National Parks Traveler Episode 111: Reviving Capitol Reef's Orchards

By NPT Staff - March 28th, 2021

There is a place or two in the National Park System where you can reach up and pluck a fresh apple, or peach, or cherry, or even apricot. But only at Capitol Reef National Park in Utah can you do so against a backdrop of soaring redrock.

There, tucked between the vivid orange, tan and pink sandstone cliffs of Waterpocket Fold in south-central Utah is an unexpected swath of green. That’s where you’ll find 100 acres of orchards and pastures, most of which were established more than 100 years ago by Mormon settlers and where present-day park visitors are still invited to pick and eat the fruit.

If you’ve been able to partake in one of the harvests, it’s no doubt an experience you’ll never forget. If you haven’t, well, it’s definitely something to put on your to-do list.

Over the years, about 1,000 trees have been lost in this area, known as the Fruita Rural Historic Landscape. Why? Depleted soils, disease, and old age. A large-scale program is underway to restore the orchards to their original glory through the replenishment of the soil, improved irrigation and the planting of hundreds of new fruit trees over the next decade.

The Traveler’s Lynn Riddick reached out to two park officials to get some historic perspective on the orchards…and the details of the substantial rehabilitation project.

:02 National Parks Traveler introduction
:12 Episode introduction with Kurt Repanshek
1:15 Vista Verde - Tim Heintz - The Sounds of Peaks, Plateaus and Canyons
1:48 Potrero Group
2:17 Washington’s National Park Fund
2:52 North Cascades Institute
3:10 Western National Parks Association
3:39 Traveler's Lynn Riddick discusses efforts to revitalize the orchards at Capitol Reef National Park.
29:07 The Road Scholar - Bill Mize - The Spirit of South Dakota
29:20 National Parks Traveler
29:34 Interior Federal Credit Union
29:56 Grand Teton National Park Foundation
30:27 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
30:50 Friends of Acadia
31:20 Lynn Riddick's conversation about reviving Fruita's orchards resumes.
56:48 Escalante - Tim Heintz - The Sounds of Peaks, Plateaus and Canyons
57:19 Episode Closing
57:51 Orange Tree Productions
58:27 Splitbeard Productions
58:36 National Parks Traveler footer

Capitol Reef National Park

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