(NEXSTAR) — It’s nowhere near a capitol, and it certainly doesn’t look like the color reefs you’ll find in Hawaii or off the coast of Australia. So why is this Utah national park called Capitol Reef?

With a name like Capitol Reef, you might expect to find this national park near the ocean. Instead, this gem lies in a sea of rock in Utah. “Early settlers noted that the white domes of Navajo ...

Southern Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park is probably best known for its main geological feature, the Waterpocket Fold, a wrinkle in the Earth that extends nearly 100 miles. But the park also boasts ...

Capitol Reef National Park protects and encloses the 100 mile-long Waterpocket Fold, a massive warping of the earth’s crust. The giant buckle is a sleeping rainbow of stacked sedimentary strata. The ...

One of Capitol Reef’s most topographically diverse hikes wanders through a landscape of contrasts from high and wide-open to a slot inside the earth. The stem-and-loop incorporates four elements: ...

Surprise Canyon offers a short, easy hike into a gorge in the Waterpocket Fold at the southern reaches of Capitol Reef National Park. It is a lovely, manageable adventure— ideal for introducing small ...

Pick heirloom fruit from the park’s historic orchards while balancing on traditional three-legged ladders (mid-June to mid-October). Escape the crowd by fording the shallow Fremont River ...