Located in south-central Utah in the heart of red rock country, CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK is a hidden treasure filled with cliffs, canyons, domes and bridges in the Waterpocket Fold, a geologic monocline (a wrinkle on the earth) extending almost 100 miles (160 km).
President Roosevelt signed a proclamation creating Capitol Reef National Monument on August 2, 1937.
The National Park, established in 1971 by President Richard Nixon, preserves 241,904 acres (978.95 km2; 377.98 sq mi).

The area of Capitol Reef has been a homeland to people for thousands of years. Archaic hunters and gatherers migrated through the canyons. Fremont Culture solidified around 500 CE, from food foraging groups, to farmers of corn, beans and squash. Petroglyphs etched in rock walls and painted pictographs remain as sacred remnants of the ancient Indians' saga. Explorers, Mormon pioneers and others arrived in the 1800s, settling in what is now the Fruita Rural Historic District. They planted and nurtured orchards of apples, pears, and peaches.