We visited Capitol Reef National Park as part of our southwest road trip. This morning, we started from Moab, UT, and continued our road trip. You can click here to read about our previous day’s trip. If you have more time, you can add Goblin Valley State park on this day, but we drove directly to the Hickman Bridge trail on route 24. We were coming from the east, so it was before the visitor center.
Hickman Bridge trail is one of the most popular hikes. It was a moderate 2-mile hike with some elevation in the beginning.
Hickman Natural bridge
It offers beautiful views and lookouts on the way
Beautiful flowers on the way back
After the hike, we continued our drive toward the Capitol Reef visitor center. The entrance fee is $20, but we had the Annual national pass, which covered that. There was no lodging and food inside the park other than camping. Here is the official website to get more information about the park.
We drove on Capitol Reef Scenic Drive. It had beautiful views and was less crowded than other national parks. It is the least visited park in Utah’s Mighty five.
Fruita orchard has a lot of fruit trees, but none of them were in season when we visited. There was also a Gifford homestead where you could try the pie and ice cream.
The Scenic Drive offers stunning scenery in the park
Cassidy Arch trailhead is a strenuous 3.4-mile hike to the Cassidy Arch. We didn’t go all the way, but we did go a short distance to take in the canyon’s vistas.
Capitol Gorge Trailhead The Scenic Drive ends at Capital Gorge Road. We walked the short distance to enjoy the canyon views. It was so quiet, peaceful, and beautiful.
Pioneer Register Pioneers and explorers from the 18th and 19th century left their mark on the canyon wall.
The rocks here look like honeycombs.
On the way back, more views on the Scenic Drive.
After driving the scenic road, we were back on route 24 and continued to drive towards the town of Torrey, UT
Panorama Point features sweeping views of the sandstone cliffs at sunset.
Sunset point is most famous for its sunset views. It is an easy .8-mile round trip hike from the parking lot.
After visiting the park, we stayed a night in the town of Torrey, UT. It was a small town with a couple of hotels and restaurants.
Views of the farm in the back of our hotel.
The highlights of Capitol Reef Park, including Hickman Bridge, Panorama Point, and Sunset Points, are on route 24; you don’t need to pay the entrance fee to visit them, but you need to pay the entrance fee if you want to drive the Capitol Reef Scenic Drive. Our next stop was Bryce National Park.