The Utah Redemption Tour: The Largest Historic Orchard in a National Park
We had a "less redeeming" incident during our Utah Redemption Tour, but that wasn't about to stop us from enjoying our 3rd Utah national park, Capitol Reef. Driving through the park on our way to our dispersed camping site, we saw so many landmarks right from the main road: Capitol Dome, Pectols Pyramid, and Chimney Rock, to name a few. But, at the risk of sounding snobby and jaded, the rocks were kind of old news by that point. What brought the wow factor for us was Historic Fruita, all dressed up for spring. We hadn't been around many seasonal botanics lately, save for a few small desert flowers. Fruita welcomed us with luscious green leaves and flowering trees in its orchards. What a contrast to the earthy brown historic sites and the red rock cliffs!
The History
Historic Fruita lies within the park boundaries and has several orchards, planted by settlers in the 1800s and maintained by the National Park Service (NPS) today. However, modern agriculture is not something you will see here. To maintain its historical integrity, park staff use the same practices from the 19th and 20th centuries. The harsh climate has served as dangers to the trees both then and now, as the area sees the extremes of both floods and droughts.
The park is finishing up an orchard rehabilitation project, which planted more trees and focused on prepping the soil in ways that would help keep the trees, and therefore the fruits, thriving. The Fruita orchards now contain about 1900 trees, growing heirloom fruits including apricots, peaches, pears, apples, and cherries. This is the largest historic orchard in the national park system.
But of course, what is an orchard if not for turning the fresh fruits into yummy treats? Enter the Gifford Homestead. The structure itself was built in 1908, but the Giffords took ownership in 1928 and lived there for 41 years. During this time, the family built a farm as well as a motel for visitors to Capitol Reef. Owner Dewey Gifford not only took care of the farm, but he supplemented his income working for the State Road Department and later for the NPS. He sold the homestead to the NPS in 1969.
Even though this marked a new era for Fruita, the historic and cultural essence has been maintained. The Gifford House is now operated by the Capitol Reef Natural History Association and sells historic tools used by Mormon Pioneers, handmade artisan items, and fruit-based delicacies, including famous locally baked pies and homemade ice cream.
For the love of pie!
Entering the RV community meant we became privy to lots of recommendations, and the Gifford Homestead was one of them. I know, can you believe it? Fresh baked pies were something that 2019 Nicole missed! Tsk tsk. But, RV friends to the rescue. Along with the recommendations were also tips to get there early because the pies sell out almost daily. And also, to get a cinnamon bun, too. Done deal.
We took advantage of a gap in Anthony's work calls to go bright and early the day after we arrived, a Monday. The homestead is closed in winter but reopens every year on Pi Day, March 14. However, we saw conflicting information on what time it opens. Some sources said 8am, while others said 9am. Considering the NPS website said 8am, we went with that and arrived around 8:30.
Should have listened to Google. The good news was, we were the first ones there. The bad news was, we had a half-hour to kill. But was it actually bad news? We got to walk around for a while, stopping at the historic Fruita blacksmith shop, heading across the street to one of the orchards, and strolling part of the Fremont River Trail. Hardly anyone was out and campers at the nearby Fruita Campground were just waking up. It was too early in the morning to do much, and the orchard wasn't open since it wasn't harvest season yet, but we got to hang out with the resident mule deer, who were enjoying the empty pastures. Everything was so peaceful and idyllic, a much needed vibe after our disappointing dispersed camping incident the day before.
The Fruita Campground sits between horse stables and a meadow where you can often see mule deer. It also has a pathway right along the river. It's called an oasis for a reason!
We arrived back to the Gifford Homestead just before the doors opened. We weren't the only ones there anymore! This also means we lost our spot in line, but we didn't mind. Our morning walk was absolutely worth needing to wait in line for a few minutes. Besides, this gave us time to browse the goodies in the front room of the homestead.
To understand the gravity of this story, we first need to recall Anthony's love of pie. No exaggeration, there are very few things he loves in life more than pie. Ask him what his favorite dessert is, and he will say pie. He's also the king of homemade pie crust, having perfected the recipe over the past several years. Do we go home to MA every Christmas to see family? Of course. But we also go for our annual Christmas turkey pie tradition, which we take very seriously.
Like pie, too? Then you might like this story:
Nicole Anderson
The pie cupboard was full of a scrumptious variety, but we chose a cherry pie and a mixed berry pie. The cherry pie had a crust topping and the mixed berry pie had a crumb topping, so we knew we were getting the best of both worlds. We also grabbed a cinnamon bun. There is a lovely picnic area outside of the homestead, but we decided to bring our goodies back to the rig where we could heat them if needed and eat them with our patio down. It seems to be a tradition now to eat yummy baked goods with the patio down, and we're not mad about that.
I was the first to dig into the cinnamon bun, which like the pies, is baked in an individual aluminum pie tin. This made the underside very fluffy, while the top had some chew. Oftentimes cinnamon buns are too gooey and heavy for my liking, so I was thrilled with the fluffy texture. The icing was perfectly creamy and not too sweet. I failed to mention that on Christmas morning, Anthony makes homemade cinnamon buns. So these goodies were up against two Christmas foods, the cinnamon buns and the pie crust.
I told Anthony that I preferred this cinnamon bun over his. While he still prefers his, he was inspired to try and make his a little fluffier next time.
As for the pies? Anthony the connoisseur said, and I quote, "This is probably the best non-homemade pie crust I've ever had." I agree. We'd be hard pressed to find a pie crust that beats Anthony's, but for a pie that we purchased, these were utterly delectable. So much so, that the crumb topping of the mixed berry pie paled in comparison to the crust-topped cherry pie. That's not to say the mixed berry pie wasn't good. It was fantastic. However, the cherry pie was easily one of the best we've ever had anywhere. The filling was flavorful without being too sweet and definitely didn't skimp on the cherry chunks. Its texture contrasted perfectly with the crust. I heated mine up and topped it with some frozen coconut whipped cream. Perfection.
Ending the day with more time traveling
With our bellies happy, and maybe a little bloated from all the sugar, we spent the rest of the day doing work. We had plans to head back out in the evening, hoping we would find a good place to watch the sunset. Before that, though, we ventured over to the Petroglyph Panels, a short boardwalk and overlook displaying an impressive collection of Native American petroglyphs high on the cliff faces. Some of the drawings were so clear, we wondered if the Natives used stencils! In all seriousness, though, by the time these petroglyphs were believed to have been drawn, the Natives would have had some pretty good tools.
We've visited many petroglyph sites in our travels, and so we can fairly easily decipher carvings of animals, tools, and humans. However, we've also visited a lot of extraterrestrial-related sites, so we can't help but also notice that those glyphs on the bottom right look a little less human. But of course, that's just our interpretation.
Up the street from the petroglyphs is the Fruita Schoolhouse, which we passed on our drive day and made a plan to stop by. This single room structure not only held school sessions for the few children in Fruita, but it also served as the location where the community would gather for church and meetings. The school operated from 1896-1941, when it was closed due to lack of students.
Here, at the site of the old meetinghouse, we had a meeting of our own.
Here in Historic Fruita, our day came full circle. We started with peacefulness, watching the deer graze in the pastures, and we ended the same way.
Of course, we didn't just come to Capitol Reef for the history. We had our break from our geology overload, and now it was time to get back to marveling at the rocks and all of the scenic vistas. We were still on the lookout for a place to watch the sunset, and we had lots of exploring planned for the next couple of days. We'll pick up there in the next blog post.
