Situated less than 4 hours south of Salt Lake City, Capitol Reef National Park is perhaps the most varied of Utah’s ‘Mighty 5’, featuring towering domes, bridges, and a canyon carved by the Fremont River. With plenty of hiking trails and dirt roads to explore, follow along and discover what you can pack into a weekend trip to this underrated park.
After a rude -8°C welcoming upon landing in Salt Lake City (unusually cold for October!), we headed to the Bureau of Land Management office to pick up a National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass. At 80USD for the year, the pass covers and waives fees associated with all national parks, monuments and battlefields. The BLM office itself stocks many brochures and posters (free to take), and after gathering hiking snacks and supplies in the city, we headed south towards Torrey. On both our journey to and from the national parks, we stopped at Mozz for a delicious lunch in Provo, and can highly recommend the Serrano & Honey pizza 🙂
Arriving at the visitor centre around 4pm, we had a couple of hours to peruse the souvenirs and enjoy the Scenic Drive and sunset at Goosenecks Overlook, Panorama Point and Sunset Point.
With the sun disappearing and the air becoming nippy, we headed towards Capitol Reef Resort, tucked into some hearty grub, and settled into our accomodation for the next couple of nights. The hotel offers cabin rooms as well as camping in teepees and wagons from June-September, and is kitted out with a gym, pool and hot tub under the stars. Places to eat nearby: Rim Rock Patio, The Pioneer Kitchen. The Rim Rock Restaurant was closed when we visited due to their water pipes freezing over!
We set off bright and early the following morning with no other cars in sight, gently winding through Scenic Drive until we reached the car park for Cassidy Arch Trail. After missing the trailhead on the left and taking a detour down Grand Wash Trail, we finally began the gentle climb at 9.30am, and welcomed the warmth of the sun as stunning vistas came into view.
This hike is of medium difficulty, involving some incline and route finding via cairns, which are stacks of stones. With awesome elevated views, ending at an arch over which you can wander, this 2.9 mile, 2-3 hour round trip trail should be at the top of your Capitol Reef hikes list!
Tip: Make sure you stay on the narrow trail on the left side (not the wide wash), and keep an eye out for the Cassidy Arch Trail sign about 5 minutes into the hike. We had the arch to ourselves and only encountered a handful of hikers on our return journey, which was true for all the trails and sights that we visited in Capitol Reef National Park
For our second hike of the day, we backtracked to the Fruita district, parked near Gifford Homestead and embarked on the 2.9 mile out-and-back Cohab Canyon Trail. This moderate hike features first a steady climb, then winding through the canyon with opportunities to veer off to the Fruita Overlooks, or if you’re really keen, join the Frying Pan Trail that takes you south to Cassidy Arch. The main trail itself also joins up with the Hickman Bridge Trail should you choose to go that far. We opted to take in the plunging cliff-edge views at the north Fruita Overlook before heading back to Gifford Homestead for a fruit pie/ice-cream break. We were lucky to be there on its last open day of the season on October 31st!
Next up was a short drive along the UT-24 to the start of the Hickman Bridge Trail. This short and sweet, ~1.5 hour scenic hike takes you right under the bridge, following a jaunt through white rock rises and views of Capitol Dome and the Fremont River. Tip: for various vantage points, take the signposted small loop trail on your left/going straight as you near the bridge.
With the weather being dry, sunny and in our favour, we set off on a 2 hour drive the following morning to the Temples of the Sun and Moon and Glass Mountain, via Caineville Wash Road. The temples lie within Cathedral Valley which is part of the park, however, you will exit the park boundaries for awhile as you make the slow journey towards the final destination. The turn off onto Caineville Wash Road lies between miles 97 and 98 (marked on roadside posts), and you should stay right (straight) at the first junction and left (also straight) at the second junction. From there, it is a mixture of sandy, slick rock and washboard road, so we were super glad to be tackling it in a Jeep Wrangler!
As you can see, we spent a good chunk of time frolicking around the place, another spot that we had to ourselves, so without further ado, Rich took a knee and made it official 😉
Check out the live-action recap of our trip below, and there are plenty more blog posts to come as we cover our journey east through the rest of Utah’s Mighty 5!
Congratulations Lil and Richard – now I know when, where and how it was done!! LOL!!
Hehe!