Day 4 at Capitol Reef
We started off at the Fremont Culture petroglyphs along Route 24. You can walk along wooden boardwalks to view them.
Hickman Bridge
We viewed the petroglyphs for a bit before heading down the road to start our trek to Hickman Bridge.
There are lots of people at the trailhead as you can go on several trails here. We were not able to actually park in the trailhead parking lot, but there is lots of room along side the road to pull off and park, which is what we ended up doing.
We started our hike on the Hickman Bridge trail. This is one of the most popular trails at Capitol Reef. The distance to the Hickman Bridge is .9 miles one way. This is a moderate hike. You can walk through the Hickman Bridge. We took a little snack break once we got there to just take in the view.
Note: A little more than half way along the trail, there is a smaller bridge called Nels Johnson Bridge that you may think is Hickman Bridge, but just keep on going. This smaller bridge is a great photo opportunity as you can walk across the top of it.
Rim Overlook
We hiked back towards the trailhead and decided to break off onto the Rim Overlook trail. This was a very strenuous trail as we were climbing the entire way up which is 2.3 miles one way. The views at the top were very much worth the trek up. There are great panoramic views of the park including the orchards.
If you are up for even more of a challenge, you can continue past Rim Overlook to Navajo Knobs.
Gifford House/Fruita Valley
Our one last stop after our hikes was going to the Gifford House. This is a must do when you visit Capital Reef. It is in the Fruita Valley. The homemade pies and homemade ice cream make for a great treat after a day of hiking. They have various flavors of the pies. We got an apple and wild berry. They were so good!
