Capitol Reef National Park Trip Plan

Details
Category: Hiking

golden throne capitol reefSee our Capitol Reef articles and photos and our Moab area overview.

Capitol Reef is a beautiful national park in south-central Utah. It offers great options for auto touring, easy hikes, and challenging backcountry treks. The park is open year-round. Spring and fall are our favorite times to visit. Summer outings here are also very nice. The park receives occasional light snowfall in winter. Winter days are usually sunny and daytime temperatures are mild, so hiking and biking can be pleasant. Winter nights are usually cold.

Visit the park website (https://www.nps.gov/care) before your trip to learn about current conditions. It also has detailed info on roads and hiking trails. As you arrive, stop at the visitor center to get current information and maps.

Below we present our approach to visiting the park. These are only highlights. Use the park website and other resources (https://www.alltrails.com/parks/us/utah/capitol-reef-national-park?ref=header) to get detailed information.

Auto Touring

  • Views are spectacular along Hwy 24 through the park. The park is worth visiting even if you never leave the highway.

  • We highly recommend taking the Scenic Drive, in the middle of the park, which also offers great scenery along with access to the historic features and trailheads.

Roadside Attractions and Easy Hikes

  • Stop at Panorama Point, just off Hwy 24 as you come into the park from Torrey. Take the easy stroll to the overlook, where you get a panoramic view of that part of the park.

  • Continue farther down that road to Goosenecks Overlook and then scramble over a few rocks to get out to the viewpoint. There you have an amazing view of the deep, narrow canyon cut by Sulphur Creek. You can get seriously good photos here if you arrive an hour before sunset and wait for the golden light.

  • Stop and view the petroglyphs along Hwy 24 in the center of the park.

  • Capitol Gorge and Grand Wash offer easy hikes that will give you a taste of the Capitol Reef backcountry. Both are excellent.

Moderate Hikes

The are many great hikes in Capitol Reef. These are our favorites for visitors just getting antiquated with the park.

  • Hickman Bridge

  • Cassidy Arch

  • Sulphur Creek (water hike so do it in warm weather)

Serious Hikes and Canyoneering

These are our favorite challenging hikes. Some are out and back, so you just go as far as you dare and then just return the way you came in. Others are best done as through hikes, so be sure you have the conditioning, equipment, and skill before you embark.

Backroads

Capitol Reef is an excellent destination for people who want to drive into the backcountry. The routes listed below are wonderful, are maintained and are not technical, but high clearance is recommended. Other serious 4X4 routes are also available.

Lodging/Camping

We love camping at Capitol Reef. The Fruita developed campground in the middle of the park is fabulous and highly recommended, but it fills up fast and reservations need to be made well in advance. The Sunglow Campground near Bicknell is also nice and has more availability. Forest Service campgrounds along Hwy 12 south of Torrey are nice during summer but are farther away from the park.

Some primitive campsites are available at Cathedral Valley and Cedar Mesa, inside the park. Those sites are free and fill up fast. They offer pit toilets and picnic tables but no water. Camping is allowed on BLM and Forest Service land outside the park. There are nice options just off Hwy 24 east of Torrey and in the desert along Notom Road, just east of the park.

During the summer, great undeveloped camping options are available at Mill Meadow and Forsyth reservoirs, in the mountains west of the park. People with RVs and travel trailers will find spots by these reservoirs and also along Notom Road.

There are many commercial campground/RV parks in Torrey and Hanksville and the surrounding area.

Torrey offers excellent lodges and resorts just a few miles from the park. Hanksville and other area towns have motel options.

Nearby Attractions

Goblin Valley Utah State Park is located just east of Capitol Reef. Hwy 12 and Boulder Mountain are found to the west

Capitol Reef is often included in multi-park trips:

3-park: Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef

4-park: Zion, Grand Canyon North Rim, Bryce, Capitol Reef

Utah Mighty 5: Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands

Grand Circle: Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce, Zion