Capitol Reef National Park Best Hikes

The hickman natural bridge trail is a very relaxing and scenic trail in capitol reef national park.

Capitol reef national park best hikes.

Capitol reef national park offers exceptional hiking trails through a wide variety of terrain. Spring and fall are mild seasons and are the best times for hiking and backpacking. The 5 best hikes in capitol reef the entire collection of capitol reef trails are top notch which makes it difficult to label any five as the best however based on trail popularity here are a few you can t miss. After spending four months as a seasonal interpretive volunteer at capitol reef national park i have completed a whopping 46 blog posts for live and let hike about capitol reef including 42 detailed descriptions of the park s trails and routes.

Below we share the best hikes in capitol reef national park and a few other things to do while you visit. Capitol reef national park is our favorite national park in utah. The hardest part of the trail is at the beginning but the kids shouldn t have any trouble after the first 1 4 mile. Slot canyons here rival the famous canyon hikes in zion national park only you ll see far fewer people here.

Walk along the fremont river and then hike up to a spectacular viewpoint where you can look out over highway 24 and cohab canyon. Notable among these are an indian granary a small natural bridge called nels johnson bridge and of course hickman bridge. Before reaching hickman bridge you descend down into a canyon and get to see a much smaller arch named nels johnson natural bridge. It is less busy than the rest of them and has more of an overall wow factor than the other parks in utah.

Winter november february is cold with highs from 30 to 45 f 1 1 7 2 c and nighttime temperatures below freezing. One of our favorite things to do here is to go out hiking. Hickman bridge trail family friendly trail and one of the best hikes in capitol reef national park. Outdoors here s our list of the park s seven best trails.

The trail gradually gains elevation to a loop at the top of the cliff that will get you to hickman natural bridge. Alas despite wishful thinking your average visitor to capitol reef is not likely to research dozens of hikes before arriving. Elevations in the park range from approximately 3 800 to 8 200 feet 1 158 2 499 m. Jason bergreen tribune file photo a hiker winds down the frying pan trail toward cohab canyon in capitol reef.

The burro wash slot canyon. A trail brochure available at the trailhead points out 17 things to observe along the hike. 1 of 8 view caption. This is one of the best short hikes to do in capitol reef.