Capitol Reef National Park - Part 2

Thousand Lakes RV Resort, Torrey, Utah
August 25-30, 3,408 miles and 43 days into the trip.

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A combination of a wrinkle in the earth's crust and an uplift created a "Waterpocket Fold" which stretches for 100 miles in southern Utah. Capitol Reef NP contains part of that eroded Waterpocket which contains colorful cliffs, massive domes, soaring spires, stark monoliths, twisting canyons, and graceful arches. Capitol Reef gets its name from the fact that the Waterpocket was impassable in early times and it correlated to a reef in the ocean. Many of the domes are similar to the Capitol Dome in Washington DC. Hence, Capitol Reef. We spent a lot of time driving and hiking through the National Park. I took over 250 pictures and had a heck of a time reducing them to the few which I show on this Website. The park has two paved roads. State highway 24 passes through the northern part of the park from east to west. The Scenic Drive heads south in the park from highway 24 for 10 miles. There are several unpaved roads which end at trail heads. Most of these unpaved roads are in washes, gorges, or draws. The visitors center is on the western side of the park on highway 24.

We justs entered the park from the east on highway 24. The road winds and twists it's way around in the park. This is one of the first view points.

When the rivers flow over the red rock and soil it turns the water red. Here is a red falls.

This viewpoint is almost completely surrounded by cliffs.

Behunin Cabin The first cabin built in the area, 1884. Elijah Behunin raised a family of 10 in this cabin and a small shed.

The Capitol Reef Visitors Center. Many of the fromations are named. That is the Castle behind the visitors center.

The road (highway 24) from the campground to the NP.

One of the many viewpoints in the park.

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