Capitol Reef National Park

Getting there

If you’re flying to visit Capitol Reef National Park, there are a few airport options:

  1. Canyonlands Field Airport CNY is 118 miles from the park entrance (about 2 hours away) – Skywest and United airlines offer flights
  2. Grand Junction Regional Airport GJT is 187 miles from the park entrance (about 3 hours away) – Allegiant, American, and United airlines offer flights
  3. Salt Lake City SLC is 223 miles from the park entrance (about 3.5 hours away) – all major airlines offer flights 

Spending an afternoon at Capitol Reef

Our morning began at Arches National Park. After 2 great hikes, we made the 2.5-hour drive to Capitol Reef National Park. 

This week-long itinerary included The Mighty 5 National Parks (Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion), Dead Horse Point State Park, kayaking, horseback riding, and canyoneering. You can find the full details here.

When we entered the park, we stopped at the U-Pick orchards for peach and apple picking! It was so beautiful and the fruits were delicious! You pay $1 per pound – there is a scale and money box at the entrance (honor system). We had so much fun and could have stayed here all afternoon. 

After picking, we went to our Airbnb to drop our bags and order dinner to take back into the park. There is a section near the Gifford House that has picnic tables. We sat outside, enjoying dinner and the beautiful scenery – and also picked up pies and cinnamon rolls to-go from Gifford! 

Capitol Reef National Park
Capitol Reef National Park
Capitol Reef U-Pick Orchard
Capitol Reef U-Pick Orchard
Capitol Reef U-Pick Orchard
Capitol Reef U-Pick Orchard
Capitol Reef U-Pick Orchard
Capitol Reef U-Pick Orchard
Capitol Reef U-Pick Orchard
Capitol Reef U-Pick Orchard
Gifford House
Gifford House

After eating dinner, we went to the Hickman Bridge trail. This 1.7 mile hike was gorgeous and a lot of fun! We had the trail to ourselves and only saw a handful of other hikers at the end. 

Once back at the trailhead, we drove over to Sunset Point to eat our pies from Gifford Homestead. 

Alltrails stats for Hickman Bridge: Length – 1.7 mi; Elevation Gain – 416 ft; Route Type – Out & Back; Difficulty – Moderate

Alltrails stats for Sunset Point are a little off: Length – 2.5 mi; Elevation Gain – 275 ft; Route Type – Out & Back; Difficulty – Easy; This is the case if you park at the end of the road and hike to Goosenecks & Sunset Point. But if you drive to the parking lot, it’s only about 0.3 mi to the viewpoint. 

Hickman Bridge trailhead
Hickman Bridge trailhead
Hickman Bridge trail
Hickman Bridge trail
Hickman Bridge
Hickman Bridge
Sunset Point
Sunset Point
Capitol Reef National Park
Capitol Reef National Park
Capitol Reef National Park
Capitol Reef National Park

Additional trails

There are 60 trails at Capitol Reef rated 4.5 stars and above on Alltrails:

  • 18 with a difficulty rating of Hard
  • 31 with a difficulty rating of Moderate
  • 11 with a difficulty rating of Easy

With our packed itinerary, we only spent an afternoon at Capitol Reef but you could easily spend more! I’ve heard that Capitol Reef is overrated or underwhelming – I disagree. I loved it and will be taking my daughter in the future. 

Next stop, Mystic Hot Springs and Bryce Canyon National Park!