Behunin Cabin

Behunin Cabin is a small, one-room sandstone homestead in Capitol Reef’s Fruita District, about six miles east of the visitor center on UT-24. It’s a good brief history stop while you’re driving the highway, rather than a destination to make a separate trip for. The cabin is visible from the unpaved pullout; the lot works for 2WD vehicles and RVs, though parking is limited for large vehicles. Current visitor information doesn’t confirm interior access, so plan to see the cabin from outside. No food, restroom, or drinking water is listed for this pullout.

The cabin measures about 13 by 16.5 feet, roughly 215 square feet. Elijah and Tabitha Jane Behunin built it in the early 1880s, and it was too small for the whole family: the older boys slept in a sandstone alcove, while the older girls used a covered wagon box. That arrangement gives the little building its scale better than the word “cabin” does. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

Flash floods washed out the crops the Behunins had planted, and the family left after about a year. They moved east to Caineville, then returned to the Capitol Reef area by 1893 and settled in Junction, now Fruita. Their daughter Nettie taught her younger siblings, and by 1896 the community had built a one-room schoolhouse.

Elijah, his sons, and other neighbors worked to keep a wagon road open through Capitol Gorge and up to Fruita. Summer storms, flash floods, and winter snow often made the route impassable. After about a decade, the family moved on to Notom, although their daughter Mary Jane stayed in Fruita with her husband, Nels Johnson, whom the park recognizes as the area's first settler.

The pullout is right beside the building, so you can make the stop without a hike. For a useful photo, include the pale cliffs rising behind the cabin; they show the little homestead in its setting instead of making it look like an isolated façade.