Pleasant Creek Route - 8.0 Miles Round-Trip

Pleasant Creek flows west to east through the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park. An unmaintained but intuitively followed hiking and riding route traces the creek approximately four miles from the trailhead at Bone Flat on Pleasant Creek Road to the Park’s east boundary. Exact distances will vary by route and efficiency across open flats, scalable sandstone formations and numerous bends in the creek.

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Pleasant Creek is one of few perennial streams and natural passages through the Waterpocket Fold. This reliable water source supports a healthy riparian ecosystem that’s critical to local wildlife. Native American petroglyph panels dating back millennia and 'graffiti' left by settlers in the late 1800s and early 1900s can be found all along its path.

While the route is unmaintained it’s fairly well-traveled, and you’ll find long segments of established foot paths on both sides of the creek. Follow these paths whenever possible to minimize erosion and avoid disturbing biological soil crusts.

The main route generally favors the north side of the creek, though you’ll cross it many times as terrain dictates and water volume allows.

Sections that cross slickrock are scarcely marked, but the creek provides eminent guidance and it’s nearly impossible to get lost. Still, a good map and navigation skills are essential to tracking progress and managing time in the desert backcountry.

The Pleasant Creek Trailhead is not marked; a pullout, pit toilet and sign marking the transition from Pleasant Creek to South Draw Road is the designated parking area (north side of creek).

Follow a faint path from the parking lot to the north bank. The path undulates beside the creek through heavy brush and tall cottonwoods before rising away (north) and braiding out across wide brush flats. Several braids lead to the base of towering Wingate cliffs, where you’ll find marked petroglyph panels near the Capitol Reef Field Station (.75 miles).

The route continues east along the cliff base and across broad flats until pinching back to the creek. These crimson cliffs are gradually replaced by Navajo domes as you head downstream. A clear path crosses a grassy bench with good camping terrain at 1.9 miles (5,780’).

The route passes through one of the most scenic sections from 2.5 – 2.8 miles where the creek cuts through a wavy slickrock floor and cascades through voluminous chutes. The canyon narrows through tight goosenecks and opens to another big flat where you’ll find high concentrations of black boulders (2.85 miles : 5,675’).

These basalt and andesite rocks of volcanic origin came from the flanks of Boulder and Thousand Lakes mountains west of the park, and were carried here by debris flows down the Fremont River and its tributaries.

Landslides triggered in part by glacial retreat funneled into these water ways, which carried the rocks tens of miles down stream. Boulders were rounded in the process and scattered across the canyons and valleys through which they passed.

The canyon opens to wider berths and more diverse vegetation in the lower desert. Large boulders and cobble may slow travel in several places leading to the end of the trail at a wire and wood fence that crosses the creek near the Park Boundary (4.0 miles : 5,565').

Note: Finding the trailhead may be a little tricky on the return. Use sight of the Field Station as a reference point to drop down off the brush flats to the creek. Trail braids in the brush flats will get you close to the trailhead, but won't reach it. You'll have to drop down to the creek and follow it the exact way you came to find the trailhead on Pleasant Creek Road.