive the 2.3-mile Capitol Gorge Road. This is a scenic drive through a canyon and ends at the trailhead of the Capitol Gorge trail.
Capitol Gorge trail is 2.2 miles with about 400 feet of elevation. Along this hike you will see the Pioneer Register. Mormon settlers passed through this area in the late 18th century and early 19th century and many of them wrote their names on the walls of the canyon. So, apparently graffiti has been around longer than we think.
Where to stay and eat near Capitol Reef National Park!
Lodging
Torry, Utah is the closest town to Capitol Reef National Park. It’s not a big town but you can find what you need there. Just a little farther is an even smaller town called Teasdale. The only lodging in the park is camping at the campground in Fruita or primitively. There are no chain hotels in Torry but there are many little motels and lodges. etc.
You can google some of the local motels or you can check out a house from vrbo.com. It’s always nice to have a house so you can cook and make lunches for your day and it’s definitely nice when on a road trip or doing a lot of hiking to be able to do laundry. We found a super 2-bedroom rental house in Teasdale, and it was absolutely adorable with beautiful views off the lovely back porch. The owners were so nice to work with. If you want to check that one out, you can click here.
Food
We did most of our meals in our house and packed lunches to take on our hikes. We did have one dinner out at Rim Rock Patio Pizza. They had fabulous pizza and a gorgeous location. As the name implied, they had a great patio setting with amazing views and a huge fire pit. We enjoyed the evening out there until a huge storm opened up on us. We ran to the covered porch which started leaking and eventually ended up inside. But it was a great dinner.
This is just a small snippet of what you will see in Capitol Reef National Park. I might even say this is my favorite of Utah’s Mighty 5 national parks but that might be like picking a favorite child. They are all so awesome. Please don’t skip this park. At least give it 1/2 a day and if possible 3 or more. We’ve been 3 times, and we still haven’t seen it all. If you want to read more about how my blog came to be, check this post.
Bonus Park
Goblin Valley State Park
One hour and twenty minutes east of the Capitol Reef National Park Visitor Center is Goblin Valley State Park. If you have time during your Capitol Reef visit you need to take a couple hours and visit. We spent just 3 hours there and it was a blast. It’s $20 to enter the park which is open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.
You are literally allowed to walk among the hoodoos which number in the 1000’s and it’s amazing. It seemed like another world. We went after it had rained and slipped and slid our way around the hoodoos like kids. You can see from the pictures how cool this park is. I hope you can check it out. It was a LOT of fun.
I hope you got lots of great info from our adventures in Capitol Reef National Park. I would love it if you would share your stories from your visits in the comments. Or feel free to ask any questions you might have. I would love it if you would like, comment, share or all of the above.
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Keep traveling & exploring,
Stephanie
seymoreoftheworldwithme