Last updated: October 10, 2024
Place
Scenic Drive Stop 9
NPS / E. Van Ness
Quick Facts
Amenities
6 listed
Parking - Auto, Parking - Bus/RV, Picnic Shelter/Pavilion, Picnic Table, Toilet - Vault/Composting, Trash/Litter Receptacles
Before State Route 24 was completed in 1962, Capitol Gorge provided the only through road from Fruita to the east. Today, the drive ends after 2.4 miles at a trailhead that leads hikers deeper into the historic route. The gorge is susceptible to dangerous flash floods that often arrive with little warning. Avoid this road and all other canyons and washes when storms threaten.
Desert bighorn sheep inhabit the gorge, skillfully jumping along narrow ledges, sometimes only 2 inches wide. Males have large, coiled horns while female horns are short, narrow, and slightly curved. Within a herd, males fight for dominance by charging head on until one retreats. While bighorn sheep have lived in this area for thousands of years, they were locally extinct by the 1940’s due to over-hunting and disease from domestic sheep. Between 1996 and 1997, forty sheep were transferred from Canyonlands National Park to Capitol Reef and the population has been increasing. The loud crack of clashing horns echoing through the canyon is a ring of success both for the dominant male sheep and for the population as a whole.
Desert bighorn sheep inhabit the gorge, skillfully jumping along narrow ledges, sometimes only 2 inches wide. Males have large, coiled horns while female horns are short, narrow, and slightly curved. Within a herd, males fight for dominance by charging head on until one retreats. While bighorn sheep have lived in this area for thousands of years, they were locally extinct by the 1940’s due to over-hunting and disease from domestic sheep. Between 1996 and 1997, forty sheep were transferred from Canyonlands National Park to Capitol Reef and the population has been increasing. The loud crack of clashing horns echoing through the canyon is a ring of success both for the dominant male sheep and for the population as a whole.