Capitol Reef National Park

Capitol Reef protects the Waterpocket Fold, a buckle in the rock nearly a hundred miles long where the strata were pushed up and tilted, so that driving along it you pass through layer after layer of geological time in bands of white, red and chocolate. Early travellers called the domes of white Navajo sandstone capitols and the ridge a reef because it blocked passage, which is where the odd name comes from. The Fremont people left petroglyphs on the canyon walls, and later Mormon settlers planted orchards at Fruita that the park still maintains, with visitors free to pick apples, peaches and cherries in season and pay by the honesty box. Slot canyons, arches and the rough Cathedral Valley loop fill out the rest.

What you actually see

• The Waterpocket Fold - the tilted strata running the length of the park.
• The Fruita orchards - pick-your-own fruit in season from the pioneer plantings.
• Fremont petroglyphs - rock art panels along the highway.
• Cathedral Valley - the remote four-wheel-drive loop of sandstone monoliths.

When to go

Spring and autumn are ideal; summer is hot and brings flash-flood risk in the slot canyons, and winter is cold with occasional snow. The orchards ripen from about June through October depending on the fruit, and the pick-your-own is one of the best things in the park.

Honest expectations

It is the quietest of Utah's five parks, which is a virtue, but that also means fewer services and a single small gateway town at Torrey. The Cathedral Valley loop needs high clearance and a river ford. Slot canyons should be avoided entirely when storms are anywhere upstream. Petroglyph panels are fragile and fenced for good reason.

Nearby

Bryce Canyon is two hours west; Goblin Valley and Moab lie east.