You drive on a dirt road to a parking lot and then walk through the slot canyons where you will see petroglyphs and writing on the walls. We hiked to the emerald pools but found them to be anticlimactic. We should have saved all of our energy for Cassidy Arch. Now that was a hike!

We did most of the dayhikes in the Fruita area of Capitol Reef NP. We agreed this hike is probably the least scenic and interesting of any we did. Definitely skip the spur trail to the Tanks. About the most uninteresting point of interest in the park.

This is a great hike, for many people the worst part will be the drive to the trailhead. It means 2.5 miles driving on a dirt road, we saw all types of vehicles on the road, if you drive your car you will just have to go slow. I do not recommend parking at the end of the pavement and walking into the trailhead on the road as you will eat a lot of dust. The hike itself to the Pioneer Registry and "tanks" is only 2-3 miles return. I really thought the registry was a unique example of historic graffiti. The hike is mostly in the canyon wash and is shaded a lot of the time so it would be a good hike on a hot day.