Capitol Reef was the third of Utah’s five National Parks that we visited. After being above the canyons in Canyonlands, this park has us looking up at the canyon walls from below. If you want to read more about our full experience in Utah, you can check out my blog post here!
I wish we had spent more time in this park. I loved seeing the petroglyphs on the walls and all the human history, but I feel like I didn’t truly get the full experience of the park. One of the park’s main attractions is the Gifford House, an early Mormon settlement. You can buy homemade pies, baked goods and bread, amongst other things, there. I wish we had prioritized going there. Besides hiking you can also camp and stargaze – it’s an International Dark Sky park!
Visiting in September was really nice. The days were still pretty hot, in the high 80s/low 90s, but the nights cooled down. Plan to hit the trails early and bring plenty of water. Sunscreen, sun shirts and hats are also great to have on hand. Also, the earlier you get to the park, the better your chances are at getting parking spots at popular trailheads! Make sure to check the National Park Service website to see if there are any closures or if timed entry is required.
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝: September 2021
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: December 18, 1971
𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Torrey, Utah
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 F𝐞𝐞: $10-$20 or use the America the Beautiful annual pass
Hike Recommendations:
- Easy Hikes
- Capitol Gorge to Tanks Trail – For most of the trail you are walking through a dry river bed with towering canyon walls on either side. Look out for the Pioneer Register rock and petroglyphs! The scramble up to the Tanks could be difficult for some people but otherwise, this is pretty easy.
- Click here for AllTrails
- 2.2 miles, 216 ft. elevation gain
- Requires driving on a dirt road to get to trailhead. We had a basic SUV and it handled the road fine, but beware if rain is in the forecast
- Capitol Gorge to Tanks Trail – For most of the trail you are walking through a dry river bed with towering canyon walls on either side. Look out for the Pioneer Register rock and petroglyphs! The scramble up to the Tanks could be difficult for some people but otherwise, this is pretty easy.
- Moderate Hikes
- Hickman Bridge – We loved this hike. It wasn’t too strenuous but we were exposed to the sun for a lot of it. The arch itself is really beautiful. We also saw some bighorn sheep ewes relaxing on the cliffs above the trail.
- Click here for AllTrails
- 1.8 miles, 413 ft. elevation gain
- Hickman Bridge – We loved this hike. It wasn’t too strenuous but we were exposed to the sun for a lot of it. The arch itself is really beautiful. We also saw some bighorn sheep ewes relaxing on the cliffs above the trail.
- Hikes I want to do but haven’t yet
- Cassidy Arch
- Grand Wash
Things to see and do in and near the park
- Check out Petroglyphs – Off of Utah Route 24; accessible on wooden boardwalks.
- Explore Fruita – This is considered the heart of the park. This is where you can find the historic orchards and the Gifford Homestead.
- Upper & Lower Cathedral Valley – Check out the Temples of the Sun and Moon. We missed this – don’t be like us!
- Goblin Valley State Park – This is about an hour and twenty minutes from Capitol Reef and is worth a visit. The hoodoos and rock formations are incredible! We hit this after Canyonlands, on our way to Capitol Reef
Lodging suggestions:
- Cathedral Valley Inn – We were driving to the park from Canyonlands, so we stayed the night at this location in Caineville, which was a half hour east of Capitol Reef. It doesn’t look like much from the outside but it was clean and quiet.
- There is one established campground within the park, plus some primitive camping as well. If you’d rather stay somewhere outside the park, there are many hotel, camping and glamping options in the Torrey area.
Suggestions on food/drinks/shop:
- I sadly don’t have much to offer here…since we stayed in Caineville, we were in the middle of nowhere and just had sandwiches for dinner in our hotel room.
We only scratched the surface of Capitol Reef and I would love to go back to explore more (a common theme with every place we went in Utah). I hope this guide helps you start planning your trip but for more in depth information and recommendations about the park and surrounding area, I suggest checking out Miriam Gersdorf’s blog (linked here with permission) or her Instagram @explore.hike.teach! I consider her the Utah hiking expert 🙂
📍I acknowledge the lands mentioned in this post are the ancestral lands of the Timpanogos, Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) and Núu-Agha-Tʉvʉ-Pʉ̱ (Ute) people.
The Adventures of Suze 
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