Last updated: October 10, 2024
Place
The Castle Viewpoint
NPS
The Castle is an iconic rock outcrop in Capitol Reef, rising above the Visitor Center and Sulphur Creek.
Erosion carved a U-shaped moat through a chunk of the cliffs above the highway. This has isolated a bluff of Wingate Sandstone we call The Castle. At eye level are the burnt sienna sheets of the Moenkopi Formation. Above that are the smooth, grey-green and maroon hummocks of the Chinle Formation. The Chinle is strewn with large slabs eroded from the massive, vertical cliffs of the Wingate Sandstone. Above the Wingate is the Kayenta Formation, which is often thinner and covered with piñon pines and junipers. Rising at the tops of the cliffs are the rolling, whitish domes of the Navajo Sandstone. These rock layers are star players across many of the public lands of southern Utah. These include Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Natural Bridges NM, GSENM, Zion NP, and more.
Erosion carved a U-shaped moat through a chunk of the cliffs above the highway. This has isolated a bluff of Wingate Sandstone we call The Castle. At eye level are the burnt sienna sheets of the Moenkopi Formation. Above that are the smooth, grey-green and maroon hummocks of the Chinle Formation. The Chinle is strewn with large slabs eroded from the massive, vertical cliffs of the Wingate Sandstone. Above the Wingate is the Kayenta Formation, which is often thinner and covered with piñon pines and junipers. Rising at the tops of the cliffs are the rolling, whitish domes of the Navajo Sandstone. These rock layers are star players across many of the public lands of southern Utah. These include Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Natural Bridges NM, GSENM, Zion NP, and more.