Capitol Reef National Park

Next stop was Capitol Reef National Park. It became a national monument in 1937 and a national park in 1971. In addition to unique geology and petroglyphs, it has one of the largest orchards in the National Park Service. You can pick the fruit in season--eat it in the orchard for free or take some home for a nominal cost. In early October, there was no fruit left. The best feature of the park though is the homemade pies!

Entrance to the park is $20 for 7 days, free with the America the Beautiful annual pass.

We came in from the west and should have stopped to do some hiking before reaching the Visitor Center. The Chimney Rock Loop is a strenuous 3.6 mile hike, with an elevation change of 590 feet. It offers panoramic views of the Waterpocket Fold cliffs.

There is also the Sunset Point Trail, which is accessed via an unpaved road. The road ends at Goosenecks Overlook. The Sunset Point Trail is an easy 0.4 mile hike from the Goosenecks Overlook and is obviously best at sunset.

Capitol Reef has preserved several Mormon homesteads. Originally built in 1908, the Gifford House is one of the remaining settlements in the Fruita area. With harsh weather, flash flood and isolation, conditions were tough and settlers stayed only a short time. No more than 10 families lived in the area at any given time. The Gifford House has exhibits on early Mormon pioneers but everyone heads to the bakery.

The bakery opens at 8 am and takes a lunch break from 12-1pm. They close when they sell out of pies, bread and cinnamon rolls.

We got there just after noon and the Gifford House was closed. We parked in the lot, ate our lunch and waited for it to open at 1pm. A line started to form about 12:50pm.

Homemade pies are $6.50. They also had homemade ice cream for $1.50. It was about the size of a scoop. At 1 pm, they were out of bread and cinnamon rolls.