Just inside the visitor center, to the right, this large raised relief map covers a good portion of the display area. The information sign on it states:
Waterpocket Fold Country
Capitol Reef National Park protects the geologic treasures of the Waterpocket Fold. This gigantic wrinkle in the Earth's crust extends for 90 miles between Thousand Lake Mountain, to the north, and the Colorado River, to the south. It is a classic monocline, or stairstep fold -- one of the largest in North America. Eons of weathering and erosion have sculpted a wonderland of canyons, domes, arches and pinnacles from the bedrock of this massive uplift.
The Waterpocket Fold was a formidable barrier to east-west travel. Today, visitors can travel easily across the spectacular landscape often referred to as "the Land of the Sleeping Rainbow."
The National Park Service website, (
visit link) shares the following information on the area:
"The Waterpocket Fold defines Capitol Reef National Park. A nearly 100-mile long warp in the Earth's crust, the Waterpocket Fold is a classic monocline: a regional fold with one very steep side in an area of otherwise nearly horizontal layers. A monocline is a "step-up" in the rock layers. The rock layers on the west side of the Waterpocket Fold have been lifted more than 7000 feet (2100 m) higher than the layers on the east. Major folds are almost always associated with underlying faults. The Waterpocket Fold formed between 50 and 70 million years ago when a major mountain building event in western North America, the Laramide Orogeny, reactivated an ancient buried fault. When the fault moved, the overlying rock layers were draped above the fault and formed a monocline.
More recent uplift of the entire Colorado Plateau and the resulting erosion has exposed this fold at the surface only within the last 15 to 20 million years. The name Waterpocket Fold reflects this ongoing erosion of the rock layers. "Waterpockets" are basins that form in many of the sandstone layers as they are eroded by water. These basins are common throughout the fold, thus giving it the name "Waterpocket Fold". Erosion of the tilted rock layers continues today forming colorful cliffs, massive domes, soaring spires, stark monoliths, twisting canyons, and graceful arches.
Biological soil crusts are found throughout the world. In arid regions, these living soil crusts are dominated by cyanobacteria, and also include soil lichens, mosses, green algae, microfungi and bacteria. These crusts play an important role in the ecosystems in which they occur. In the high deserts of the Colorado Plateau (which includes parts of Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico), these knobby black crusts are extraordinarily well-developed, and may represent 70 to 80 percent of the living ground cover.
Capitol Reef National Park contains nearly a quarter million acres in the slickrock country of Utah. Plant and animal life is diverse because of a variety of habitats such as pinyon-juniper, perennial streams, dry washes and rock cliffs."
Traveling westbound on Interstate 70: Take Utah State Highway 24 west towards Hanksville (exit 149). Stay on Highway 24 for 95 miles (153 km) to reach the visitor center.
Traveling on Interstate 15: Take US Highway 50 east at Scipio (exit 188) towards Salina for 30 miles (48.3 km). At the junction with Utah State Highway 89/259, turn right (south) and travel 8 miles (12.9 km). Turn left (east) onto Utah State Highway 24 towards Sigurd. Continue on Highway 24 for 82 miles (132 km) to reach the visitor center.
While there is no fee for entering the National Park if you stay on Highway 24, which includes the Visitor's Center, venturing onto the scenic drive does require a fee. The NPS website (
visit link) lists the various fees for visiting and /or camping in Capitol Reef National Park.