The Cassidy Arch Trail joins the Frying Pan Trail on a 4.2 mile route from Grand Wash to Cohab Canyon in Capitol Reef National Park. The Frying Pan Trail continues past Cassidy Arch to a high rim, drops across a canyon, rises back up and drops again to its terminus in Cohab Canyon. The route features stunning backcountry scenery along the high western spine of the Waterpocket Fold, and lots of room to improvise across open slickrock.

The Frying Pan Trail crosses airy slickrock benches between deep canyons with great views of the tilted west side of the Waterpocket Fold

Juniper tree root systems can reach 25' down and spread dozens of feet laterally to access water, effectively crowding out local plants from these limited resources

Travel moderates past the split for Cassidy Arch across high rims and benches before dropping steeply into an adjacent canyon

The trail drops 770' in just over a mile from its highest point into a canyon; this high, north-facing slope can hold snow longer and be difficult to follow

Cassidy Arch first comes into view after 1 mile as the trail wraps around a bend along the canyon rim

Pinyon pine trees provided a reliable and nutrient-dense food source for ancestral inhabitants, with exceptionally high levels of protein and fat

The term 'waterpocket' refers in part to the many canyons and basins carved into the monocline

The Waterpocket Fold formed 50 - 70 million years ago as a major mountain building event - the Laramide Orogeny - activated an ancient fault that thrust overlying rock upwards and formed a monocline

Grand Wash was one of several hideouts along the 'Outlaw Trail' used by Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch

Nearly 10,000' of sedimentary strata are exposed in the Capitol Reef area, ranging from the Permian (270 M years ago) to the Cretaceous (80 M years ago) periods

The Frying Pan Trail is well-marked by cairns, but vigilance is a must across sometimes counter-intuitive routing between canyons

Cohab is a word derived from 'co-habitation', and a potential reference to polygamous relationships

Arches can generally be grouped into 5 classes: Cliff Wall Arch, Free Standing Arch, Pothole Arch, Natural Bridge, and Non-Arch Openings