Scenic pullout · Capitol Reef National Park
A quick map stop before the 15-mile Highway 24 crossing.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Capitol Reef Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Capitol Reef National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Capitol Reef audio tourRecorded for this area
How a Rattle Grows“A rattlesnake adds a new section to its rattle each time it sheds its skin. The rattle is made of hollow, loosely connected scales.”
Plays on the road 0.6 mi from Capitol Reef East Entrance Wayside in the Parkwolf Capitol Reef Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Capitol Reef East Entrance Wayside is a roadside orientation pullout where Utah Highway 24 enters the park from the east. Welcome boards mark the easternmost stop on the park’s 15-mile Highway 24 crossing. Give it a few minutes if you want to place the route before driving west; if you’re already set, it can stay a quick sign stop.
The gray sloping badlands east of the park are mostly Mancos Shale, a marine rock unit reaching about 2,000 feet thick and the park’s thickest exposed layer. Along the corridor toward Hanksville, the road passes traces of former settler communities at Aldridge, Clifton, Elephant and Giles; flooding and gradual depopulation ended those towns.
The sandstone park sign is the natural quick photo stop, with its stone base and arrowhead emblem giving the entrance marker a clear shape. Recent visitors have mentioned a camera support in front of the sign, handy for a solo shot if it’s still there. A pit toilet serves the pullout; water availability and accessibility details are unclear.
Wildlife
50 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
322 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
70 sightingsMarmotMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
13 sightingsCottontail RabbitMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
33 sightingsTurkeyMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
14 sightingsRavenMost seen around 9 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Capitol Reef. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyGrand Wash Trail4.4 mi · 3 hr · 3.5 mi awayA gentle wash walk that tightens into shadowed sandstone narrows.
ChallengingCassidy Arch Trail3.4 mi · 3.5 hr · 4.9 mi awayA steep climb to a walkable arch above Grand Wash.Parkwolf’s Capitol Reef ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
