Sight · Capitol Reef National Park
A quick roadside pause for Capitol Reef's uranium story.
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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
Oyler Mine Viewpoint“You're coming up on Oyler Mine Viewpoint at the mouth of Grand Wash.”
Plays as you drive up to Oyler Mine 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
Oyler Mine Viewpoint is a small interpretive stop on Capitol Reef's paved Scenic Drive, where the road reaches the mouth of Grand Wash. It marks the area's abandoned uranium mine. This is a pause to read the panel and take in the canyon scenery, not a hike or a visit to the mine. For a photo, include the small roadside Stop 3 marker against the layered walls from the public pullout.
Use the surface pullout and stay at the public viewing area; don't enter or approach the abandoned workings. The National Park Service warns of radiation and other hazards. The Scenic Drive is paved and suitable for passenger vehicles. Snow, ice, mud, and flash floods can close the drive or its spur roads, so check conditions before setting out.
Prospectors were looking for uranium here in the early 1900s, when the mineral was used in patent medicines. Very little uranium was found, so this was a modest prospect rather than a major producer.
Yellow-gray Shinarump Conglomerate formed as fast braided rivers carried and deposited stones and pebbles. Above it, gray-green Chinle rock records oxygen-poor swamps in a tropical landscape about 215 million years ago. Higher orange and burgundy layers mark the return of oxygen-rich river settings. The sequence gives the canyon walls their changing colors and records different ancient environments.
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
ChallengingCassidy Arch Trail3.4 mi · 3.5 hr · 0.9 mi awayA steep climb to a walkable arch above Grand Wash.
ModerateCohab Canyon Trail1.7 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.9 mi awayA steep Fruita climb opens into a sculpted sandstone canyon.
ModerateFremont River Trail2 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.9 mi awayRiver walk, a steep climb, and broad views over Fruita.
ChallengingFremont Gorge Overlook Trail4.6 mi · 3 hr · 2.1 mi awayA mesa climb ends above the Fremont River, 800 feet below.
ChallengingFrying Pan Trail4.4 mi · 4 hr · 2.1 mi awayA tough mesa crossing with its best views behind you.
ChallengingRim Overlook Trail4.6 mi · 3.5 hr · 2.1 mi awayFruita and the Waterpocket Fold spread below this steep rim climb.
ChallengingNavajo Knobs Trail9.4 mi · 7 hr · 2.1 mi awayA strenuous rim hike to a tiny summit and a huge panorama.
ModerateHickman Bridge Trail1.8 mi · 1.5 hr · 2.1 mi awayA moderate climb to a 133-foot bridge and a loop beneath it.Sight · 0.4 mi awayCassidy ArchWalk across a sandstone arch with Grand Wash far below.
Sight · 1.9 mi awayGrand Wash NarrowsA tight sandstone passage worth the walk from Highway 24.Sight · 1.9 mi awaySouth Fruita OverlookThe layers of the Waterpocket Fold make sense from above Fruita.
Campground · 1.9 mi awayFruita CampgroundAn orchard campground under red cliffs beside the Fremont River.
Sight · 2 mi awayGifford HomesteadFruita's pioneer farmhouse shares its history with the fruit-pie shop.
Sight · 2 mi awayNorth Fruita OverlookA steep climb pays off in a sweeping canyon view.
Picnic area · 2.1 mi awayFruita Picnic AreaA shaded lawn makes a welcome pause in Fruita's red-rock valley.
Sight · 2.1 mi awayNavajo Dome ViewpointA roadside look at Navajo Dome above the Waterpocket Fold.Parkwolf’s Capitol Reef ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
