The trail is 3.5 miles long and pretty steep early on, so only attempt if you’re prepared. There is some shade when near canyon walls so long as you start early in the day. Take this hike in the spring or summer to see some gorgeous wildflowers.

Image: Famartin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Goosenecks Overlook offers stunning views of the Sulphur Creek goosenecks a few miles west of the park’s Visitor Center. Here, the creek twists and turns as it carves its way through the Moenkopi, Kaibab Limestone, and White Rim Sandstone 600 feet below. To access the viewpoint, drive to the end of the short unpaved road beginning at Panorama Point and hike a short 600 ft trail up slickrock to the metal railing.

Image: Famartin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The restrooms in the Visitor Center are newly renovated and feature flushing toilets. While you’re there, don’t forget to talk to a ranger and ask about any special programs going on that day.

Planted over a hundred years ago by Mormon settlers, the Fruita orchards consist of 19 fields and over three thousand trees. They have apples, apricots, peaches, pears, cherries, plums, and so much more. While it’s free to pick as much as you can eat, if you want to take any home, you’ll have to pay a small fee by weight.

Check the Visitor Center to find out which orchards are open for picking.
You may walk through any unlocked orchard.
Self-pay stations are located in orchards open for picking.
Please pick only ripe fruit - it will detach easily from the tree when ripe.
Obey all safety signs and guidelines
Ladders and hand-held fruit pickers are provided. Use ladders with caution.
Do not climb the trees.

Typical Range of Flowering and Harvesting Times (varies widely by year)
Flowering
Cherries: late March to mid-April
Apricots: early March to mid-April
Peaches: late March to late April
Pears: late March to early May
Apples: early April to early May
Harvest
Cherries: mid-June to early July
Apricots: late June to mid-July
Peaches: late July to early Sept.
Pears: early August to early Sept.
Apples: mid-August to mid-October

Image: Staplegunther at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At the Gifford Home and Museum, one mile south of the Visitor Center on the scenic drive, you’ll find snacks like honey sticks and candy as well as locally made jams, jellies, soups, and sauces. The real stars of the show, though, are the freshly made fruit pies. They’ve got apple, cherry, mixed berry, peach, and strawberry rhubarb. Take it from us, they’re all delicious, and we did the research to prove it! You can also buy cinnamon rolls and freshly baked sourdough bread. But come early! The good stuff tends to sell out before the day's end.

Image: No machine-readable author provided. Mav assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

The Fruita Schoolhouse, just one mile east of the Visitor Center, was built in 1896 after land was donated for it by Elijah Cutler Behunin. Behunin’s daughter, Nettie, was Fruita’s first school teacher at the age of 12 in 1890. She would go on to teach for at least a decade before eventually becoming the postmistress of Torrey. The earliest desks in the school were handmade of pine and fit 2 children. Teachers would sometimes sit a trouble-making boy next to a girl in order to shame him into being quiet. This building stayed in use until 1941.

The Fremont Petroglyph panels along route 24 next to the Fruita Schoolhouse act like a window into the past. Here, along two wooden walkways, you can see ancient petroglyphs carved into the rock and desert varnish by the Fremont Culture who lived in the Waterpocket Fold area long before Mormon settlers arrived. The main panel features ornately dressed humanoid figures while other petroglyphs appear to be animals and geometric shapes.

Image: James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hickman bridge trail is a moderate 2-mile hike with views of Capitol Dome, Navajo Dome, Hickman Natural Bridge and the smaller Nels Johnson Bridge. The trail is steep in some places and includes stone steps. The trailhead is located at a parking lot less than 2 miles east of the Visitor Center. Signs on route 24 point the way.

Image: Aneta Kaluzna, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Some people want to leave a legacy or at least have their names remembered and spoken after they’ve passed. The Pioneer Register, a half-mile walk into Capitol Gorge from the trailhead, marks a place were prospectors, cowboys, settlers, trappers, and visitors would stand on their wagons and carve their names into the rock, above the flood line, so they’d stand the test of time.

When you look up at the names inscribed into the rock at the Pioneer Register, it’s easy to imagine people standing on their wagons to reach that high. However, there is a list of six names and a date located a little closer to the parking lot that are carved about 50 feet up from the canyon floor. How did they manage that?

The story goes that the names belong to a group of surveyors in 1912. Two of them, John Stewart and his brother Quinby, were contracted by students from the University of Utah to help them with a project in Capitol Reef. Quinby apparently got the wild idea to prank the students. As they explored, he made the occasional comment about how quickly the land appeared to be eroding since the year before. That night, the group set up camp and went to sleep. All that is, except for Quinby and John. Taking some rope, hammers and chisels with them, they hiked to the top of Capitol Gorge. John lowered his brother down the cliff on a rope chair where Quinby chiseled their names and the previous year’s date.

The next day, John and Quinby led the students into Capitol Gorge. At the proper point, Quinby halted the group and wondered aloud if this wasn’t the same place they’d carved their names into the wall last year. The students looked for the inscription at wagon height, same as the Pioneer Register, until Quinby looked up and pointed out the carving some 50 feet above them! The students were aghast-40 feet of erosion in only one year? Unfortunately the story ends there, but I wonder just how long Quinby and John were able to keep up the ruse before doubling over with laughter.

Images: Tricia Simpson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Capitol Dome gets its name because it reminded pioneers of the dome on the Capitol building in Washington DC. From here, you can hike a moderate two-mile trail to Hickman Bridge, a natural stone arch.

Built in 1883 by Elijah Cutler Behuning, this small sandstone cabin housed a family of 15 with most of the children sleeping outdoors. If you look behind the cabin you’ll see a large alcove in the cliff - that’s where the boys would have slept. The Behunins only stayed in this cabin a year before moving on after their crops were washed away by floods.

Images: Tricia Simpson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Here, we’ll get a terrific view of the eastern side of the Waterpocket Fold. We’ll also see just how tilted the land is as the peaks all angle backward.

Image: Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Drink in the views on this majestic butte. This place is magical at sunrise!

Image: dconvertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Panorama Point is near the western boundary of Capitol Reef. Signs on route 24 point the way. Park in a small roundabout and take a short walk up a hill to 360 degree views of Capitol Reef including Chimney Rock, Sulphur Creek, and the Waterpocket Fold. If you’re beginning your tour in Torrey, there’s no better way to start the day and get an idea what’s in store for you.

Image: Famartin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The two Oyler mine entrances were dug by Thomas Nixon and Jack Sumner starting in 1904. While most people were mining this area for precious metals, Jack was on the hunt for radium. Radium occurs as an impurity in uranium and was highly sought after, to the tune of eighty-thousand dollars per gram - over two million dollars today!

Image: Famartin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons