The Gifford Homestead is a 1908 farmhouse in the Fruita area of Capitol Reef, inside the national park, about 1.6km south of the visitor centre. It represents the last surviving homestead of the small Mormon community that farmed this canyon oasis from the 1880s until the mid-20th century. The homestead is run by the National Park Service and the Capitol Reef Natural History Association, and sells homemade pies, jams, and baked goods made from fruit grown in the surrounding orchard.
The orchard itself is part of the experience: the park maintains over 2,500 fruit trees — apple, peach, pear, cherry, apricot — planted by pioneer settlers. Visitors are welcome to pick and eat fruit on-site during the harvest season (generally June through October depending on the fruit). This is one of the genuinely unexpected pleasures of Capitol Reef, and the pies from the homestead are not to be missed.