Sight · Capitol Reef National Park
A four-mile hike to the sandstone dome above Capitol Gorge.
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 place
Capitol Gorge and Pioneer Register“Capitol Gorge's trailhead is coming up, with a short walk into the canyon's travel history. I'd start with the Pioneer Register, about half a mile in, then return the same way for an easier outing.”
Plays as you drive up to Golden Throne Viewpoint 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
Golden Throne Viewpoint is an overlook at the end of the Golden Throne Trail, above Capitol Gorge. The sandstone butte that gives the hike its name rises across the canyon; this is a viewpoint below it, not the summit. The view also opens toward Boulder Mountain and the Henry Mountains.
Plan on about four miles out and back, with 730 feet of elevation gain. The park rates the trail strenuous. The first 10 to 15 minutes are the steepest; after that, the trail keeps climbing through side canyons. It returns the same way, so leave enough time and energy for the full route.
From Scenic Drive, Capitol Gorge Road runs 2.4 miles over dirt to the trailheads. Its condition can change after rain. Parking and a restroom are available at the road end, but there is no potable water at the trailhead. Summer sun is intense, and monsoon storms can send flash floods through the gorge.
Golden Throne is one of the rounded Navajo Sandstone buttes above Capitol Wash. It sits along the Waterpocket Fold, a nearly 100-mile warp in the region's rock layers. A buried fault moved roughly 50 to 70 million years ago to create the fold; erosion exposed its tilted layers much later.
Capitol Gorge once carried the original road through the park. Through traffic ended in 1962, and the canyon became a hiking destination; Golden Throne Trail was part of a set of trails built during park improvements from 1960 to 1966.
The viewpoint gives you Golden Throne above Capitol Gorge. Keep part of the canyon in the frame so the picture shows where the dome stands, and look for the late-day light that brings out the sandstone's color.
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
EasyCapitol Gorge Trail2 mi · 1.5 hr · 1 mi awayFollow a sandy gorge to historic names and stone waterpockets.
ChallengingGolden Throne Trail4 mi · 2.5 hr · 1 mi awayA strenuous climb to a knoll below Capitol Reef’s Golden Throne.
ChallengingOld Wagon Trail Loop3.8 mi · 3 hr · 1.4 mi awayA steady climb earns a long view over the Waterpocket Fold.
ModerateLower Pleasant Creek6.8 mi · 4.5 hr · 2.4 mi awayA sandstone canyon walk that keeps sending you across the creek.
ModerateUpper Pleasant Creek Route7.6 mi · 5 hr · 2.4 mi awayWalk a narrowing creek canyon to cascades in pale sandstone.
ChallengingCassidy Arch Trail3.4 mi · 3.5 hr · 3.8 mi awayA steep climb to a walkable arch above Grand Wash.
EasyGrand Wash Trail4.4 mi · 3 hr · 4.4 mi awayA gentle wash walk that tightens into shadowed sandstone narrows.
Picnic area · 0.5 mi awayScenic Drive Picnic AreaA sheltered lunch stop at the end of the paved Scenic Drive.
Picnic area · 1.1 mi awayCapitol Gorge Picnic AreaA covered picnic stop at the start of a storied gorge walk.
Sight · 1.3 mi awayPioneer RegisterTwo prospectors left their names here on September 20, 1871.
Sight · 1.6 mi awayThe TanksSmall rain-fed pools turn pale sandstone into living habitat.
Sight · 1.9 mi awaySlickrock DivideA quick stop where ripple slabs sit on a drainage divide.Sight · 3.8 mi awayCassidy ArchWalk across a sandstone arch with Grand Wash far below.
Sight · 3.9 mi awayOyler Mine ViewpointA quick roadside pause for Capitol Reef's uranium story.
Sight · 4.1 mi awayGrand Wash NarrowsA tight sandstone passage worth the walk from Highway 24.Parkwolf’s Capitol Reef ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
