Hickman Bridge

Hickman Bridge is Capitol Reef's most-hiked trail — a 3km round-trip walk from a trailhead on Highway 24 to a natural stone arch spanning 38 metres. The trail climbs through Fremont River canyon past petroglyphs left by the Fremont people (who lived here between about 700 and 1300 CE), then rises to the arch itself. The arch frames views of Capitol Dome and the surrounding Navajo sandstone landscape.

The trailhead parking lot fills early in summer. The hike is considered moderate — a 122m elevation gain on a well-maintained trail — and takes about 90 minutes at a comfortable pace. Combined with a stop at the Fremont petroglyphs a short distance west on Highway 24, it makes a half-day from Torrey.

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A story
Hickman Bridge is named for Joseph Hickman, a schoolteacher and local politician who lobbied Congress in the early 1920s to protect the Capitol Reef area as a national monument. He died in 1925, five years before the monument was established — but the bridge that bears his name has made him better remembered than most of the politicians who actually voted on the matter.