National park
National park · Eastern Utah
Capitol Reef National Park
A hundred-mile wrinkle in the Earth’s crust, with pioneer orchards in its heart. The quietest of the Mighty 5, and the one where you can eat a slice of pie between hikes.
Photo: Wolfgang Staudt · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Capitol Reef protects the Waterpocket Fold, a nearly 100-mile buckle in the Earth’s crust where layers of rock were pushed up and tilted like a rumpled rug. The result is a long wall of cliffs, domes and canyons in red, white and gold. Early settlers called it a reef because it blocked travel, and the white domes of Navajo Sandstone reminded them of the Capitol.
At the center of the park is Fruita, a Mormon pioneer settlement along the Fremont River whose orchards still produce cherries, apricots, peaches, pears and apples. You can pick fruit in season, walk the historic district, and stop at the Gifford House for pies and other baked goods. Mule deer graze the orchard grass in the evening.
Highway 24 crosses the park and passes petroglyphs left by the Fremont people, the Fruita schoolhouse and the trailhead to Hickman Bridge. The paved Scenic Drive runs south past cliffs and canyons to dirt spurs into Grand Wash and Capitol Gorge, where pioneers carved their names into the canyon wall.
The park’s far ends are wilder. Cathedral Valley, to the north, has free-standing monoliths reached by high-clearance roads. To the south, the Notom-Bullfrog Road and the Burr Trail switchbacks follow the fold’s eastern flank. Capitol Reef is also an International Dark Sky Park, and nights here are very dark.
Don't miss
- Fruita orchardsPick fruit in season from pioneer-era orchards along the Fremont River.
- Gifford HouseA restored early-1900s farmhouse that sells pies and local goods in season.
- Hickman BridgeA two-mile round trip to a 133-foot natural bridge, starting on Highway 24.
- Capitol GorgeA walk through a narrow canyon past the Pioneer Register and natural water pockets (tanks).
- Petroglyph PanelFremont rock art of bighorn sheep and human figures, along a boardwalk beside Highway 24.
- Cassidy ArchA steep climb from Grand Wash to an arch named for outlaw Butch Cassidy.
- Cathedral ValleyHuge sandstone monoliths in the park’s remote north, for high-clearance vehicles.
- Burr Trail switchbacksA dramatic series of switchbacks climbing the Waterpocket Fold in the south.
Hikes in Capitol Reef
Good to know
- Check the park’s fruit hotline or website for what’s ripe; picking season runs roughly June to October depending on the crop.
- The Gifford House sells out of pies early on busy days. Go in the morning.
- Cathedral Valley and other unpaved roads can become impassable after rain. Check conditions before you drive.
- Torrey, just outside the park, has the nearest lodging, gas and restaurants.
- Drive Scenic Byway 12 over Boulder Mountain toward Escalante for one of the best road trips in the West.