Capitol Reef by Accident: Petroglyphs and Badlands

Capitol Reef was not part of my plan. After I gave up on a Mount Ellen attempt because the rental car did not have enough clearance, I suddenly had a few spare hours. Instead of trying to force another mountain into the day, I slowed down and kept driving.

The slightly embarrassing part is that, before that afternoon, I had never even heard of Capitol Reef National Park. I certainly had not heard of its Fremont petroglyphs. That changed rather quickly.

A national park I had never heard of

Capitol Reef is built around the Waterpocket Fold, a nearly 100-mile-long monocline where tilted sedimentary layers create a long sequence of cliffs, ridges, domes and valleys. I knew none of that when I arrived. I was simply following the road through increasingly interesting red-rock country.

Broad layered red sandstone cliffs rising above a dry, shrub-dotted desert floor in Capitol Reef National Park. — Red Cliffs of Capitol Reef
Layered red cliffs rise above sparse desert vegetation in Capitol Reef National Park.

Chimney Rock rising as a narrow red sandstone tower beside layered cliffs in Capitol Reef National Park. — Chimney Rock at Capitol Reef
Chimney Rock stands beside the layered red cliffs of Capitol Reef.

A sandy wash winding between red cliffs, low shrubs and scattered trees in Capitol Reef National Park. — Sandy Wash Between Red Cliffs
A sandy wash cuts between red cliffs and scattered desert vegetation.

Red cliffs, Chimney Rock and a sandy wash were my introduction to a park that had not existed anywhere in my plans that morning.

A paved road curving through a broad red-rock desert basin beneath layered cliffs in Capitol Reef National Park. — Road Through the Waterpocket Fold
A paved road curves through the red-rock landscape of the Waterpocket Fold.

Utah Highway 24 curves through the exposed layers of the Waterpocket Fold. Driving slowly turned out to be a much better use of the afternoon than rushing somewhere else.

The geology changed almost from one bend to the next. Red sandstone sat above paler green-grey layers, while softer beds had been carved into rounded ribs and gullies.

Red and pale green-gray sedimentary rock layers exposed beneath a jagged sandstone ridge in Capitol Reef National Park. — Layered Rock of the Waterpocket Fold
Contrasting sedimentary layers reveal the varied rock sequence exposed in the Waterpocket Fold.

Rounded and deeply eroded red rock layers beneath a pale cliff in Capitol Reef National Park. — Eroded Red Rock Layers
Rounded red strata and pale rock layers show the effects of differential erosion.

Contrasting rock layers and different erosion patterns make the Waterpocket Fold unusually easy to read from the road.

Following the stopped cars

At one point I noticed many cars stopping and people walking towards the cliffs. I did not know what everyone was looking at, so naturally I stopped too. The attraction was the Fremont Culture petroglyph panel along Highway 24.

The National Park Service dates Fremont and Ancestral Puebloan occupation of this region to roughly 300-1300 CE. The roadside site is viewed from two wooden boardwalks, and its sandstone panels include human-like figures, bighorn sheep, other animals and geometric designs.

Fremont Culture petroglyph figures visible on a red sandstone wall above broken boulders in Capitol Reef National Park. — Fremont Petroglyphs on Red Sandstone
Fremont Culture petroglyphs appear on a red sandstone wall above fallen blocks.

A weathered sandstone panel with faint Fremont Culture human-like and geometric petroglyph figures along Utah Highway 24. — Fremont Culture Petroglyph Panel
A weathered panel preserves human-like and geometric Fremont Culture figures along Utah Highway 24.

Some figures are obvious immediately; others almost disappear into the weathered sandstone and desert varnish.

A broad sandstone panel with numerous faint Fremont Culture petroglyphs, partly framed by green leaves. — Broad Fremont Petroglyph Panel
A broad Fremont Culture petroglyph panel stretches across the weathered sandstone surface.

The broad panels reward a slower look. The National Park Service notes that visitors often notice more figures the longer they study the rock.

Faint Fremont Culture petroglyph figures on a narrow vertical sandstone face in Capitol Reef National Park. — Petroglyphs on a Narrow Rock Face
Faint petroglyph figures remain visible on a narrow vertical rock face.

Several small animal-like Fremont Culture petroglyph figures beneath a shallow sandstone overhang. — Animal Petroglyphs in Sandstone
Small animal-like figures are pecked into a pale band of sandstone beneath an overhang.

Smaller figures continue across narrow faces and shallow recesses, including several animal forms that are easy to miss at first glance.

The short stop reminded me of other rock-art sites I had seen in Valcamonica, Namibia, Turkey and a few other places. I had arrived knowing nothing about the petroglyphs and left pleased that a random line of parked cars had made me investigate.

I also left with the familiar feeling that I had spent too little time. Capitol Reef clearly deserved more than the quick sample I gave it.

East into the badlands

Continuing east, the scenery changed again. Red sandstone towers gave way to the pale, heavily eroded country around Caineville and Factory Butte.

Massive freestanding red sandstone towers rising against a vivid blue sky with white clouds east of Capitol Reef. — Sandstone Towers East of Capitol Reef
Freestanding sandstone towers rise under a clear blue sky east of Capitol Reef.

Freestanding sandstone towers mark the transition from Capitol Reef's red-rock scenery towards the more open desert east of the park.

Around Factory Butte, the Bureau of Land Management describes the terrain as Mancos Shale badlands. Soft sediment has been cut into smooth slopes, narrow ridges and deeply incised gullies, producing a landscape that looks almost engineered despite being entirely erosional.

A broad pale tan cliff with layered rock and eroded lower slopes in the desert east of Capitol Reef. — Pale Cliffs Near Caineville
Pale cliffs and eroded slopes mark the transition into the Caineville desert east of Capitol Reef.

Steep gray-tan badland slopes cut by deep gullies beneath a high layered ridge near Caineville, Utah. — Caineville Badland Slopes
Deep gullies cut through soft gray-tan badland slopes near Caineville.

A flat-topped butte framed by smooth gray-brown badland ridges in the Factory Butte area of Utah. — Butte Above Mancos Shale Badlands
A flat-topped butte rises beyond smooth gray-brown badlands in the Factory Butte area.

A long gray-brown badland ridge etched with closely spaced erosion lines above a flat desert plain. — Rippled Badland Ridge
Closely spaced erosion lines texture a long ridge of soft gray-brown sediment.

Pale cliffs, gullied slopes and long ribbed ridges build the strange open terrain around Caineville and Factory Butte.

Factory Butte rising behind sharply eroded gray Mancos Shale ridges and a narrow rock pinnacle in Utah. — Factory Butte and Mancos Shale Badlands
Factory Butte towers above sharply eroded Mancos Shale badlands east of Capitol Reef.

Factory Butte rises above sharply dissected badlands, with isolated fins and ridges giving the foreground an almost miniature-mountain appearance.

Nearby I made a short detour into the Swing Arm City OHV area. BLM maps it as an open cross-country riding area within the Factory Butte recreation landscape. For me, the more memorable part was simply taking the rented car onto the dry, firm surface and following faint tracks, or occasionally no obvious track at all.

It reminded me of my first trip to Mongolia with Rob, where we had one rule: point in the direction you want to drive and drive. Swing Arm City felt similar on a much smaller scale. The detour was short, but I enjoyed both the freedom of wandering around and the rock formations surrounding the open ground.

A dark mountain range beneath cumulus clouds beyond layered tan and gray badlands in central Utah. — Mountains Beyond the Badlands
Distant mountains rise beyond bands of tan and gray badlands.

A long smooth tan badland ridge with fine erosion lines beneath a saturated blue sky. — Smooth Badland Ridge Under Blue Sky
Fine erosion lines run down a smooth, sparsely vegetated badland ridge.

A broad flat-topped mesa stretching across an open desert plain beneath broken clouds in central Utah. — Long Mesa Across the Open Desert
A broad mesa stretches across the open desert beyond the badland country.

Beyond the main buttes, smooth ridges, distant mountains and broad mesas opened into a much wider central Utah landscape.

Green River for the night

The final part of the drive became increasingly open, with long views across the desert and occasional reminders that this empty-looking landscape is still a transport corridor.

A long passenger train crossing an open, sparsely vegetated Utah desert beneath a wide blue sky. — Passenger Train Across the Utah Desert
A passenger train crosses the open Utah desert beneath a wide blue sky.

A line of parked semi-trucks and trailers beneath a wide pale-blue sky in the open Utah desert. — Trucks Under an Open Western Sky
Parked semi-trucks form a straight line beneath the open western sky.

A passenger train and a line of parked trucks added a useful sense of scale to the wide desert before the day's driving finally ended.

I drove to a car park in Green River and spent the night there. The next morning's plan was Mount Peale.

For a day created by a failed mountain attempt, it turned out rather well. I had started with a few unexpected spare hours and finished having discovered a national park, stopped for Fremont petroglyphs, wandered through an OHV area and found yet another part of Utah I would like to return to with more time.

A national park I had never heard of

Following the stopped cars

East into the badlands

Green River for the night

Photo gallery