Capitol Reef National Park is a national park of the United States in south-central Utah. The park is approximately long on its northsouth axis and just wide on its east-west axis, on average. The park was established in 1971 to preserve of desert landscape and is open all year, with May through September receiving the most visitors.

Partially in Wayne County, Utah, Capitol Reef National Park was designated a national monument on August 2, 1937, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to protect the area's colorful canyons, ridges, buttes, and monoliths; however, it was not until 1950 that the area officially opened to the public. The park was named for its whitish Navajo Sandstone cliffs with dome formationssimilar to the white domes often placed on capitol buildingsthat run from the Fremont River to Pleasant Creek on the Waterpocket Fold. Locally, reef refers to any rocky barrier to land travel, just as ocean reefs are barriers to sea travel.

thumb|Cathedral Valley

Geography

thumb|Park map

Capitol Reef encompasses the Waterpocket Fold, a warp in the Earth's crust that is 65 million years old. It is the largest exposed monocline in North America. In this fold, newer and older layers of earth folded over each other in an S-shape. This warp, probably caused by the same colliding continental plates that created the Rocky Mountains, has weathered and eroded over millennia to expose layers of rock and fossils. The park is filled with brilliantly colored sandstone cliffs, gleaming white domes, and contrasting layers of stone and earth.

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 fold forms a north-to-south barrier that 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. The first paved road through the area was constructed in 1962. State Route 24 cuts through the park traveling east-and-west between Canyonlands National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park, but few other paved roads exist in the rugged landscape.

The park is filled with canyons, cliffs, towers, domes, and arches. The Fremont River has cut canyons through parts of the Waterpocket Fold, but most of the park is arid desert.

History

Native Americans and Mormons

thumb|upright|left|Petroglyph in Capitol Gorge

Fremont-culture Native Americans lived near the perennial Fremont River in the northern part of the Capitol Reef Waterpocket Fold around the year 1000. They irrigated crops of maize and squash and stored their grain in stone granaries (in part made from the numerous black basalt boulders that litter the area). In the 13th century, all of the Native American cultures in this area underwent sudden change, likely due to a long drought. The Fremont settlements and fields were abandoned.

Many years after the Fremont left, Paiutes moved into the area. These Numic-speaking people named the Fremont granaries moki huts and thought they were the homes of a race of tiny people or moki.

In 1872 Almon H. Thompson, a geographer attached to United States Army Major John Wesley Powell's expedition, crossed the Waterpocket Fold while exploring the area. Geologist Clarence Dutton later spent several summers studying the area's geology. None of these expeditions explored the Waterpocket Fold to any great extent.

Following the American Civil War, officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City sought to establish missions in the remotest niches of the Intermountain West. In 1866, a quasi-military expedition of Mormons in pursuit of natives penetrated the high valleys to the west. In the 1870s, settlers moved into these valleys, eventually establishing Loa, Fremont, Lyman, Bicknell, and Torrey.

In 1933, Pectol was elected to the presidency of the Associated Civics Club of Southern Utah, successor to the Wayne Wonderland Club. The club raised $150 () to interest a Salt Lake City photographer in taking a series of promotional photographs. For several years, the photographer, J. E. Broaddus, traveled and lectured on "Wayne Wonderland". In Proclamation 2246, President Roosevelt set aside of the Capitol Reef area. This comprised an area extending about north of present State Route 24 and about south, just past Capitol Gorge. The Great Depression years were lean ones for the National Park Service (NPS), the new administering agency. Funds for the administration of Capitol Reef were nonexistent; it was a long time before the first rangers arrived.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, the Capitol Reef Visitor Center has a cold semi-arid climate (BSk).

Geology

thumb|Waterpocket Fold from the [[International Space Station|ISS]]

The area including the park was once the edge of a shallow sea that invaded the land in the Permian, creating the Cutler Formation. Only the sandstone of the youngest member of the Cutler Formation, the White Rim, is exposed in the park. The deepening sea left carbonate deposits, forming the Kaibab Limestone, the same formation that rims the Grand Canyon to the southwest.

During the Triassic, streams deposited reddish-brown silt that later became the siltstone of the Moenkopi Formation. Uplift and erosion followed. Conglomerate, followed by logs, sand, mud, and wind-transported volcanic ash, then formed the uranium-containing Chinle Formation.

The members of the Glen Canyon Group were all laid down in the middle- to late-Triassic during a time of increasing aridity. They include:

  • Wingate Sandstone: sand dunes on the shore of an ancient sea
  • Kayenta Formation: thin-bedded layers of sand deposited by slow-moving streams in channels and across low plains
  • Navajo Sandstone: huge fossilized sand dunes from a massive Sahara-like desert.

thumb|The [[Golden Throne (mountain)|Golden Throne. Though Capitol Reef is famous for white domes of Navajo Sandstone, this dome's color is a result of a lingering section of yellow Carmel Formation carbonate, which has stained the underlying rock.]]

The San Rafael Group consists of four Jurassic-period formations; from oldest to youngest, they are:

  • the Carmel Formation: gypsum, sand, and limey silt laid down in what may have been a graben that was periodically flooded by sea water;
  • the Entrada Sandstone: sandstone from barrier islands/sand bars in a near-shore environment;
  • the Curtis Formation: made from conglomerate, sandstone, and shale; and
  • the Summerville Formation: reddish-brown mud and white sand deposited in tidal flats.

Streams once again laid down mud and sand in their channels, on lakebeds, and in swampy plains, creating the Morrison Formation. Early in the Cretaceous, similar non-marine sediments were laid down and became the Dakota Sandstone. Eventually, the Cretaceous Seaway covered the Dakota, depositing the Mancos Shale.

Only small remnants of the Mesaverde Group are found, capping a few mesas in the park's eastern section.

Near the end of the Cretaceous period, a mountain-building event called the Laramide orogeny started to compact and uplift the region, forming the Rocky Mountains and creating monoclines such as the Waterpocket Fold in the park. Ten to fifteen million years ago, the entire region was uplifted much further by the creation of the Colorado Plateau. This uplift was very even. Igneous activity in the form of volcanism and dike and sill intrusion also occurred during this time.

The drainage system in the area was rearranged and steepened, causing streams to downcut faster and sometimes change course. Wetter times during the ice ages of the Pleistocene increased the rate of erosion.

Flora

There are more than 840 species of plants that are found in the park, and over 40 of those species are classified as rare and endemic.

Visiting the park

The closest town to Capitol Reef is Torrey, about west of the visitor center on Highway 24, slightly west of its intersection with Highway 12. Its 2020 population was less than 300. Torrey has a few motels and restaurants and functions as a gateway town to the park. Highway 12 and a partially unpaved scenic backway named the Burr Trail provide access from the west through the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument and the town of Boulder. bicycling (on paved and unpaved roads only; no trails), horseback riding, canyoneering, and rock climbing. The orchards planted by Mormon pioneers are maintained by the National Park Service. From early March to mid-October, various fruit—cherries, apricots, peaches, pears, or apples—can be harvested by visitors for a fee.

Hiking and backpacking

A hiking-trail guide is available at the visitor center for both day hikes and backcountry hiking. Backcountry access requires a free permit.

thumb|[[Hickman Natural Bridge]]

Numerous trails are available for hiking and backpacking in the park, with fifteen in the Fruita District alone.

  • Hickman Bridge Trail: a round trip leading to the natural bridge.
  • Frying Pan Trail: an round trip that passes the Cassidy Arch, Grand Wash, and Cohab Canyon.
  • Brimhall Natural Bridge: a popular, though strenuous, round trip with views of Brimhall Canyon, the Waterpocket Fold, and Brimhall Natural Bridge.
  • Halls Creek Narrows: long and considered strenuous, with many side canyons and creeks; typically hiked as a 2-3 day camping trip.

Auto touring

Visitors may explore several of the main areas of the park by private vehicle:

  • Scenic Drive: a paved road winds through the middle of the park, passing the major points of interest; the road is accessible from the visitor center to approximately into the Capitol Gorge.
  • Notom-Bullfrog Road: traverses the eastern side of the Waterpocket Fold, along of paved road, with the remainder unpaved.
  • Cathedral Road: an unpaved road through the northern areas of the park, that traverses Cathedral Valley, passing the Temples of the Sun and Moon. The campground also has group sites with picnic areas and restrooms. Two primitive, free camping areas are also available.

Canyoneering

thumb|Taken from the top of the first rappel of the Cassidy Arch route.

Canyoneering is growing in popularity in the park. It is a recreational sport that takes one through slot canyons. It involves rappelling and may require swimming and other technical rope work. Day-pass permits are required for canyoneering in the park and can be obtained for free from the visitor center or through email. Each route requires its own permit. If one is planning on canyoneering for multiple days, then passes are required for each day. Overnight camping as part of the canyoneering trip is permitted, but a free backcountry pass must be requested from the visitor center.

It is imperative to plan canyoneering trips around the weather. The Colorado Plateau is susceptible to flash flooding during prime rainy months. Because canyoneering takes place through slot canyons, getting caught in a flash flood could be lethal. Visitors are advised to consult reliable weather sources. The Weather Atlas shows charts with the monthly average rainfall in inches.

Extreme heat during the summer months presents a danger to visitors, who can find weather warnings on the National Weather Service website. The heat levels are detailed by a color and numerical scale (0–4).

One of the most popular canyoneering routes in Capitol Reef National Park is Cassidy Arch Canyon. A paper by George Huddart details the park's commitment to working with citizens to maintain the route as well as the vegetation and rocks. The canyon route is approximately long ( of technical work), consisting of 8 different rappels, and takes between 2.5 and 4.5 hours to complete. The first rappel is and descends below the famous Cassidy Arch.

See also

  • List of national parks of the United States

References

  • of the National Park Service
  • Capitol Reef National Park |Utah Office of Tourism
  • Capitol Reef Country Wayne County Tourism Services
  • Capitol Reef Natural History Association Support historical, cultural, scientific, interpretive and educational activities at Capitol Reef National Park.