Fruita Picnic Area

Fruita Picnic Area is the adjacent Doc Inglesby and Chesnut picnic areas along Scenic Drive, about 0.75 mile (1.2 km) south of the visitor center. Tables are scattered around a grassy lawn under mature trees, with the red cliffs of Fruita behind them. It is a useful place to sit down between the visitor center and Fruita's historic buildings; the draw is an easy outdoor meal, not a separate walk or major attraction. If the Gifford Homestead is open, its pies make a simple picnic lunch; otherwise bring your own food. No picnic reservation is needed, though the park entrance fee still applies.

Doc Inglesby and Chesnut are across Scenic Drive from each other. The grill and water spigot are in Chesnut; the running-water restrooms are on the Doc Inglesby side, reached by a paved path. Restrooms are seasonal. Some tables have accessible seating, and the lawn has room for a blanket. The spigot's drinking-water status is not stated, so bring water you know is potable. Leashed pets are allowed in the picnic areas.

These picnic areas sit within the 200-acre Fruita Rural Historical District, a farming settlement in the Fremont River valley. The Gifford family lived and farmed at their homestead from 1928 to 1969; they were Fruita's last residents. Their orchard, garden and livestock were part of a community built around growing food, and the nearby Gifford house dates to 1908. Sitting under the trees here is a chance to take a slower break in the same valley that once supported the settlement's farms.