Here’s what else travelers should know about Capitol Reef, the latest national park in USA TODAY’s yearlong series: Capitol Reef's colorful rock layers pop along Chimney Rock Loop.

Capitol Reef visitors will find well-kept orchards in the park’s Fruita Rural Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

What is unique about Capitol Reef National Park? “The (park’s) diverse geology creates multiple life zones which support over 1,200 plant and animal species,” Cotrell said.

Given that Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument are all within about 200 miles of each other, why not?

Zion Canyon’s massive sandstone cliffs and slot canyons have inspired people for millennia, long before the area became Utah’s first national park in the early 1900s.

Capitol Reef National Park is one of 115 national parks that have an entrance fee. The other 303 national parks do not charge an entrance fee, according to a press release.

Capitol Reef National Park’s entrance fee program has always been a little strange. Visitors can drive through the main part of the park on Highway 24 and to the visitor center without paying a fee.

Capitol Reef National Park is seeking public feedback as it explores the possibility of increasing its vehicle entrance fee an extra $5 for the second time in three years.

Capitol Reef National Park is a place of dramatic beauty and serenity so remote that the nearest traffic light is 78 miles away.

Towering slabs of chocolate-red rock, sweeping yellow sandstone arches, massive cream-colored domes and stark gray monoliths jut skyward at Capitol Reef National Park in southern Utah, revealing ...