Torrey Sites

Preservation of Capital Reef began with the declaration of Capitol Reef National Monument on August 2, 1937, via Proclamation 2246 signed by President Franklin Roosevelt.  The original area set aside was only 37,711 acres. Administration of the new monument was placed under the control of Zion National Park and the National Park Service, but Capitol Reef National Monument did not officially open to the public until 1950.  It became a National Park in 1971, under President Richard Nixon, with a much expanded area of 241,000 acres.  The park is 100 miles long but narrow, running north to south, in south-central Utah. It...