Fremont River Trail, Capitol Reef National Park

Riffle marks preserved in sandstone, Fremont River Trail

The last day of our stay in Capitol Reef National Park, we tackled two short hikes, the Fremont River Trail (this post) in the morning, and Grand Wash (next post) in the afternoon. The Fremont River Trail starts along the river then ascends steeply to the plateau overlooking the Fremont River canyon.

View of the mouth of the Fremont River canyon from the Fremont River Trail

An ancient Native American petroglyph?

Fremont River Trail on the plateau above the canyon

The Fremont River. We spent some time in this riparian zone watching Black Phoebes (Sayornis nigricans) hawking insects from streamside perches.

An orchard along the Fremont River.

When the area that is now Capitol Reef National Park was settled by Mormon pioneers, they planted many varieties of fruit trees and named their community Fruita (pronounced FRUIT-a). The National Park Service maintains the orchards, and encourages visitors to pick the fruit in season.