Grand Wash Formation
This is the formation you see on the 12-mile Scenic Drive as you prepare to make the turn into Grand Wash Road. Grand Wash is a famous gorge that cuts its way through the upper portion of the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park. The wash connects the Scenic Road to Highway 24. The dry slot canyons in Capitol Reef (provided there are no flash floods) are an alternative to hiking Zion Narrows.
Capitol Reef got its name from a line of white domes and cliffs of Navajo Sandstone, each of which looks somewhat like the United States Capitol building, that run from the Fremont River to Pleasant Creek on the Waterpocket Fold. The Waterpocket Fold is a 100-mile long wrinkle in the earth's crust known as a monocline. It extends from nearby Thousand Lakes Mountain to the Colorado River (now Lake Powell). Capitol Reef National Park was established to protect this colorful and immense geologic feature.
Grand Wash Formation
This is the formation you see on the 12-mile Scenic Drive as you prepare to make the turn into Grand Wash Road. Grand Wash is a famous gorge that cuts its way through the upper portion of the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park. The wash connects the Scenic Road to Highway 24. The dry slot canyons in Capitol Reef (provided there are no flash floods) are an alternative to hiking Zion Narrows.
Capitol Reef got its name from a line of white domes and cliffs of Navajo Sandstone, each of which looks somewhat like the United States Capitol building, that run from the Fremont River to Pleasant Creek on the Waterpocket Fold. The Waterpocket Fold is a 100-mile long wrinkle in the earth's crust known as a monocline. It extends from nearby Thousand Lakes Mountain to the Colorado River (now Lake Powell). Capitol Reef National Park was established to protect this colorful and immense geologic feature.