I know next to nothing about Capitol Reef National Park. In fact, I only came here because it was simply along the way. I wasn’t in too much of a hurry and it was convenient for me that it actually was along the way. Looking at the map, visiting Capitol Reef National Park should be pretty straightforward. I was planning to just drive to the interesting spots, take my photos and continue on. It has worked for me for the last two national parks, it shouldn’t be that different here in Capitol Reef. The first stop in a visit to Capitol Reef National Park is a surprising one. It seems that there are petroglyphs here. What’s more they are easily accessible to the public.

Not too far from the visitor center is where the petroglyphs are. These basically symbols carved into rock by the native people scientists have named the Fremont culture. It isn’t exactly clear if they were one single group or separate groups but there were peoples here who inhabited this area prior to the arrival of Columbus. There is a platform here where visitors can have a look at some of the petroglyphs that were left behind by these people. There is also a binocular stand to help people see it better.

As you can see, the petroglyphs are actually rather higher up. It makes me wonder how they managed to make these petroglyphs in the first place. Why where there put there. So many questions but you can’t help but admire how they managed to leave behind a mark which says that they were there. It shows that these people were sophisticated people who also know about art. The meaning of the petroglyphs also also subject to debate. At least some of the figures can be quite obvious but not all of them are.

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