The Castle is a 6,387-foot (1,947 m) summit in Capitol Reef National Park in Wayne County, Utah, United States.[2] This iconic landmark is situated 0.5 mi (0.80 km) immediately north of the park's visitor center, towering nearly 800 feet (240 m) above the center and Utah State Route 24. Precipitation runoff from this feature is drained by tributaries of the Fremont River.
The uppermost portion of The Castle is composed of hard, jointedWingate Sandstone, which is great for rock climbing, and is believed to have formed about 200 million years ago. This overlays the exposed gray-green layer of the Chinle Formation which was laid down as volcanic ash about 225 million years ago, and beneath Chinle is the Moenkopi Formation (about 245 million years old), all of which date to the Triassic.[3] Long after the sedimentary rocks were deposited, the Colorado Plateau was uplifted relatively evenly, keeping the layers roughly horizontal, but Capitol Reef is an exception because of the Waterpocket Fold, a classic monocline, which formed between 50 and 70 million years ago during the Laramide Orogeny.[4]
GalleryEdit
West aspect. Grayish strata is Chinle Formation, brown layer (bottom) is Moenkopi
Casting shadow at sunset, from Sunset Point
From visitor center
Looking down at The Castle, from the east.
ClimateEdit
Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit The Castle. According to the Köppen climate classification system, it is located in a Cold semi-arid climate zone, which is defined by the coldest month having an average mean temperature below 32 °F (0 °C), and at least 50% of the total annual precipitation being received during the spring and summer. This desert climate receives less than 10 inches (250 millimeters) of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.
Climate data for Capitol Reef Visitor Center, elevation 5,653 ft (1,723 m), 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1981–2019
^"PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University". Retrieved February 19, 2019.
External linksEdit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Castle (Capitol Reef National Park).
Capitol Reef National Park National Park Service
The Castle: Weather forecast
August 25, 2023
castle, capitol, reef, national, park, castle, foot, summit, capitol, reef, national, park, wayne, county, utah, united, states, this, iconic, landmark, situated, immediately, north, park, visitor, center, towering, nearly, feet, above, center, utah, state, ro. The Castle is a 6 387 foot 1 947 m summit in Capitol Reef National Park in Wayne County Utah United States 2 This iconic landmark is situated 0 5 mi 0 80 km immediately north of the park s visitor center towering nearly 800 feet 240 m above the center and Utah State Route 24 Precipitation runoff from this feature is drained by tributaries of the Fremont River The CastleThe Castle south aspect October 2012Highest pointElevation6 387 ft 1 947 m 1 Prominence327 ft 100 m 1 Parent peakPeak 6700 1 Isolation0 52 mi 0 84 km 1 Coordinates38 17 55 N 111 15 51 W 38 2986188 N 111 2640679 W 38 2986188 111 2640679 2 GeographyThe CastleLocation in UtahShow map of UtahThe CastleThe Castle the United States Show map of the United StatesLocationCapitol Reef National ParkWayne County Utah USParent rangeColorado PlateauTopo mapUSGS Twin RocksGeologyAge of rockTriassicType of rockWingate SandstoneClimbingEasiest routeclass 5 climbing 1 Contents 1 Geology 2 Gallery 3 Climate 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksGeology EditThe uppermost portion of The Castle is composed of hard jointed Wingate Sandstone which is great for rock climbing and is believed to have formed about 200 million years ago This overlays the exposed gray green layer of the Chinle Formation which was laid down as volcanic ash about 225 million years ago and beneath Chinle is the Moenkopi Formation about 245 million years old all of which date to the Triassic 3 Long after the sedimentary rocks were deposited the Colorado Plateau was uplifted relatively evenly keeping the layers roughly horizontal but Capitol Reef is an exception because of the Waterpocket Fold a classic monocline which formed between 50 and 70 million years ago during the Laramide Orogeny 4 Gallery Edit West aspect Grayish strata is Chinle Formation brown layer bottom is Moenkopi Casting shadow at sunset from Sunset Point From visitor center Looking down at The Castle from the east Climate EditSpring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit The Castle According to the Koppen climate classification system it is located in a Cold semi arid climate zone which is defined by the coldest month having an average mean temperature below 32 F 0 C and at least 50 of the total annual precipitation being received during the spring and summer This desert climate receives less than 10 inches 250 millimeters of annual rainfall and snowfall is generally light during the winter Climate data for Capitol Reef Visitor Center elevation 5 653 ft 1 723 m 1981 2010 normals extremes 1981 2019Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high F C 58 6 14 8 68 3 20 2 78 3 25 7 84 4 29 1 94 6 34 8 100 2 37 9 100 8 38 2 97 9 36 6 95 4 35 2 86 1 30 1 70 4 21 3 61 5 16 4 100 8 38 2 Average high F C 40 6 4 8 46 4 8 0 54 7 12 6 65 0 18 3 74 5 23 6 85 3 29 6 90 4 32 4 87 9 31 1 80 2 26 8 66 1 18 9 51 3 10 7 40 6 4 8 65 3 18 5 Average low F C 17 8 7 9 22 7 5 2 30 2 1 0 36 2 2 3 44 7 7 1 53 1 11 7 60 4 15 8 58 5 14 7 50 4 10 2 39 0 3 9 27 6 2 4 18 2 7 7 38 3 3 5 Record low F C 4 2 20 1 11 8 24 3 9 1 12 7 18 1 7 7 27 2 2 7 34 6 1 4 42 4 5 8 45 1 7 3 29 9 1 2 11 7 11 3 8 0 13 3 7 5 21 9 11 8 24 3 Average precipitation inches mm 0 52 13 0 34 8 6 0 53 13 0 47 12 0 59 15 0 47 12 0 91 23 1 20 30 0 80 20 0 98 25 0 49 12 0 32 8 1 7 62 194 Average dew point F C 17 3 8 2 20 8 6 2 23 0 5 0 24 5 4 2 29 1 1 6 32 0 0 0 40 0 4 4 41 8 5 4 34 8 1 6 28 2 2 1 21 9 5 6 17 5 8 1 27 6 2 4 Source PRISM 5 See also Edit Mountains portal Utah portal Colorado Plateau Geology of the Capitol Reef area Chimney RockReferences Edit a b c d e Castle The 6 387 UT listsofjohn com Retrieved 2020 09 25 a b U S Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System The Castle Capitol Reef s Castle USGS gov Capitol Reef Geology NPS gov PRISM Climate Group Oregon State University Retrieved February 19 2019 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Castle Capitol Reef National Park Capitol Reef National Park National Park Service The Castle Weather forecast Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Castle Capitol Reef National Park amp oldid 1141495404, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
