The hike to Cassidy Arch is just over 3.25 miles roundtrip and features hiking through parts of a canyon, slickrock cliff walls, and Cassidy Arch at the end.  The trail begins on the same trail as the Grand Wash but you will only be hiking down about .3 mile until you see signs pointing you left up the side of the cliffs.  Don’t worry, there aren’t exposed cliff sides but you will just be hugging up close against the cliffs as you wind around the trail to the arch.

Right when I saw the sign pointing me to the Cassidy Arch Trail, I noticed just how well maintained this trail is!  The sandstone steps and trail is so well manicured that I thought I was walking up the steps to some $40M mansion in St. George!  You can see just what an incredible job the Park Service did to make this trail accessible and easy to follow.

These steps are where you will gain most of the elevation on this hike.   After you get to the flat level above all the steps, you will gradually gain more elevation to the arch.

The views from up here are amazing and only get better the higher you go!

You will wind around a little bit more until you see Cassidy Arch in the distance.  Keep going until you come to the trail junction.  The right trail leads back to Cohab Canyon (3 miles) and the campground (4 miles), and the left trail goes to the arch (about .5 mile).  Take the left trail and you will need to follow the rock cairns in order to make it to the arch.

From here you will be hiking on sandstone as there won’t be much dirt/sand hiking – this is where my approach shoes really shine.  I typically don’t like regular hiking shoes because they are typically more bulky.  However, I love approach shoes because they are essentially still hiking shoes but provide extreme traction and grip on just about any surface.

After a half mile you will reach Cassidy Arch!  This incredible arch is on the opposite side of a large sloping bowl and overlooks the Capitol Reef skyline to the east.  I purposely hiked later in the afternoon so I could see the softer light on all the amazing colors in the landscape. This area has many exposed parts and is potentially dangerous so keep an extra eye on everyone in your hiking party.  If you go up close to the arch you will probably see some rappelling anchors bolted into the rock.

Hike another 40 yards south of Cassidy Arch to see another small arch on the cliff side.  This arch looks directly down at the road hundreds of feet below.  You are at the top of these cliffs and the edge is very exposed.  Here, you get some incredible views of the geology of Capitol Reef to the south and west.