Overview Capitol Reef

Called "Wayne Wonderland" in the 1920s, Capitol Reef National Park comprises 378 square miles of colorful canyons, ridges, buttes, and monoliths. About 75 miles of the long up-thrust called the Waterpocket Fold, extending like a rugged spine from Thousand Lake Plateau southward to Lake Powell, is preserved within the park boundary.

Capitol Reef is the name of an especially rugged and spectacular part of the Waterpocket Fold near the Fremont River. The area was named for a line of white domes and cliffs of Navajo Sandstone, each of which looks somewhat like the United States Capitol building, that run from the Fremont River to Pleasant Creek on the Waterpocket Fold. The local word reef referred to any rocky barrier to travel, like a coral reef.

Near the Capitol Reef visitor center is the site of the former Mormon colony of Fruita, established in the 1870s - the good climate of this area and the fertile soil around the Fremont River allowed for successful orchards to be established. The settlers have long since left, departing around the time this area was designated as a National Monument in 1937, but fruit is still grown and can be picked in season, for a small fee. Several traditional pioneer dwellings survive and may be visited free of charge.

Points of Interest

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Petroglyphs

The prehistoric Fremont people lived throughout Utah and adjacent areas of Idaho, Colorado and Nevada from 700 to 1300 AD. The culture was named for the Fremont River and its valley in which many of the first Fremont sites were discovered.
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Scenic Drive

This is a short, ten mile road which follows the reef itself, starting at the visitor center then south past huge, crumbling, multicolored cliffs with magnificent scenery in all directions.
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Waterpocket District

Capitol Reef encompasses the Waterpocket Fold, a wrinkle in the earth's crust that is 65 million years old. The fold forms a north-to-south barrier that even today has barely been breached by roads. Early settlers referred to parallel, impassable ridges as "reefs," from which the park gets the second half of its name.

 

Directions

The park is located between Canyonlands National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park. Use either UT-95 or UT-24 to go to Hanksville, then take UT-24 West until you reach the park.

Location Map

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