Cassidy Arch Capitol Reef National Park Trail Guide

April 19, 2021 The Virtual Sherpa Comments 0 Comment

Cassidy Arch is one of the most popular hikes in Capitol Reef National Park due to its easy accessibility, length and the ability to stand on top of an arch. The hike is almost all uphill, involves some minor slabby scrambling (class 2 at the highest) and ends at the high point of the hike and not necessarily the arch itself. This is a family friendly hike and suitable for hikers of all skill levels.

Cassidy Arch Capitol Reef National Park Quick Facts

Virtual Trail Guide: Cassidy Arch Capitol Reef National Park

Cassidy Arch Capitol Reef National Park Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 Stars)

Distance: 3.5 Miles RT

Elevation Start: 5,430ft

Highest Point: 6,000ft

Total Elevation Gain: 770ft

Estimated Time to Complete: 2-3 Hours RT

Difficulty: Easy to Moderate Difficulty System Explained

Class: Class 2 What does this mean?

Season: Year Round (best to avoid in mud season though)

Weather: Check the Weather Forecast

Directions to Cassidy Arch

Trailhead: Cassidy Arch TH

Getting Here: From the Capitol Reef Visitor Center just off of Utah 24, continue past the center and onto Camp Ground Road. Continue for a mile where the road turns to Scenic Drive. Along the way you will pass a pay station, stop here if you haven’t already picked up your park pass. Continue on Scenic Drive for 2.4 miles until you reach a left for Grand Wash. Take this until the end, about a mile and a half, to reach the parking area. In most cases, all cars can get the TH but the road does turn to dirt for the last bit and can be nasty after a big rain.

Fees: Read more about Capitol Reef National Park fees here – unlike most National Parks, there is no entrance station to this area of Capitol Reef so you must pay your fees at the visitors center.

Parking: The parking lot for this hike can fit about 20ish cars and does have a non-plumbing bathroom at the TH.

Summary

Camping: Read more about camping in Capitol Reef National Park here.

Dogs: Unfortunately, Cassidy Arch is in a National Park so dogs are not able to come with you on almost every hike in the park, including this one.

Make it a Loop: Cassidy Arch is an out and back hike but you could easily taking the Frying Pan or Grand Wash trails which are both accessed by the same TH to extend your hike.

Trail X Factors: Constant Hills & Time of Year You Visit

As previously mentioned, the hike up to Cassidy Arch does involve a pretty consistent trek uphill, albeit nothing super steep. This means that your legs are tested almost the entire duration of your hike.

If you do plan on visiting Cassidy Arch during the hotter months, I would highly recommend an early start so that you can avoid those deadly mid-afternoon hours as this hike has almost no shade on it. I hiked this trail during the winter and enjoyed mild temperatures, smaller crowds and insanely beautiful views which I would highly recommend. Also keep in mind that if you visit during the winter months (November – February) many of the local businesses are closed so be sure to plan accordingly. During winter months, microspikes or yaktraks can be helpful to gain some traction on the slippery snow.

Hike Tip(s): If you are an idiot like me, you might get to the end of the Cassidy Arch hike and wonder, “hmm, where is the arch?” Don’t worry, it’s right there, you might have just walked by it. When the trail ends you will reach a great view point of the entire desert below you and canyons that surround the hike. However, you will need to backtrack a bit (about 50 yards or so) down the trail and you will see the Cassidy Arch which is a bit hidden. Once you located the arch, you should be able to easily find the social trails which lead over to it, allowing you to walk on top.

Best Views: To be honest, after hiking the Navajo Knobs (link), I was a little jaded to the scenery of Capitol Reef National Park. However, the views from the top of the hike and the arch itself are very cool. Be sure to walk over to the arch as you can walk on top of it making for some cool picture opportunities.

Cassidy Arch Hike Route

Gear Needed

Hiking Boots or Trail Runners
Backpack
Protection from Sun – this entire hike is exposed
Water (at least 2+ Liters in the summer)
Optional: Map of area or GPS – I use the Garmin inReach
Optional: Hiking Poles
Optional: Camera
Optional: Microspikes
Optional: Yaktraks
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My Trip to Cassidy Arch: January 2021

My tour of the Utah National Parks in 2021 continued. After checking out Canyonlands (Link), Zion (Link) and Bryce Canyon (link) I decided to check off the last one on my list and visit Capitol Reef since I would be in the area for another hike. I had relatively no expectations for this park and decided to just find a mix of longer and shorter hikes. Navajo Knobs (link) was my first hike of the day and I had a little sunlight and energy left to tackle a second one. Cassidy Arch fit the bill as it was shorter and pretty unique.

Just like the Navajo Knobs, this hike was almost entirely uphill but clearly saw MUCH more traffic. When I reached the end of the hike I was not sure where the arch was at first but found it shortly after. I set up the camera and GoPro and was able to get some cool shots before heading back to the car. I am not really an arch guy so this was not an AMAZING hike for me, but certainly worth visiting if you are in the area.