Do you need a permit to hike in Capitol Reef or Bryce Canyon?

Not for day hikes like these: the park pages list no permit. You pay the entrance fee at each park: in 2026, $20 a car at Capitol Reef and $35 at Bryce Canyon, or an $80 America the Beautiful pass for US residents.

Is there a fee for non-US visitors at Bryce Canyon?

Yes. From 2026, visitors who aren't US residents, aged 16 and over, pay a $100 nonresident fee on top of the entrance fee at Bryce Canyon and ten other parks. Capitol Reef isn't on the list.

How long is the Fairyland Loop?

8.0 miles and 1,900 ft of elevation change from Fairyland Point, by the Park Service. I started from Sunrise Point and walked the Rim Trail to Fairyland Point first: 9.5 miles by my GPS, in about 3.5 hours in late March.

How do you hike the Frying Pan Trail to Cassidy Arch and Grand Wash?

From the Hickman Bridge trailhead on Utah 24, up Cohab Canyon, along the Frying Pan Trail to Cassidy Arch, down into Grand Wash and out to Utah 24: 8.4 miles one way by my GPS. It ends about 2 miles by road from where you start, so bring two cars or arrange a ride.

Can you hike Bryce Canyon in March?

Yes. In late March 2022 I had pockets of snow but didn't need microspikes. The Park Service warns that March and April storms can bring heavy snow, recommends traction devices on icy trails, and the Navajo Loop's Wall Street side is closed in winter.

How far is it from Capitol Reef to Bryce Canyon?

Scenic Byway 12 runs 123 miles from Torrey toward Bryce Canyon, about three hours of driving according to the Park Service.

The Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon film: Utah

Utah · 2 days · 26.7 miles

Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon Hiking Guide

Chimney Rock, Cassidy Arch, Grand Wash, the Fairyland Loop and Queen's Garden in 2 days.

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Look inside

Real pages from the guide. Tap one to see it big.

A day page
A day map and elevation profile
At a glance
Is it open? (October 2026)

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The route

My GPS recording of 2 days on a relief map. One map for each park, a day in each; the black dot is where the day starts. The full GPX files and the day maps come with the guide.

Relief maps of the Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon hikes in Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon, each walk drawn in red, with Fruita and Fairyland Point marked. — Map data: Terrain: Mapzen Terrain Tiles (USGS 3DEP, SRTM) on AWS · Rivers & lakes © OpenStreetMap contributors

At a glance

Days: 2 days
Distance: 26.7 miles
Climbing: About 4,630 ft (1,410 m) up

What's inside

Where things stand. Both parks in October 2026: what's open, the entrance fees, Bryce Canyon's new nonresident fee, and the Navajo Loop in winter, checked on the National Park Service pages.
All four hikes. Stats, the time I took, my notes, the route, where to turn back, maps with elevation profiles, and links to that part of my films.
My GPX files. My own recordings of Chimney Rock, the Frying Pan hike to Grand Wash, the Fairyland Loop and Queen's Garden with the Navajo Loop, plus all four in one file, ready for AllTrails, Gaia GPS, Garmin or Organic Maps.
Getting there. Flying into Las Vegas or Salt Lake City, the drive to Torrey, the trailheads on Utah 24, Scenic Byway 12 to Bryce, the Bryce shuttle, and how to do the one-way Frying Pan hike.
Other ways to do it. Cassidy Arch from Grand Wash, Grand Wash alone, Hickman Bridge, Cathedral Valley, the Fairyland Loop from Fairyland Point, Tower Bridge, Peekaboo, Mossy Cave and the Bristlecone Loop.
Heat, flash floods, snow and safety. When to go, monthly temperatures for both parks, water, Grand Wash in a storm, lightning on the Bryce rim, spring ice and altitude.
Torrey, Bryce, costs and a trip sheet. Where to sleep and eat, the campgrounds, what a trip costs in 2026, one page of checks and a printable summary of the hikes.

About this trip

In late March 2022 I spent two days hiking alone in two Utah national parks. In Capitol Reef I hiked the Chimney Rock Loop, then Cohab Canyon, the Frying Pan Trail and Cassidy Arch down to Grand Wash, one way to Utah 24. The next day in Bryce Canyon I walked the Rim Trail and the whole Fairyland Loop through the hoodoos, then went down Queen's Garden and up the Navajo Loop. It's the trip from my films Hiking Alone in Capitol Reef National Park Utah and Hiking the Fairyland Loop in Bryce Canyon National Park. This guide has my GPX files, a map and elevation profile for every hike, the 2026 fees and rules, getting there and between the parks, other hikes nearby, costs, heat, flash floods, snow and safety, and a trip sheet.

Watch the film on YouTube (109K views).

The Day 2, Rim Trail and Fairyland Loop page from the Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon Hiking Guide

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Rim Trail and Fairyland Loop

The whole day page from the guide as a PDF, plus my hut-to-hut packing list: the 35 things I carry, with a note on each. The PDF opens right away and both come by email. You'll also get my emails about new guides and trips, a few a year.

The details

Format: A 43-page PDF sized for a phone (A5, prints fine too) and a folder of GPX files, in one zip download.
Edition: 2027 season edition, updated October 2026.
Delivery: Instant. After you pay you get a private download link. Bookmark it to download again on any device.
Payment: Secure checkout through Stripe, in your own currency. Tax is included in the price, except in the US and Canada, where any sales tax is added at checkout.
Refunds: Not useful? Email me within 30 days for a refund: kraig@kraigadams.com.
Questions: Email kraig@kraigadams.com.

Questions

Do you need a permit to hike in Capitol Reef or Bryce Canyon?: Not for day hikes like these: the park pages list no permit. You pay the entrance fee at each park: in 2026, $20 a car at Capitol Reef and $35 at Bryce Canyon, or an $80 America the Beautiful pass for US residents.
Is there a fee for non-US visitors at Bryce Canyon?: Yes. From 2026, visitors who aren't US residents, aged 16 and over, pay a $100 nonresident fee on top of the entrance fee at Bryce Canyon and ten other parks. Capitol Reef isn't on the list.
How long is the Fairyland Loop?: 8.0 miles and 1,900 ft of elevation change from Fairyland Point, by the Park Service. I started from Sunrise Point and walked the Rim Trail to Fairyland Point first: 9.5 miles by my GPS, in about 3.5 hours in late March.
How do you hike the Frying Pan Trail to Cassidy Arch and Grand Wash?: From the Hickman Bridge trailhead on Utah 24, up Cohab Canyon, along the Frying Pan Trail to Cassidy Arch, down into Grand Wash and out to Utah 24: 8.4 miles one way by my GPS. It ends about 2 miles by road from where you start, so bring two cars or arrange a ride.
Can you hike Bryce Canyon in March?: Yes. In late March 2022 I had pockets of snow but didn't need microspikes. The Park Service warns that March and April storms can bring heavy snow, recommends traction devices on icy trails, and the Navajo Loop's Wall Street side is closed in winter.
How far is it from Capitol Reef to Bryce Canyon?: Scenic Byway 12 runs 123 miles from Torrey toward Bryce Canyon, about three hours of driving according to the Park Service.

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