Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [95]
what many consider to be the park's best scenery. It's a 5-mile round-trip drive. If you're up for a short walk, the relatively flat 2-mile (round-trip) Capitol Gorge Trail, which starts at the end of Capitol Gorge Road, takes you to the historic Pioneer Register, a rock wall where traveling pioneers "signed in" (see "Day Hikes," below).
Another dry-weather driving option is the Grand Wash Road, a maintained dirt road that is subject to flash floods, but in good weather offers an easy route into a spectacular canyon. Along the 2-mile round-trip you'll see Cassidy Arch, named for famed outlaw Butch Cassidy, who, at least by some accounts, hid out in this area.
Utah 24, which crosses Capitol Reef from east to west, also has several view points offering a good look at some of the park's best features, such as the monumental Capitol Dome, which resembles the dome of a capitol building; the striking Chimney Rock; the aptly named Castle; the historic Fruita Schoolhouse; and some petroglyphs left by the prehistoric Fremont people (see "Historic & Man-Made Attractions," below).
Organized Tours & Ranger Programs
Park rangers present a variety of free programs and activities from spring through fall. Campfire programs take place most evenings at the outdoor amphitheater at Fruita Campground. Topics vary but may include the animals and plants, geology, and human history of the area. Rangers also lead walks and give short talks on a variety of subjects, such as the history of the pioneer Fruita Schoolhouse and the Gifford Farmhouse. Schedules are posted on bulletin boards at the visitor center and campground.
Historic & Man-Made Attractions
Throughout the park you'll find evidence of human presence. The Fremont people lived along the river as early as A.D. 700, staying until about 1300. Primarily hunters and gatherers, the Fremonts also grew corn, beans, and squash to supplement their diet. Their dwellings were pit houses, which were dug into the ground; the remains of one can be seen from the Hickman Bridge Trail. Many Fremont petroglyphs (images carved into rock) and pictographs (images painted on rock) are still visible on the canyon walls. If we could understand them, they might tell us why these early Americans left the area, a puzzle that continues to baffle archaeologists. The most easily accessible site is 1½ miles east of the visitor center along Utah 24. There is a sign near the parking area, and a short path leads to the petroglyph panels, which contain some of the most interesting images in the park.
Prospectors and other travelers passed through the Capitol Gorge section of the park in the late 1800s, leaving their names on the Pioneer Register, reached on a 2-mile round-trip walk (see "Day Hikes," below).
Mormon pioneers established the community of Junction—later named Fruita—in 1880. Now a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the orchards those settlers planted continue to flourish, tended by park workers who invite you to sample the fruits of their labor. Nearby is a historic blacksmith shop. The tiny Fruita Schoolhouse, built in 1896, was a church, social hall, and community meeting hall in addition to a one-room schoolhouse. The school closed in 1941 and was restored in 1984. It's furnished with old wood-and-wrought-iron desks, a wood stove, a chalkboard, and textbooks. A hand bell used to call students to class still rests on the corner of the teacher's desk.
Also in the Fruita district, the Gifford Farmhouse, built in 1908, is typical of rural Utah farmhouses of the early 1900s. Renovated and furnished by the Capitol Reef Natural History Association, the home is off the Scenic Drive about 1 mile south of the visitor center, and is open from April through September. The home's former kitchen is a gift shop, selling reproductions of the household tools, toys, and utensils used by Mormon pioneers, plus crafts, jams and jellies, dried fruits, historic postcards, and books.
Day Hikes
Trails through the