Capitol Reef National Park

The undiscovered Utah National Park

The Waterpocket Fold, a 100-mile long wrinkle in the earth's crust known as a monocline, extends from nearby Thousand Lakes Mountain to the Colorado River (now Lake Powell). Capitol Reef National Park was established to protect this grand and colorful geologic feature, as well as the unique historical and cultural history found in the area. Capitol Reef National Park is located in south-central Utah near all of the more famous Utah National Parks. The Park is just a few hours drive from Bryce Canyon, Zion, Arches or Canyonlands National Parks.

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Links to other Capitol Reef area sites: TorreyUtah.com The Wayne Theatre The Entrada Institute Hondoo Rivers & Trails Cafe Diablo Boulder Mountain Realty

The fertile, narrow corridor of land along the drainages through the Fruita area was cultivated and used extensively by the Fremont peoples between 1,500-700 years ago. Rock shelters, open habitation sites, and multiple storage structures indicate semi-permanent habitation occurred throughout the area. Corn and other crops were grown, and evidence suggests that irrigation was used to enhance the potential success and yield of crops. These people also created imposing anthropomorphic rock art figures on the steep cliff walls which overlook the valley floor. Twenty-four archeological sites in the Fruita area reflect these occupations and provide evidence of the earliest farmers in the area. Subsequent habitation of the Fruita area was by protohistoric Paiute groups who, similarly, used the drainages as major passageways and as a source for profitable hunting and gathering of wild food resources. It was the Paiutes who met the first Mormon settlers in Garfield and Wayne counties in the late nineteenth century.

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