Wide open spaces greet visitors at Capitol Reef National Pk

Capitol Reef National Park was named for the line of white domes and cliffs of Navajo Sandstone, each of which looks somewhat like the United States Capitol building

Much of Capitol Reef looks like a game of Jenga due to the brittle nature of the local sandstone; the park is only 6 miles wide on average but is 60 miles long

The one room Behunin Cabin was completed in 1882 as home to a family of 13; the boys slept outside while the girls slept in the wagon

These petroglyphs were created by Native Americans who lived in the area between 700 and 1300 AD; the Navajo once called this colorful area Land of the Sleeping Rainbow

The dry streambed at Capitol Gorge was used by pioneers to traverse the area; it's hard enough exploring the area by car or on foot so it's incredible to think of what motivated Americans to move west

Hickman Bridge (125 ft high and 133 ft wide) is the destination for the most popular hike in the park; it was created by intermittent flash floods through the Kayenta sandstone

The Hickman Bridge Trail goes directly underneath the bridge which is a perspective you don't often get; the park is more than 2 hrs west of Moab and 3 1/2 hrs south of Salt Lake City

The park is littered with volcanic black boulders that are about 20 million years old; supposedly admission is $20 per car per week but there are no manned pay stations like at other parks

Cassidy Arch is named after Butch Cassidy as he and his Wild Bunch used the Grand Wash to get through the Waterpocket Fold; this popular hike was rated strenuous but, other than lots of climbing, it wasn't very difficult

Mormon settlers created a Pioneer Register on the walls of Capitol Gorge that date back to 1871; the gorge became a wagon trail enabling settlers to cross the Waterpocket Fold

Cassidy Arch is not actually an arch but is a natural bridge (you can walk across the top of it); Capitol Reef is a great place to social distance since there are very few tourists

This mule deer was intrigued by my camera; he came right up to me and sniffed the camera but decided it wasn't edible and went back to eating grass

The Fruita schoolhouse was built in 1896 with the first teacher being a local girl aged 12; the school stayed in operation until 1941 when it closed due to lack of students

The park was established in 1971 to protect the majority of the 100 mile long Waterpocket Fold (the largest exposed monocline in North America)