The Fremont River trail is a great trail to take if you are camping in Capitol Reef National Park or just spending the day in the Fuita area.
Capitol Reef National Park is the least visited of Utah’s “Mighty Five” but that isn’t because there is nothing to see. There is so much diversity in the landscape of Capitol Reef and that is on full display on the easy to hike Fremont River Trail.
How to Get to the Fremont River Trail
This trail is easy to get to. As you follow the scenic drive south from the visitor center you will come to the Fruita Historic district and then to the park’s campground. The Fremont River and the trail actually run through the campground so you can actually pick it up at any point along the river if you are staying in the campground. You just need to go down to the river and head west (away from the Gifford house). Note: If you go east it is actually possible to take this same trail all the way to the visitor center.
If you are not camping in the park the best place to get on the trail is the official trailhead which is located just past the last camping loop at the end of the parking lot for the large orchard (Cass Milford) next to the campground. At the end of that lot you will see a small access trail going towards the river which will get you to the trail head.
Trail Information
The official description of this trail is “Easy stroll along river, then steep climb to panoramas”. This is basically exactly accurate. This trail is put in Capitol Reef’s “moderate” category which also includes the Hickman Bridge Trail and the Cohab Canyon Trail. We have done all three of these and this one is by far the easiest.
There is 480 feet of elevation gain on this trail which is the most of the moderate trails, but the difference is that on the Fremont River Trail it all at the end, whereas Hickman Bridge and Cohab Canyon begin with steep elevation gain.
Because this trail starts out following the river it is very flat for the first half of it. The trail is a two mile roundtrip so if you do only half it will only be about a mile. So you can choose to stop when you get to the part where the trail starts to wind up along the cliffs. However you will miss the best views of course and this switch in terrain is what makes this trail so diverse.
What You Will See on the Fremont River Trail
From the trail head you will follow the river past the orchards and then through a wooded area. You will cross a bridge during this part of the hike. This is the flat part of the trail. Then you will come to the base of the cliffs where the trail will start to climb.
Meagan and Lucy chose to stay at the bottom while I continued on. The trail does start to climb fairly steeply but it is not particularly strenuous. There is a steep dropoff on your right most of the way and cliff wall on your left.
The trail will eventually make a lefthand turn where the views open up on the canyon of looking west, but don’t forget to look behind you as well because there are awesome views to the east as well.
I did not go much further beyond that viewpoint because thunder clouds were rolling in and I know better than to keep hiking and be caught in a canyon during a storm. This means I didn’t make it to the last overlook at the end of the trail which actually looks back down on the Fruita district.
Sum Up
You can see part of the hike in our Capitol Reef Vlog on YouTube.
The Fremont River Trail is a great trail among many great trails in Capitol Reef. The easy trails in this park are very short, so I would suggest considering the moderate ones if you have more time. Fremont River trail is the easiest of these moderate trails. It is pleasant to walk along the river and once you de gain the elevation you get some great views.
