The Capitol Reef Reader
a volume in the University of Utah Press national park reader series
“When it comes to Capitol Reef, Trimble’s breadth of knowledge is surpassed only by his passion for the place, its people, and its grandeur. I can’t imagine a better guide through the geological beauty of the Waterpocket Fold nor through the stories of those who have known—and have sometimes been defeated by—the power of the place.” —Jana Richman, author of Finding Stillness in a Noisy World
“The Capitol Reef Reader, Steve Trimble’s latest tour de force, is a red rock anthology that I couldn’t put down. Steve has woven a body of work as fascinating and gripping as Capitol Reef itself. And after immersing myself in the Reader I can’t help but believe all of us can embrace Steve’s optimistic call to preserve the authenticity of our West.” —Mark Udall, US Senator, Colorado, 2009–2015
"Stephen Trimble has assembled a marvelously faceted survey, as essential as boots on the trail, to exploring Capitol Reef National Park. Equal parts science, cultural anthropology (with its lessons in hope and hubris), history, eco-theology, and, if one counts the number of times the word "love" surfaces in these pages, part love letter, this volume leaves no stone unturned or topic in the card catalog unpopulated. This collection will stir the mind and excite the heart. You’ll be grabbing your pack and boots before the last page settles and, like me, heading back to see all that I missed." – Lynn Stegner, co-editor of West of 98: Living and Writing the New American West
“The richness and variety of literature on the greater Capitol Reef region is astonishing, brought together here for the first time. The writings left by the people who have lived in and passed through offer a window into the soul of a place.” —Jedediah Rogers, author of Roads in the Wilderness: Conflict in Canyon Country
For 12,000 years, people have left a rich record of their experiences in Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park. In The Capitol Reef Reader, Stephen Trimble collects the best of this writing—160 years worth of words that capture the spirit of the park and its surrounding landscape in personal narratives, philosophical riffs, and historic and scientific records.
The volume features nearly fifty writers who have anchored their attention and imagination in Utah’s least-known national park. The bedrock elders of Colorado Plateau literature are here (Clarence Dutton, Wallace Stegner, Edward Abbey), as are generations of writers who love this land (including Ellen Meloy, Craig Childs, Charles Bowden, Renny Russell, Ann Zwinger, Gary Ferguson, and Rose Houk). Their pieces are a pleasure to read and each reveals a facet of Capitol Reef’s story, creating a gem of a volume.
Trimble guides and orients with commentary and context. He was a seasonal park ranger at Capitol Reef in the 1970s, and he's been hiking and photographing in the park ever since. This anthology is a labor of love.
With publication support from The Nature Conservancy of Utah, a visual survey of the park in almost 100 photographs adds another layer to our understanding of this place. Historic photos, pictures from Trimble’s forty-five years of hiking the park, as well as images from master visual artists who have worked in Capitol Reef are included. No other book captures the essence of Capitol Reef like this one.
(University of Utah Press, 2019)
Online reading for Go Learn (the University of Utah travel program)
Interview for National Parks Traveler
Excerpt: "Paradise and Slickrock"