Capitol Reef National Park is definitely one of Utah’s best hidden gems, offering charming historical villages, fascinating ancient petroglyphs, and tons of otherworldly rock formations. The Temple of the Sun and the Moon, two enormous sandstone monoliths that tower over the desert floor below, are just a few of the jaw-dropping formations that you’ll find in the park. However, these ancient and beautiful relics are ABSOLUTELY worth a visit during your time in Capitol Reef.
If you want to explore this incredible spot for yourself, here’s everything you need to know about the Temple of the Sun and the Moon.
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Where are the Temple of the Sun and the Moon located?
The Temple of the Sun and the Moon are two distinct rock formations, which are actually respectively called “Temple of the Sun” and “Temple of the Moon.” Luckily, these impressive monoliths are located here, right next to each other in the remote Cathedral Valley section of Capitol Reef National Park, in between the small towns of Torrey and Hanksville, Utah.
The closest airports to Capitol Reef are either:
- Salt Lake City, about three and a half hours northwest of the park, or
- Las Vegas, Nevada, about five hours southwest of the park.
Unfortunately, regardless of which airport you fly into, you’ll need to rent a car, as there’s no public transit that reaches the park.
That being said, in order to reach the Temple of the Sun and the Moon, you’ll need to drive for at least seventeen miles on an unpaved road that’s pretty intensely washboarded and potholed.
Accordingly, you’ll need to have a rental car with high clearance and four-wheel drive. Additionally, be sure to read the fine print of your contract—a lot of rental car companies don’t allow you to drive on unpaved roads!
How to get the Temple of the Sun and the Moon
As mentioned above, the Temple of the Sun and the Moon are located here, in the Cathedral Valley section of Capitol Reef National Park.
The only way to explore this section of the park is along a 58 mile driving loop. This loop is unpaved and unmaintained, with incredibly sandy and rocky sections, plus some SERIOUS washboarding and potholes.
Because it’s a loop, you can either drive the trail clockwise or counterclockwise. However, regardless of which direction you drive the loop, you’ll need a 4WD and high clearance vehicle.
My husband, Justin, and I are full-time RVers and drive on bumpy National Forest roads all the time. However, our beloved Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Howard (yes, he has a name!), was having a ROUGH time in Cathedral Valley.
In fact, we have visited all of the major landmarks near Hanksville that require off-roading to get to, including the Bentonite Hills, Moonscape Overlook, and Long Dong Silver. The Cathedral Valley road is definitely the roughest drive by a LONG shot. Our four-wheel drive kicked in several times and it took us almost two hours to drive the 17 miles to the Temple of the Moon and the Sun.
Additionally, this area is extremely remote and does not have cell service for dozens and dozens of miles. So I’d strongly recommend thinking twice about whether you’re comfortable driving through the Cathedral Valley on your own or whether you’d be better off taking a tour (more on that below!).
Driving the Cathedral Valley Loop clockwise
Per the national park’s website, the most popular way to drive the Cathedral Valley loop is clockwise, starting from the Hartnet Road pull-off of Highway 24.
However, unless you have a super beefy high-clearance, 4WD vehicle AND have at least 8 hours to drive through Cathedral Valley, this wouldn’t be my recommendation.
In order to reach the Temple of the Sun and the Moon from this pull-off, you’ll first need to ford across the Fremont River, which can vary in depth and current, depending on recent rainfall and snowmelt.
Additionally, you’ll be starting your drive quite far away from the rock formations—the Temples of the Sun and Moon are 44 miles away from the Hartnet Road pull-off, down a pretty gnarly road. Accordingly, if you’re mostly interested in just seeing the Temple of the Sun and the Moon in the Cathedral Valley (plus some epic scenery along the way), I wouldn’t recommend going this way.
Driving the Cathedral Valley Loop clockwise
Alternatively, you can start the Cathedral Valley loop counterclockwise, taking this turnoff from Highway 24 onto County Road and continuing on to Cathedral Road.
From this direction, you don’t have to ford a river to reach the Temple of the Sun and the Moon (woohoo!) and it’s only a 17 mile drive one-way down the road.
Accordingly, if you’re nervous about driving on Cathedral Valley or are mostly interested in just seeing the monoliths, this is definitely the route I’d recommend driving. It’s what Justin and I did during our time in Capitol Reef and it was the perfect amount of scenery and off-roading adventure for us!
Visiting the Temple of the Sun and the Moon by tour
If you’re new to off-roading, not a confident driver, or feel nervous about driving a rental car on rough terrain, I’d strongly recommend going on a tour here instead.
Not to beat a dead horse, but there’s no cell service here and Cathedral Valley is pretty sparsely visited. Justin and I visited around the busy spring break period and only saw one other car the entire time we were driving the Cathedral Valley loop. So, this really isn’t the place to try out your off-roading skills for the first time, just in case you need help.
Luckily, there’s several tours with experienced guides who can literally take the wheel and drive on the gnarly road for you, like with this option or this option.
Best Time to Visit the Temple of the Sun and the Moon
You can visit the Temple of the Sun and the Moon year round.
However, I’d strongly recommend avoiding driving here if it’s recently rained or there’s rain in the forecast. The ground in Cathedral Valley is incredibly soft and sandy, at the best of times, and, when wet, will become a squishy nightmare, just waiting to get your car stuck.
If you’re unsure of what the recent weather has been like, you can always call the Capitol Reef Visitor Center (435-425-3791) to check on the road’s condition.
For similar reasons, I’d avoid driving if there’s any snow on the ground.
In terms of the time of day, if you’re into photography, you can’t beat sunrise or sunset here, where the monoliths will be bathed in soft glowy light.
And if you do visit for sunrise, stick around to stargaze—Capitol Reef is an International Dark Sky park and has some of the darkest and clearest night skies in the country! This is DEFINITELY a freak occurrence, but we even got to see the Northern Lights while we were camping in the Cathedral Valley area!
Can you camp at the Temple of the Sun and the Moon?
No, you are not permitted to camp right by the Temple of the Sun and the Moon.
However, one of the coolest things about the Cathedral Valley is that the vast majority of the road (at least when you drive the loop counter clockwise) is actually located on Bureau of Land Management land, not the national park itself. Accordingly, you’re actually allowed to disperse camp along this section of the road for up to 14 days for free!
For example, this dispersed campsite is located right outside of the boundaries of Capitol Reef National Park along the Cathedral Valley loop and is actually less than a mile from the Temple of the Sun and the Moon (so cool!). Just be sure not to camp within the national park’s boundaries—there’s a clear sign that will help you identify the border.
If you’re new to dispersed camping, this means there’s no facilities or services whatsoever, like trash, water, or electrical hookups. Accordingly, only camp here if you understand how to be self-sufficient and to follow the Leave No Trace principles, like packing out everything you pack in and only camping on durable surfaces to minimize damage to this fragile landscape.
Where to stay near the Temple of the Sun and the Moon
Capitol Reef, Hanksville, and the surrounding area is one of my favorite parts of Utah—there’s seriously just so much to see and do!
Accordingly, I’d recommend staying for at least a few days, especially considering that visiting the Temple of the Sun and the Moon will take up at least half a day here.
Here are some hotels around Capitol Reef for you to consider:
- Muddy Creek Mining Company: This collection of cozy cabins is one of the few accommodation options that’s located in the heart of Hanksville. They offer the perfect home-away-from-home during your stay in the area—there’s a well-equipped kitchenette (including the very important coffee machine!), comfy bed, and a private patio to enjoy some desert stargazing at night.
- Broken Spurr Inn and Steakhouse: If you love kitschy accommodations as much as I do, buckle up—you can actually stay in a Conestoga Wagon here! If you’re not here for goofy accommodations, there’s also updated standard rooms as well as nice amenities, like an indoor pool and hot tub.
- Skyview Hotel and Terrace: This is the most modern hotel around Capitol Reef and has absolutely jaw-dropping views of the surrounding rock formations. There’s a ton of cool accommodation options to choose from at the hotel, including a geo-dome tent with its own skylight, PLUS a rooftop hot tub (yes, please!).
Tips for the Temple of the Sun and the Moon
Be careful of cryptobiotic soil
Southern Utah is home to a unique organism, called cryptobiotic soil. This (living!) soil is incredibly important to the fragile desert ecosystem, providing important nutrients to plants, absorbing rainfall, and preventing erosion.
Stepping on cryptobiotic soil disturbs it and actually causes decades’ worth of damage. Accordingly, please stick to walking on durable surfaces, like dry washes or slickrock, to prevent harming this special organism.
In a similar vein, please follow the Leave No Trace principles here—packing out all of your waste, not removing any rocks, plants, or artifacts that you might find here, and generally being respectful of this beautiful place.
Drones are not allowed
Hanksville is bursting at the seams with places to take cool drone shots. However, given its location in the national park, the Temple of the Sun and the Moon is not one of them.
Not to worry—there’s plenty of cool opportunities to take photos and videos of the monoliths from the ground!
Climbing is not allowed
Rock climbing is a popular past time around Hanksville, but it’s strictly prohibited at the Temple of the Sun and the Moon, given the fragile nature of the monolith.
There are other plenty of other places in Capitol Reef that you can climb, though—you can get a permit to do so here.
Good luck on your visit to the Temple of the Sun and the Moon—this unique corner of the planet is SO special! Do you have any questions about exploring these monoliths? Let us know in the comments below!
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