Lesley Morrell Line Cabin

Lesley Morrell Line Cabin is a one-room log ranching cabin beside the remains of a small corral on an open sagebrush flat. The cabin, hitching rack and sandstone backdrop make it a distinctive historic stop in Cathedral Valley. Keep it on your itinerary if you are already taking the valley drive; the remote road is a much bigger commitment than the easy 0.4-mile walk.

The roadside pull-off is 28.1 miles from Highway 24 on Cathedral Road, 1.8 miles north of the Hartnet Road junction. From there, follow the path 0.2 mile each way across open ground and a wash that can carry shallow water. The walk is short and easy. The route is rough and remote: high clearance of at least 8 inches is needed, with four-wheel drive often recommended; wet bentonite and deep sand can make roads impassable. Cathedral Road avoids the Fremont River ford; Hartnet crosses it without a bridge. These roads are infrequently maintained and not plowed in winter. Check current road conditions and the forecast, and carry extra food and water. There is no food service at the cabin, so plan supplies before leaving paved routes.

Family history traces the cabin to Paul Christensen, who built it in the 1920s as a summer house at his sawmill on Lake Creek, on Thousand Lake Mountain. Around 1935, cattleman Lesley Morrell bought it, dismantled and reassembled it here, then used it as a winter camp for cowboys until 1970. His family sold it to the National Park Service. The cabin and corral are among Capitol Reef's best-preserved ranching resources. They also reflect a wider change after the 1934 Taylor Grazing Act, when grazing allotments led to fixed ranges and more wells, corrals and line shacks.

The cabin stands against Cathedral Valley's colorful sandstone formations, with a hitching rack in front and the small corral remains to the south near a wash. Visitors can look through the windows at the interior; don't count on going inside. For a photo that explains the setting, frame the cabin with the hitching rack and the red-and-cream cliffs behind it.