Capitol Reef National Park is located in south-central Utah within Wayne, Garfield, Sevier, and Emery Counties. The geographic coordinates for the visitor center are at 38°17′ 29” North Latitude, 111°15′ 43” West Longitude. The region was originally named Wayne Wonderland by an advocacy group formed by Ephraim P. Pectol and Joseph S. Hickman in 1921. In 1925, a state legislator helped pass a bill to create the Utah Board of State Park Commissioners, although it did not receive funding. On July 19th, 1925, Utah Governor George H. Dern visited Fruita to celebrate the proposed ‘Wayne Wonderland State Park.’ It took until 1931 when Zion National Park Superintendent Thomas Allen Jr. consulted with interested citizens in favor of the park to renew interest. By October 19, 1932, Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Roger Toll began investigating a proposal to advance Wayne Wonderland to a National Park or Monument status. In 1933, the Utah legislature passed a resolution urging rapid action to create Wayne Wonderland as a national monument or national park. In 1935 the name was changed to Capitol Reef for the white Navajo sandstone domes likened to those at the nation’s capital. The term ‘reef’ implies an impenetrable barrier which formed along the Waterpocket Fold, a nearly one-hundred-mile long monoclinal fold that encompasses the majority of the park. President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated it a national monument on August 2nd, 1937 by Presidential Proclamation 2249 to protect the geologic formations throughout the area. By 1938 the park had a total of 1,500 visitors. Due to its isolated location and lack of adequate transportation routes, the monument was not officially opened to the public until May 1st, 1950 with an activated budget of $6,500. Charles Kelly became the first park superintendent in 1951 after spending the past seven years in the capacity of a custodian, and as the first officially employed worker. In February, 1953, the National Park Service issued the Atomic Energy Commission a permit to begin uranium mining at Capitol Reef National Monument. Between 1951 and 1954 jurisdiction over Capitol Reef switched from Zion National Park to a Southwest Regional Office and back again. On July 2nd, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued Presidential Proclamation 3249 enlarging Capitol Reef National Monument to 3,040 acres. In February 1959, the special permit to the Atomic Energy Commission expired ending the ‘uranium boom.’ New trails were created and older trails were improved from 1960-66. In 1962, Utah State highway 24 was paved through the Fremont River canyon following a rerouting of the Fremont River. In August 1962, Capitol Gorge, the original road through the park, was officially closed to vehicle traffic, and became a hiking trail. On January 20th, 1969, President Lyndon B. Johnson expanded the park by 215,056 acres adding Cathedral Valley to the north, and Halls Creek Narrows to the south. From 1969-72 the Southern Utah Group of the National Park Service oversaw Capitol Reef. Capitol Reef National Park was officially established by an Act of Congress with Public Law 92-207, and signed by President Richard Nixon on December 18th, 1971. The park boundary was readjusted to 241,904 acres (377.98 sq mi; 97,895.08 ha; 978.95 km2) of desert landscape. In 1986 the last mining claims with Capitol Reef were considered null and void after the remaining claim holders failed to file an intent to continue to mine. In 2016 park visitation totaled 612,656, and in 2020 the park broke the one million visitors mark at 1,064,904 visitors.