The Old Wagon Loop runs 3.75 miles along an old pioneer wagon route up the broad eastern flank of Miners Mountain. This lightly used trail offers some of the broadest views across the Waterpocket Fold from the west side of Capitol Reef National Park.

The term 'reef' is used to describe a section of land or sea through which navigation and passage is very difficult

The Old Wagon Trail offers a brief glimpse over Capitol Wash, which forms down the broad east slope of Miners Mountain and cuts through Capitol Gorge

Pinyon pine trees provided a reliable and nutrient-dense food source for ancestral inhabitants, with exceptionally high levels of protein and fat

The Waterpocket Fold is an 87 mile long monocline - or wrinkle - in the Earth's crust that tilts steeply from west to east

A low rising butte visible from all points on the trail provides some of the best panoramic vantages on the loop

The Waterpocket Fold formed 50 - 70 million years ago as a major mountain building event - the Laramide Orogeny - activated an ancient fault that thrust overlying rock upwards and formed a monocline

Nearly 10,000' of sedimentary strata are exposed in the Capitol Reef area, ranging from the Permian (270 M years) to the Cretaceous (80 M) periods

The Miners Mountain area covers approximately 85 square miles west of Capitol Reef in Wayne County

Rock layers on the west side of the Waterpocket Fold have been lifted more than 7000' higher than layers on the east