Capitol Reef National Park was established to preserve the land within the structure of the Waterpocket Fold. Cathedral Valley is not part of the Fold but has features considered worth protecting so it was included within the Park. The rocks in the Cathedrals are flat lying and the temples and cathedrals are simply erosional remnants. Hiking here has a different "feel" than hiking in most places in the Park. Cattle grazed in Cathedral Valley until 1999 so the area is just starting to recover.
| TIME: | 3-4 hours. |
| ELEVATION GAIN: | 400 feet. |
| DIFFICULTY: | Moderate route finding. Moderate scrambling |
| MAPS: | Fruita NW |
| GEOLOGY: | Great erosional geology. |
| CIRCLE TRIP: | No. |
| ACCESS: | From the Visitor Center, drive 18.6 miles east on Highway 24 to the Cainville Wash Road. Turn left (north) on the dirt road and drive 15.2 miles to the signed Lower Cathedral junction to Temple of the Sun. Turn left and drive 1.8 miles to the signed Temple. (T) |
Walk past Temple of the Sun on the north side and walk west along the main wash. As you walk, notice the surrounding landscape. The floor of the Valley is in the Entrada Sandstone and Temples of the Sun and Moon are composed of that same rock. Well up the slopes on the sides of the valley there is a light gray layer. That is the Curtis Formation, and above that to the top of the slope is the Summerville Formation.
Fifteen minutes up the wash there is a junction. Take the (R) right (north) fork. The farther west the wash goes the more obvious it becomes that there is a wall up to 300 feet high across the valley from north to south.
After five more minutes take the right (north) fork at another junction. Just over a mile from the beginning of the hike there is a "Mini Temple" on the right (east) side of the wash with "rabbit ears" on top. At the base of the temple the tallest bush is a leafless, green stick plant called Mormon Tea. The circle of tall grass is Alkali Sacaton, and the little low symmetrical plant is Snakeweed.
Study the upper portion of the wall that crosses the valley. There are numerous thin or thick black layers at and just below the top of the wall. These are igneous sills. The wall exists because these sills are much more resistant to erosion than is the sandstone so the sills protect the rock under them. Once the sill is removed, the underlying sandstone erodes down.
From the mini temple (A) walk west across the wash, then slowly turn south and follow the wall, winding east of some low hills and west of others. Keep going until close to the south edge of the valley where the face of the wall bends around toward the right (west) and the height of the wall decreases significantly.
Walk west to the first wash (B) coming from the right (north). Walk up that wash and where a sill has formed a pour-over (P) go up the right (east) side. As you step over the sill stay right hugging the cliff a ways. Keep moving up and fifty feet beyond the sill there is a good view of what lies ahead. Follow the cliff on the right (east) as it bends around to the right and up the side of a minor drainage.
Keep going up and around to the right (east) and a nice break in the cliff (E) becomes apparent.
Walk up through that break, then turn left (north) and continue up, going around small canyons until it is possible to walk to the base of the temple. Be sure to keep track of the route since it is the only reasonable way back. Once at the base of (PN) North Temple walk around it and explore the area before returning.
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23June2017
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