Picnic area · Capitol Reef National Park
A covered picnic stop at the start of a storied gorge walk.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Capitol Reef Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Capitol Reef National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Capitol Reef audio tourRecorded for this place
Capitol Gorge and Pioneer Register“Capitol Gorge's trailhead is coming up, with a short walk into the canyon's travel history. I'd start with the Pioneer Register, about half a mile in, then return the same way for an easier outing.”
Plays as you drive up to Capitol Gorge Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Capitol Reef Tour Guide.
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“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Capitol Gorge Picnic Area is the covered shelter and tables at the end of the dirt spur, where the road reaches the Capitol Gorge Trailhead. It’s a handy place to eat before walking into the sandstone canyon; I’d pair the extra drive with at least the easy walk toward the Pioneer Register and Tanks. Bring lunch, or pick up a pie at the Gifford House in Fruita before heading out.
The paved Scenic Drive runs 7.9 miles, then Capitol Gorge Road continues for several miles on dirt. The spur is usually suitable for passenger cars, but snow, ice, mud and flash floods can close it, so check road conditions before setting out. There’s parking, a picnic shelter, tables and a vault toilet, but no water. The park says a few tables are wheelchair accessible, though there’s no ramp from the parking lot to those tables.
The easy, roughly one-mile walk from the trailhead passes petroglyphs and the Pioneer Register before reaching the Tanks, natural sandstone pools that may be dry. Leave the pools undisturbed; their small aquatic life is sensitive to sunscreen and lotion. Settlers cleared the gorge road in 1883, and it served as the only route east from Fruita for about 80 years. Leave the old inscriptions untouched; adding new carvings is illegal.
Wildlife
50 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
322 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
70 sightingsMarmotMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
13 sightingsCottontail RabbitMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
33 sightingsTurkeyMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
14 sightingsRavenMost seen around 9 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Capitol Reef. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyCapitol Gorge Trail2 mi · 1.5 hr · At the trailheadFollow a sandy gorge to historic names and stone waterpockets.
ChallengingGolden Throne Trail4 mi · 2.5 hr · At the trailheadA strenuous climb to a knoll below Capitol Reef’s Golden Throne.
ModerateLower Pleasant Creek6.8 mi · 4.5 hr · 2.1 mi awayA sandstone canyon walk that keeps sending you across the creek.
ModerateUpper Pleasant Creek Route7.6 mi · 5 hr · 2.1 mi awayWalk a narrowing creek canyon to cascades in pale sandstone.
ChallengingOld Wagon Trail Loop3.8 mi · 3 hr · 2.5 mi awayA steady climb earns a long view over the Waterpocket Fold.
ChallengingBurro Wash6.8 mi · 5 hr · 4.5 mi awayA long sandy approach leads to shoulder-width sandstone narrows.
ChallengingCassidy Arch Trail3.4 mi · 3.5 hr · 4.5 mi awayA steep climb to a walkable arch above Grand Wash.
EasyGrand Wash Trail4.4 mi · 3 hr · 4.9 mi awayA gentle wash walk that tightens into shadowed sandstone narrows.
Sight · 0.3 mi awayPioneer RegisterTwo prospectors left their names here on September 20, 1871.
Sight · 0.7 mi awayThe TanksSmall rain-fed pools turn pale sandstone into living habitat.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayGolden Throne ViewpointA four-mile hike to the sandstone dome above Capitol Gorge.
Picnic area · 1.4 mi awayScenic Drive Picnic AreaA sheltered lunch stop at the end of the paved Scenic Drive.
Sight · 3 mi awaySlickrock DivideA quick stop where ripple slabs sit on a drainage divide.Sight · 4.7 mi awayCassidy ArchWalk across a sandstone arch with Grand Wash far below.
Sight · 4.7 mi awayGrand Wash NarrowsA tight sandstone passage worth the walk from Highway 24.
Sight · 4.8 mi awayOyler Mine ViewpointA quick roadside pause for Capitol Reef's uranium story.Parkwolf’s Capitol Reef ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
