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The small town of Torrey acts as a gateway to Capitol Reef National Park, a place of towering ocher, red and white rock walls and deep river canyons. The park takes its name from a multi-layered 100-foot-high reef-like wall of uplifted sedimentary rock, part of which reminded an early traveler of the dome of the US Capitol building.

Stretching over 100 miles from north to south, but only a few miles wide, the Waterpocket Fold sharply defines sedimentary layers that reflect 200 million years of geology. The only paved highway in the park cuts through the northern half of the Fold, past Grand Wash to Capital Gorge, and then follows the deep canyon of the Fremont River past the enormous rocky outcrop known as the Castle. The Fremont petroglyphs feature bighorn sheep and images of people carved from the rock 1,000 years ago, while at Gooseneck Overlook visitors can peer down 500 feet into stunning entrenched canyons.