Fremont River Falls is a 25-foot man-made waterfall on the Fremont River in Capitol Reef National Park, Wayne County, Utah, right beside Utah State Route 24. Also called the Oxbow Waterfall, its plunge pool drew swimmers for years until a string of near-drownings led the park to close the waterfall area to entry.
The falls
Three tiered plunges total 25 feet, the last of them about 10 feet; earlier surveys listed 20 feet. Only the lower tier can be seen from the highway. The falls are young: the river cut them after it was pushed out of its old bend and into a shorter, steeper channel between the road and a cliff.
Getting there
The falls sit next to a small parking area on Highway 24 at mile marker 85.9, inside Capitol Reef National Park. Under the park's 2026 compendium, the ground from the highway to the river, 125 yards downstream and 100 yards upstream, plus 30 yards of the far bank, is closed to entry. The falls can be seen from the road only. Everyone recreating in the park must pay the park's recreation fee.
When to go
The compendium lists the closure without seasonal dates, so a visit in any month is a roadside stop.
On site
Swimming is not allowed, and neither is entering the closed area. A recirculating current in the plunge pool pulls swimmers back toward the falls and cycles them under the water. Five near-drownings are documented here, as well as further cases of children dragged into deeper water. In the summer of 2011, three separate visitors were held under for several minutes, and they survived only because physicians trained in CPR happened to be on hand. Obey the posted closure and stay out of the water.
History and name
For a very long time the Fremont River looped through a horseshoe-shaped oxbow south of the present highway. In 1962, the state moved the river into its current channel so Highway 24 could be built without bridges. The same drop now happens over a shorter distance, and the faster water eroded the rock into this waterfall. Cut off from the river, the old oxbow has dried out into scrub and invasive plants.
Nearby
Sand Creek Falls, the only other recorded waterfall in Wayne County, is about 17.3 miles away. Upper Calf Creek Falls and Lower Calf Creek Falls are about 33.8 and 34.7 miles away.
Distances are straight-line.