Wandering Lizard
Utah

Garfield County is located in the southeastern quadrant of Utah. The county seat is Panguitch. The 2010 census counted 5,172 residents.

Archeologists have identified artifacts from both Ancestral Pueblo and Fremont cultures in Garfield County. Anasazi State Park is an excellent place to see some of these items. Ute and Paiute Indians were present when the first Morman settlers arrived in Panguitch in 1864. The Black Hawk War, however, forced them out less than a year after their arrival and they did not return until 1871. Ebenezer Bryce designed and helped construct the Pine Valley Chapel in 1868 and soon thereafter moved to Paria Valley where he raised cattle on the edge of an unusual canyon. The chapel is said to be the oldest Morman chapel to still be in use and the canyon is now Bryce Canyon National Park. Capitol Reef National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area are both located in Garfield County.