The Best Hikes in Capitol Reef
Ten trails with real NPS figures — and the one-way mileage catch that means half the guides out there are quoting you half the hike.
NPS lists these distances one way.
Almost every Capitol Reef trail figure published by the National Park Service is a one-way distance. Chimney Rock is the only loop.
So “Navajo Knobs, 4.7 miles” is really a 9.4-mile day. “Rim Overlook, 2.3 miles” is 4.6. Plenty of guides copy the NPS number straight across and present it as a round trip, which is how people end up halfway up a climb they didn’t sign up for.
Every trail below shows both.
📍 The other thing worth knowing
Trails here start around 5,000 feet, and NPS says plainly that its Easy-rated hikes feel harder to visitors arriving from sea level.
It’s not altitude in the Bryce sense — nobody’s getting altitude sickness at 5,000 feet — but a flat mile here is not the same as a flat mile at home, and the sun is relentless.
All Ten, Side by Side
| Trail | One way | Round trip | Elevation | NPS rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goosenecks | 0.1 mi | 0.2 mi | <50 ft | Easy |
| Sunset Point | 0.4 mi | 0.8 mi | <50 ft | Easy |
| Hickman Bridge | 0.9 mi | 1.8 mi | 400 ft | Moderate |
| Capitol Gorge / the Tanks | 1.0 mi | 2.0 mi | 80 ft | Easy |
| Cassidy Arch | 1.7 mi | 3.4 mi | 670 ft | Strenuous |
| Cohab Canyon | 1.7 mi | 3.4 mi | 440 ft | Moderate |
| Grand Wash | 2.2 mi | 4.4 mi | 200 ft | Easy |
| Rim Overlook | 2.3 mi | 4.6 mi | 1,110 ft | Strenuous |
| Chimney Rock Loop | — loop | 3.6 mi | 590 ft | Strenuous |
| Navajo Knobs | 4.7 mi | 9.4 mi | 1,620 ft | Strenuous |
NPS publishes these as one-way distances, except Chimney Rock which is a loop. Round-trip figures are doubled.
Which One to Actually Do
Hickman Bridge
A natural bridge 133 feet across, reached by a climb up from the Fremont River and a short loop that takes you underneath the span. The signature hike here, and the one to do if you only do one.
Worth knowingThe trailhead is on Highway 24, so you reach it without passing the Scenic Drive fee station. Parking is small and fills early — this is a first-thing-in-the-morning hike.Grand Wash
A flat walk up a canyon floor that narrows to a slot barely wider than your arms. Almost no elevation, and the easiest way in the park to get inside the rock rather than looking at it from a viewpoint.
Two trailheads — one on Highway 24, one off the Scenic Drive. You can walk in from either end.
Do not enter if storms are possibleAnywhere upstream, not just overhead. Vehicles were washed down this wash in a 2022 flood, and NPS warns that floodwater arrives from storms miles away.Capitol Gorge & the Tanks
A flat gorge walk past pioneer signatures carved into the canyon wall, with a short scramble up to the Tanks — natural water pockets in the rock that hold water long after the last rain.
Check conditions firstThe Capitol Gorge spur is a dirt road that closes after storms. NPS updates its road report weekly, and this is one of the first things to shut.Cassidy Arch
Climbs out of Grand Wash and up onto the slickrock, ending on top of an arch you can walk out onto — which is unusual, and a bit unnerving. Named for Butch Cassidy, who reportedly used this country to disappear into.
The rating is realThe first half mile is the steep part, and there’s very little shade the whole way. Cairns mark the route across the slickrock rather than a defined path.Rim Overlook
Climbs from the Hickman Bridge trailhead to a rim a thousand feet above Fruita, looking straight down on the orchards, the campground and the Waterpocket Fold running away to the south.
Why we picked itThe best big view in the park that doesn’t need a full day. It shares a trailhead with Hickman Bridge, so you can do the bridge first and carry on if you’ve still got legs.Navajo Knobs
The full version of Rim Overlook, carrying on along the rim to a set of white sandstone domes with a 360-degree view over the whole fold. Cairn-marked slickrock for much of the second half.
This is the one people underestimateNPS lists it as 4.7 miles, which is one way. It’s a nine-and-a-half mile day with sixteen hundred feet of climbing and no water anywhere on it. Start early and carry more than you think.NPS lists Navajo Knobs at 4.7 miles. That’s one way. It’s a nine-and-a-half-mile day.”
What we left off, and why
Cohab Canyon is a good hike — 3.4 miles round trip and 440 feet, moderate, with a hidden canyon above the campground. It just doesn’t beat any of the six above for a first visit.
Chimney Rock Loop at 3.6 miles and 590 feet is the one genuine loop in the park and NPS rates it strenuous. Worth doing on a second visit.
Sulphur Creek is not on this list on purpose. NPS is explicit that it isn’t a maintained trail — it’s a route, 5.8 miles one way, with three waterfalls to downclimb, frequent water walking and possible swimming. It’s a genuine adventure and it needs its own planning, not a line in a top-ten list.
Cathedral Valley’s routes are out for the same reason, plus the roads to reach them require high clearance and are frequently impassable.
Before You Hike
- No water at the trailheads. Fill up at the visitor center or Fruita Campground and carry it all.
- Flash flood season runs mid-June to mid-October, peaking July to September. Stay out of Grand Wash and Capitol Gorge when storms are anywhere in the area.
- Summer averages 87–91°F with very little shade on any of these trails.
- Best months: NPS points to March–June and September–October.
- Cairns, not signposts. Cassidy Arch and Navajo Knobs both cross slickrock where the route is marked by rock piles rather than a worn path.
- Check the road report before counting on Capitol Gorge or anything off the paved Scenic Drive.
Fitting these into a trip?
Our One Day in Capitol Reef itinerary builds three of these into a full day alongside the orchards and the Scenic Drive. Doing the Mighty 5? Bryce Canyon is about three hours west on Scenic Byway 12, and Arches & Canyonlands is east.