Temple of the Sun is a freestanding sandstone monolith in Cathedral Valley, a remote part of Capitol Reef National Park in southern Utah. Rising more than 400 feet above the desert floor, it is one of the valley’s best-known isolated rock towers and a landmark valued for its vivid color, sculptural form, and striking solitude. Charles Kelly named Cathedral Valley in 1945 after its towering sandstone formations reminded him of Gothic cathedrals. The monolith consists of buff-pink Entrada Sandstone laid down about 160 million years ago on a tidal flat during the Jurassic, later uplifted with the Colorado Plateau near the Waterpocket Fold.