Pioneer Register

Pioneer Register is a stretch of sandstone wall covered with names and dates left by prospectors, surveyors, settlers, and other travelers. The main group of inscriptions is about half a mile from the Capitol Gorge trailhead. It makes a good short history stop if you like reading the marks people left as they crossed this remote canyon.

Drive the Scenic Drive to the end of Capitol Gorge Road, then walk down the wash. The final spur is unpaved, and access depends on weather. About half a mile in, look to the north wall on your left; the inscriptions sit high above the wash, where early visitors sometimes stood on wagons to carve their names. The sandstone walls close around the route, and the names are the reason to stop and look carefully rather than hurry through.

The register covers 1871 to 1946. The earliest names identified here are prospectors J.A. Call and Wal. Bateman, dated September 20, 1871. Many Fruita and Wayne County residents also left their names, along with travelers passing through. A French archaeological party added four names in 1893. Hanksville shopkeeper C.A. Gibbons is also tied to the wall's story; he was said to have furnished Zane Grey with the story for his 1915 novel Wildfire.

On the way back, look high on the south wall for four inscriptions tied to Utah surveyors John R. Stewart and his half-brother Quinby. In 1912 they carved a date a year early, then let University of Utah geology students think the canyon had eroded about 40 feet in one year. It is a good reminder that even a historic-looking mark can have a story behind how it got there.

Allow about half a mile each way from the trailhead. The route is an easy stroll, but the stop itself is one wall, so it suits a curious history break more than a long visit. Summer walks can be hot and exposed, with little shade. For a photo, take a wider view that shows how the inscriptions sit on the canyon wall, then move in on a name or date; the higher marks are easier to appreciate when you look up from the wash. Please leave the rock untouched: carving, scratching, painting, or otherwise defacing canyon walls and historic sites is illegal.