Utah Adventure Day 1: Capitol Reef’s Colorful Canyons

Continued from previous page years, from 300-1300 CE, are known as The Fremont Culture, named by the archaeologists for the Fremont River canyon where they were first defined as a distinct culture. These petroglyphs (images carved or pecked into stone) are one of the most visible aspects of their culture that remains, according to the historic panels.

Prehistoric people of Fremont Culture used area rock for tools and projectile points, and for the foundations of their homes. Clay was used for pottery, construction and to make figurines. Fertile floodplains supported crops of corn, beans, and squash along the streams of Capitol Reef until about 1300 CE.

(You can link to the audio guide, narrated by Rick Pickyavit, whose Southern Paiute ancestors lived here when the settlers arrived in the 1880s. https://www.nps.gov/care/learn/ historyculture/fremont-culture-petroglyphs.htm)

We stop in Torrey at the Torrey Grill and BBQ which offers a sheltered outdoor setting complete with firepit (we are still concerned about COVID) and is serving late.

The wind is still howling when we get to the AirBnB. A home with gorgeous interior design, it is so cozy and comforting. I wake in the middle of the night to a blizzard –gale force winds, giant snowflakes. I feel (without hyperbole) we would have died –crushed under the snow or frozen to death had we camped. I imagine us in some Survivor (or Disaster) movie based on fact (not the last time the thought occurs to me during our Utah Adventure).

Hiking Capitol Reef National Park

Considering the weather, we phone the Visitor Center to get their recommendation for hikes, and the Ranger recommends Hickman Bridge and Cohab Canyon, both in the Fruita area (435-425-2791). The snow (so gorgeous in the morning) is gone by the time we arrive at Capitol Reef except for some oddly frozen patches and we have perfect winter hiking weather.

Both these trails are extremely popular – and for good reason.

Hickman Bridge Trail, just 1.8 miles roundtrip, is the most popular trail (so the most crowded): it is geologically fascinating, relatively easy, great for families, with each step offering stunning visuals – red rock with beige and blond striations, textures, overhangs - and eminently doable to get the full appreciation, with the climax of a spectacular arch. The hike encapsulates for us what Capitol Reef is about. This is considered a “moderate” trail, but I would say it is easy. What an introduction!

After a picnic lunch, we next hike the Cohab Canyon Trail, which is nearby.

The Cohab Canyon trail is of easy-to-moderate difficulty, with gorgeous vividly-colored rock formations and shapes. The first 0.3 mile is a tad steep (I’m glad I brought my hiking poles) – a series of switchbacks lift you up 400 feet, all the while you gaze out at gorgeous views of the Johnson Mesa and Fruita Cliffs. But once within the canyon, the hiking is fairly easy.

Cohab Canyon is called a “hanging canyon” because it sits above the Fremont River floodplain. The entire trail is so beautiful – we come upon a few slots to explore, a 20-foot high

A Greener View

mushroom shaped hoodoo (a tree is growing out of the top!) surrounded by slickrock, the Cohab Canyon arch, then some stunning overlooks of the valley and Fruita.

We opt not to do the whole hike, which goes 2.9 miles one way to the Hickman Trail parking lot (which would a shuttle back, or, if you do the round trip, would take 4 hours). We hike in about 1.7 miles and return.

The two hikes – Hickman and Cohab Canyon – afford a very different experience, though both offer dramatic landscapes that are signature Capitol Reef. Hickman is well-traveled, ideal for families, and you feel like a tourist – but Cohab Canyon is all but devoid of other people so you feel the isolation (even if you do come upon another hiker here and there).

Laini had The Castle Trail hike on her to-do list but unfortunately, we don’t have the time. (It’s described as an old trail that apparently is no longer “advertised” to the enigmatic “back side” of the Castle, exploring a hidden canyon lined with mammoth boulders and violet-colored hoodoos, taking about two hours.) But you can see the cragged hunk of The Castle from just outside the Visitor Center - it is one of Capitol Reef National Park’s iconic landmarks.

In the Fruita area, there are 15 hiking trails with trailheads located along Utah Highway 24 and the Scenic Drive, offering a wide variety of hiking options, from easy strolls over level ground to strenuous hikes involving steep climbs over uneven terrain near cliff edges. Round trip distances range from a quarter mile to 10 miles, and are well-marked with signs at the trailhead and at trail junctions and by cairns