October 26, 2021

By Tim Briese

2.0 miles, 400’ elevation gain, 1:15 roundtrip time

While on our way to Escalante, Utah, Teresa and I drove through Capitol Reef National Park and stopped to do a short hike to Hickman Natural Bridge. We had driven Hwy. 24 through the park quite a few times before and had always seen lots of vehicles at the trailhead along the highway for the natural bridge but had never done this hike. It appears that this is one of the most popular hikes in the park and it is a great one for the whole family. We decided this would be the day we would do it and we were certainly not disappointed.

We managed to snag a rare spot in the trailhead parking lot and headed up the well-used trail to the east along the Fremont River.

the beginning of the trail, which goes to the left along the fremont river

The trail initially went beneath a cliff beside the river and a sign warned hikers to avoid stopping for the next 500 feet due to the danger of rockfall.

autumn foliage along the trail

The trail then switchbacked up through a rocky area and climbed about 300 feet over the crest of a divide before descending into a scenic drainage. We stopped to look at a miniature natural bridge in the drainage.  In canyon country terminology, a natural bridge is distinguished from an arch in that a natural bridge is an arch under which water may flow, at least occasionally.

the miniature natural bridge in the drainage

Then we followed the trail up on sand and slickrock to the Hickman Natural Bridge, an impressive arch that is about 125 feet tall and spans 133 feet.

approaching hickman natural bridge

hickman natural bridge

After gazing at this wonder for a few minutes along with a couple of dozen other hikers, we proceeded on the trail under the bridge and looped back around to the trail we had come up and hiked back down to the parking lot.