Hiking the Frying Pan Trail in Capitol Reef National Park

ByElizabeth

If you are looking for a hidden gem hike while visiting Capitol Reef National Park, the Frying Pan Trail is the trail for you! It connects the Cassidy Arch Trail with the Cohab Canyon Trail, and we only saw two other hikers while we were on the Frying Pan portion of the trail.

When we visited Capitol Reef, we had some friends shuttle us to the start of the Cassidy Arch Trail. After they hiked to Cassidy Arch with us, they returned to their cars and we took the Frying Pan Trail and ended up at the Fruita Campground, where we were staying.

Frying Pan Trail is located in the Waterpocket Fold district of Capitol Reef National Park and is set in the beautiful red rock of southern Utah. It is a long hike, but it is a fantastic way to explore the amazing landscape of Capitol Reef. We have everything you need to know to make this a successful experience for your family (aka, don’t do what we did…keep reading to learn about our scary experience).

Mom and daughter posing on red rock stairs on Frying Pan Trail in Capitol Reef National Park surrounded by sparse desert plants.

History of Capitol Reef National Park

Fruita, Utah was settled by the Latter-Day Saint (Mormon) settlers in 1879, although it had been inhabited by many different people before that. It became a National Monument in 1937 and a National Park in 1971.

There are so many things to do at Capitol Reef National Park, and it is an excellent stop on your way between Bryce Canyon National Park and Arches National Park. At Capital Reef National Park, you can see restored buildings from the original settlement and the original fruit orchards.

If you visit in the late spring, you can pick fruit from the trees. We were there too early for the fruit, but we got to enjoy the beautiful blossoms.

White blossoms on a fruit tree in Capitol Reef National Park in front of dramatic red sandstone cliffs.

Getting There

Frying Pan Trail is in the northern portion of Capitol Reef National Park. The trail connects the Cassidy Arch Trail and Cohab Canyon.

Capitol Reef National Park

Closest Town: Torrey, Utah
Closest Airport: Salt Lake City International Airport
Number of Visitors Annually: 1.2 million

Two people posing with the Capitol Reef National Park Sign at the enterance to the park.

Cost of Hiking Frying Pan Trail

Frying Pan Trail is located inside Capitol Reef National Park. An entrance pass is required to enter Capitol Reef and the fee can be found here.

Parking for Frying Pan Trail

There are two ways to access this trail. The first one is off of UT 24 at the Cohab Canyon Trail. There is a small pull-off on the south side of the road with space for 6 or 7 cars.

The second option is a large parking lot at the end of Grand Wash Road. This is also the parking lot for Cassidy Arch and Grand Wash Trail, so it tends to be busy. The parking lot was full when we went and we had to backtrack and park on the side of the road.

There are vault toilets in the parking lot.

Frying Pan Trail

The Frying Pan Trail is approximately 8.5 miles (14 km) long as a round trip with 2697 feet of elevation change. It is considered a challenging trail due to its length and the elevation change.

This is not a very crowded trail. We only encountered one other group (of 2 people) while we were hiking. The trail takes you through scenic landscapes with colorful sandstone cliffs, rugged canyons, and the unique geological formations of the Waterpocket Fold.

You may encounter wildlife (there are lots of signs about mountain lions) and you will definitely enjoy panoramic views of the park.

Dramatic red-orange cliffs with white sandstone mountains in the distance seen while hiking to Cassidy Arch in Capitol Reef National Park.

Frying Pan Trail from Cohab Canyon Trailhead

If you start at the Cohab Canyon Trailhead, you will follow the Cohab Canyon Trail for just over 0.5 mile and then split off south onto the Frying Pan Trail. After about 3.2 miles, the trail meets up with the Cassidy Arch Trail and ends up merging with the Grand Wash Trail.

Steep red sandstone cliffs with pockets erroded by wind and water seen on the Cohab Canyon hike in Capitol Reef National Park.

Frying Pan Trail from Grand Wash Trailhead

The other option is to start from the Grand Wash/Cassidy Arch Trail. This route starts on the Grand Wash Trail and almost imediatly splits to the Cassidy Arch Trail. You stay on the Cassidy Arch Trail for just over 1 mile before splitting off and going farther up the mountain. The trail merges with the Cohab Canyon Trail after another 2.7 miles.

Teenager and little girl hiking along the red-orange dirt of the trail going to Cassidy Arch, which is also the same trail to get to the Frying Pan Trail.

Alternative Ways to Hike Frying Pan Trail

We decided to do things a little differently. We hiked Cassidy Arch with friends and then took the Frying Pan Trail to the Cohab Canyon Trail and headed west to exit the canyon at the Fruita Campground, where we were staying.

The Frying Pan Trail was an incredible hike and if you have someone willing to shuttle you, we highly recommend it…unless you are one of those people that can hike the whole thing out and back, then go for it!

Mistakes We Made

We made a lot of rookie mistakes on this hike and we are very lucky that we were all safe and nothing bad happened…especially since we only saw two other people on the hike.

1. Not Calculating the Correct Distance

The trail is longer than I calculated. I looked at All-Trails and didn’t account for us actually walking out to Cassidy Arch and back to get back on the Frying Pan Trail. We ended up hiking just over 7 miles, when I thought we were going to be doing 5 miles. We had no service and weren’t able to look up a map to see where we were and see how much longer we had to go.

We had never hiked more than 3.5 miles before this hike. The kids were troopers, but they started getting bored and tired halfway through. The scenery is incredible, but most 4 year olds are only impressed by scenery for about 30 seconds.

We had to keep coming up with games to play to try and keep the kids entertained and keep them moving forward. We did not have any phone service and our friends had taken the cars from the parking lot, so we had to finish the hike…or die and be eaten by mountain lions.

The adults were very tired by the end of the hike. The kids were tired in the middle of the hike, but they perked right up when we got back to the campground. They wanted to go for a bike ride, like crazy people.

Dallas and I collapsed into our camping chairs and watched them ride around the circle for the next 30 minutes while we tried to summon the energy to cook dinner.

2. Not Taking Enough Water

We ran out of water at the top of the last switchbacks down to the campground. Dallas and I each took our waterpacks and thought that would be plenty of water, but it wasn’t even close.

Our water started running low about 1.5 miles from the end of trail, but we didn’t know how much farther we had to go at the time. Remember I thought we were doing 5 miles and we had already passed the 5 mile mark.

Dallas and I stopped drinking water and saved it for when the kids asked for a drink. If they were thirsty, there was no way we were going to convince them to finish the hike, and I couldn’t carry a kid out. They were going to have to do it on their own.

I gave the last drop of water to Little Miss at the top of the switchbacks where we could see the campground. This could have ended up being a really bad situation if it had been hotter or if anything had slowed us down more.

Soon after this experience, we got the kids their own waterpacks, that they now use on every hike we go on. Thankfully, this has kept us from making this same mistake twice.

3. Not Taking a Battery Pack for Our Phones

We were so busy taking picutes of the stunning surroundings on our way up to Cassidy Arch, that we didn’t realize how much of our phone batteries we had used.

We weren’t worried about saving our phone battery to call for help, there wasn’t any service to make a call even if we needed to. Our biggest concern was watching it get closer to dusk and knowing that we might not have a source of light if we were still hiking when it got dark.

Capitol Reef is a DarkSky Park, so it gets pitch black at night. We turned our phones off when we realized we were almost out of battery and had no idea when we would be making it back to camp. Thankfully we made it back to camp with a little bit of daylight left, but it was scary.

Verticle red-orange cliffs topped with a white sandstone dome seen along the Frying Pan Hike.

What to Pack

  • Water
  • Hat
  • Sunglasses
  • Snacks
  • Sturdy shoes
  • Batterypack
  • Sunscreen
  • Camera

Trail Safety

Make sure to check trail conditions and weather forecasts before starting on the hike.

There were signs all over warning about mountain lions. We did not let the kids lead while on this hike and we made sure to make plenty of noise, so any creatures knew we were coming.

Remember to stay on the designated trail, as venturing off-trail can harm the fragile desert ecosystem and cause erosion.

Is the Frying Pan Trail Worth Hiking?

Absolutely! The scenery was stunning and we had solitude to enjoy the beauty around us. However, for the last few miles of the hike we were worried about running out of water and phone batteries and were not able to fully enjoy the hike. If you go prepared, you will love this hike.

View from on top of a tall cliff along the Frying Pan Trail in Captiol Reef National Park looking down to a dirt road with a tiny white car that is surrounded by sheer red-orange cliffs.

Recreate Responsibly

Please remember to recreate responsibly so that other people can enjoy it after you. Pack out what you pack in and be respectful to the plants and animals you come in contact with. Leave the rock how you found it and don’t carve anything into it.

Explore Close By

  • Cassidy Arch: 0 miles
  • Gifford Homestead: 3.6 miles
  • Fruita Schoolhouse: 5.5 miles
  • Petroglyphs Panel: 5.8 miles
  • Hickman Natural Bridge: 6.6 miles
  • Capitol Gorge: 8.1 miles
  • Fish Lake: 54.1 miles
  • Bryce Canyon National Park: 112 miles
  • Arches National Park: 132 miles
  • Canyonlands National Park: 145 miles

Elizabeth is the mother of the Tall Adventure Fam. She is the organizer of chaos and planner of all activities. She had cancer when she was 12 and takes 1000s of pictures of everything to help combat memory issues from chemotherapy. She decided she wanted to share their travel experience so other people can get out and enjoy the world around them, so she started this family travel blog in 2023.

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