LOOKING NORTH FROM EAST WALL OF DEVILS 

LANE, just south of the Silver Stairs. Needles are 

Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Junction Butte and Grand 

View Point lie across Colorado River in background. 

By S. W. lohman 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY aUJ.lETI.-t 1327 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

ROGERS C. B. MORTON, Secretary 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

V. E. McKelvey, Director 

Library of Congress catalog·card No. 74-600043 

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1974 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Govemment Printing Office 

Washington, D.C. 20402- Price $2.65 (paper covers) 

Stock Number 2401-02498 
Contents 

Page 

A new park is born --- ___ -- _______ -- _______ -- _--- __ -- __ --- 1 

Major Powell's river expeditions _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 4 

Early history --------------------------------------------- 9 

Prehistoric people ------------------------------------- 9 

Late arrivals------------------------------------------ 14 

Geographic setting ---------------------------------------- 17 

Rocks and landforms ___________________ - ___ - __ ------------ 20 

How to see the park __ -- ___ - _______ -- ___ - __ -- __ ------------ 26 

The high mesas ------------------------------------------- 27 Island in the Sky _________________________ ------------ 27 

Dead Horse Point State Park __________ ------------ 30 

North entrance----------------------------------- 34 

Shafer and White Rim Trails ---------------------- 34 

Grand View Point----------·---------------------- 36 

Green River Overlook ----------------------------- 43 

Upheaval Dome----------------------------------- 43 

Hatch Point ------------------------------------------ 46 

Needles Overlook.----------_---------------------- 4 7 

Canyonlands Over look ------------------------- _--- 48 

U-3 Loop ----------------------------------------- 49 

Anticline Overlook _--------------------------- _-- _ 50 

Orange Cliffs ----------------------------------------- 54 

The benchlands ------------------------------------------- 58 

The Maze and Land of Standing Rocks------------------ 58 

The Needles district ----------------------------------- 60 

Salt, Davis, and Lavender Canyons ----------------- 64 

The Needles and The Grabens---------------------- 73 

Canyons of the Green and Colorado Rivers ------------------ 85 

Entrenched and cutoff meanders ----------------------- 86 

Green River ------------------------------------------ 87 

Colorado River ---------------------------------------- 96 

Summary of geologic history------------------------------- 112 

Additional reading ---------------------------------------- 117 

Acknowledgments ----------------------------------------- 118 

Selected references ---------------------------------------- 118 

Index---------------------------------------------------- 123 

VII 
Illustrations 

Page 

FRONTISPIECE . Looking north from Devils Lane near Silver 

Stairs. 

FIGURE 

VIII 

1. Map of Canyonlands National Park----------

2. Pictographs on wall of Horseshoe Canyon ___ _ 

3. The All American Man ____________________ _ 

4. Tower Ruin __ ----- ________________________ _ 

5. Newspaper RocL---------------------------

6. Cave Spring Line Camp---------------------

7. Canyonlands National Park and vicinity _____ _ 

8. Shallow inland sea ________________________ _ 

9. Rock column of Canyonlands National Park __ 

10. Section across Canyonlands National Park- __ _ 

11. Aerial view of The Neck and Shafer Trail ___ _ 

12. Merrimac and Monitor Buttes - _____________ _ 

13. Cane Creek anticline (viewed from Dead Horse 

Point) ----------------------------------- 14. Cutaway view of anticline-------------------

15. Looking southwest from Dead Horse Point __ _ 16. Shafer Trail------ _________________________ _ 

17. Natural tanks ------------------------------

18. Canyon Viewpoint Arch - ____ ------ _________ _ 

19. Index map showing photograph localities ____ _ 20. The White Rim ____________________________ _ 

21. Monument Basin from Grand View Point ___ _ 

22. Monument Basin from the air---------------

23. Stillwater Canyon and Green River _________ _ 

24. Turks Head ---------------------- ________ - _ 

25. Upheaval Dome ----------------------------

26. Cutaway view of syncline-------------------

27. Junction Butte and Grand View Point_ ______ _ 

6 

10 

10 

11 

13 

15 

19 

21 

22 

24 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

35 

37 

37 

38 

40 

41 

42 

44 

45 

45 

46 

48 

28. Syncline in core of Lockhart Basin___________ 49 

29. View westward from U-3 loop--------------- 50 

30. Looking north from Anticline Overlook_______ 51 

31. Cane Creek anticline (viewed from Anticline 

Over look) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 52 

32. View southeastward from The Spur__________ 55 

33. Looking north down Millard Canyon _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 56 

34. Elaterite seeping from White Rim Sandstone _ 59 
Page 

FIGURE 35. White Rim Sandstone_______________________ 59 

36. The Doll House _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 60 

37. Church Rock ------------------------------- 61 

38. North and south Six-Shooter Peaks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 62 

39. Squaw Flat Campground-------------------- 64 

40. Aerial view eastward across Salt Canyon _ _ _ _ _ 65 

41. Wooden Shoe------------------------------- 66 

42. Paul Bunyans Potty _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 67 

43. Angel Arch _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 69 

44. Fisheye Arch _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 70 

45. Wedding Ring Arch _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 71 

46. Hand Holt Arch _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 71 

47. Cleft Arch --------------------------------- 72 

48. Arch -------------------------------------- 72 49. The Needles _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 73 

50. Chesler Park in The Needles _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 73 

51. The Needles and The Grabens --------------- 74 

52. Trail to Druid Arch _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 77 

53. Upper Elephant Canyon--------------------- 77 

54. Druid Arch -------------------------------- 78 

55. A simple graben---------------------------- 80 

56. Cutaway view of normal fault ___________ .. ___ 80 

57. West wall of Cyclone Canyon Graben _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 81 

58. Lower Elephant Canyon _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 81 

59. The confluence from the air----------------- 82 

60. The confluence from Confluence Overlook _ _ _ _ 83 

61. Cataract Canyon --------------------------- 84 62. Bow knot Bend _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 89 

63. Inscription by Julien------------------------ 91 

64. Buttes of the Cross------------------------- 92 

65. Anderson Bottom Rincon____________________ 94 

66. Drainage changes at Anderson Bottom Rincon 94 

67. Stillwater Canyon -------------------------- 95 

68. The Portal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 97 

69. The Canyon King _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 98 

70. Potash mine of Texas Gulf, Inc-------------- 99 

71. Evaporation ponds _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 99 

72. Petrified log _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 102 

73. Relatively recent rincons along Indian Creek-- 103 

74. The Loop ---------------------------------- 104 

75. Reverse fault------------------------------- 105 

76. Cutaway view of reverse fault ----------- _--- 105 

77. Salt Creek Canyon-------------------------- 107 

78. The Slide _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 107 

79. Gypsum plug------------------------------- 109 

80. Geologic time spiral ------------------ _ _ _ _ _ _ 110 

81. Late Cretaceous sea------------------------- 114 

IX 

On September 12, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed 

an act of Congress establishing Canyonlands as our thirtysecond national park, the first addition to the park system since 

1956. 

The birth of Canyonlands National Park was not without 

labor pains. In the 1930's virtually all the vast canyon country 

between Moab, Utah, and Grand Canyon, Ariz., was studied for 

a projected Escalante National Park. But Escalante failed to get 

off the ground, even when a second attempt was made in the 

1950's. Not until another proposal had been made and legislative 

compromises had been worked out did the park materialize, this 

time under a new name-Canyonlands. Among the many 

dignitaries who witnessed the signature on September 12 was 

one of the men most responsible for the park's creation, park 

superintendent Bates E. Wilson, who did the pioneer spade work 

in the field. 

The newborn park covered 400 square miles 1 at the junction of 

the Green and Colorado Rivers in Utah. It included such 

magnificent features as Island in the Sky, The Needles, 

Upheaval Dome, and the two great stone formations, Angel 

Arch and Druid Arch. On November 16, 1971, President Richard 

M. Nixon signed an act of Congress enlarging the park by 125 

square miles in four separate parcels of land, so the area now 

totals 525 square miles, all in southeastern Utah, as shown on 

the map (fig. 1). The northern boundary was extended to include 

parts of Taylor and Shafer Canyons. The addition at the 

southeast corner takes in the headwaters of Salt and Lavender 

Canyons and part of Davis Canyon. The largest addition, at the 

southwest corner, includes grotesquely carved areas bearing 

such colorful names as The Maze, Land of Standing Rocks, The 

Fins, The Doll House (fig. 36), and Ernies Country (named after 

Ernie Larson, an early-day sheepman). The fourth parcel lies 

about 8 miles west of the northwest corner and encompasses 

much of Horseshoe Canyon, whose walls are adorned by striking 

pictographs (fig. 2). 

1

For the benefit of visitors from countries using the metric system, the following conversion factors may 

be helpful: 1 square mile = 2.590 square kilometers, 1 acre ~ 0.4047 hectare, I inch ~ 2.54 centimeters, 1 

foot ~ 0.305 meter, 1 mile = 1.609 kilometers, I U.S. gallon ~ 0.00379 cubic meter. 

1 
At this writing (1973) the park is still in its infancy, with most 

of the planned developments and improvements awaiting time 

and money, but a good start has been made. In 1960 my family 

and I first traversed Island in the Sky to Grand View Point over 

a rough jeep trail; now it is reached with ease over a good graded 

road which eventually will be paved. A temporary trailer-housed 

entrance station near The Neck will be replaced by permanent 

headquarters for the Island in the Sky district after water is 

piped up from wells drilled near the mouth of Taylor Canyon. 

In August 1965, when the Park was but 11 months old, we 

drove the family car over a two-track dirt "road" from Dugout 

Ranch to Cave Spring-temporary headquarters for the Needles 

district of the park, whose personnel were housed partly in 

trailers and partly in the cave. Now a modern paved highway, 

built by the State (Utah Highway 11) for 19 miles to Dugout 

Ranch and by San Juan County, the State of Utah, and the 

National Park Service for the next 18 miles, extends a total of 38 

miles from U.S. Highway 163 to a new modern campground at 

Squaw Flat (fig. 39). The entrance station and housing for park 

personnel are now in trailers about 2 miles west of Cave Spring, 

but the trailers will be replaced by permanent structures. A 

shallow well near temporary headquarters supplies the only 

water available to the campground 1.5 miles to the west, but a 

new supply is to be developed for the campground and permanent headquarters. Groceries, gasoline, trailer hookups, and 

charter flights are available at Canyonlands Resort, just outside 

the eastern park boundary. The old cowboy line camp at Cave 

Spring has been restored so that visitors can see this phase of 

colorful Canyonlands history (fig. 6). Except for 21

/2 miles of 

partly graded road west from Squaw Flat, all travel to the west 

and south is by four-wheel-drive vehicle or on foot. In order to 

reach the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers, The 

Grabens, and Chesler and Virginia Parks, drivers must conquer 

formidable Elephant Hill, with its 40 percent grades and backup 

switchbacks. SOB Hill and the Silver Stairs also tax the skill and 

patience of jeepsters. Parts of this area will eventually be 

reached by graded roads, possibly by about 1977, but many hope 

that much of it will be kept accessible only by jeep or foot trails. 

Bates Wilson, recently retired superintendent not only of 

Canyonlands National Park but also of nearby Arches National 

Park and of Natural Bridges National Monument about 80 miles 

to the south, is one of the few men in the park service who has 

guided a national park through all phases-location, promotion, 

establishment, and initial development. He retired in June 1972 

to a ranch along the Colorado River north of Moab. 

2 
Unless credited to others, for which grateful acknowledgment 

is made, the color photographs were taken by me . Most of these 

were taken on 4- by 5-inch film in a tripod-mounted press 

camera using lenses of several focal lengths, but a few were 

taken on 35-millimeter film. Unless credited to others, the black 

and white photographs were kindly loaned from the Moab and 

Arches files of the National Park Service. The points from which 

most of the photographs were taken are shown in figure 19. 

3 
Although Major John Wesley Powell was not the first 

geologist to view the canyon lands, his two daring boat trips 

down the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1869 and 1871 made 

history by bringing to light the first descriptions of the 

geography and geology of what was then the largest remaining 

uncharted wilderness in the United States. Many landmarks 

along the canyons in the park were named by Powell and his 

men during those explorations. J. S. Newberry is thought to 

have been the first geologist to view the canyon lands- at least 

he seems to have been the first one whose observations were 

recorded (1861), but the more comprehensive findings of Powell 

(1875) were the ones that made history. 

The 100th anniversary of Major Powell's pioneer exploration 

of the Green and Colorado Rivers was commemorated in 1969 by 

a national centennial sponsored jointly by the U.S. Department 

of the Interior, the Smithsonian Institution, the National 

Geographic Society, and many other organizations. This touched 

off many magazine and newspaper articles, several commemorative programs and dedications, and several publications 

of lasting interest. Noteworthy among the latter is U.S. 

Geological Survey Professional Paper 669 entitled "The Colorado 

River Region and John Wesley Powell." Of its four separate 

parts, two are of special interest to our Canyonlands story: part 

A, "John Wesley Powell: Pioneer Statesman of Federal Science," 

by Rabbitt (1969) and part C, "Geologic History of the Colorado 

River," by Hunt (1969). An interesting history of the National 

Park Service by Everhart (1972) was published as part of the 

national park centennial effort. The Powell Society, Ltd., of 

Denver, Colo., was founded mainly to publish four "River 

Runners' Guides to the Canyons of the Green and Colorado 

Rivers, with Emphasis on Geologic Features," covering five 

reaches of the two rivers from Flaming Gorge Dam, Utah, to 

4 
Grand Canyon, Ariz. One of these by Mutschler (1969) covers 

Labyrinth, Stillwater, and Cataract Canyons, all in 

Canyonlands National Park. Another guidebook by Baars and 

Molenaar (1971) covers the Colorado River from about Potash, 

Utah, to the confluence with the Green, and Cataract Canyon. It 

is difficult to realize that thousands of people annually now boat 

down the canyons Powell dared to explore without knowledge of 

the dangers that lay ahead. 

During the summer of 1968 a U.S. Geological Survey expedition led by Eugene M. Shoemaker retraced the historic 1869 and 

1871 river voyages of Major Powell, in order to reoccupy the 

camera stations of the 1871 voyage and rephotograph the same 

scenes nearly 100 years later. Remarkably enough, about 150 

camera stations were recovered, many requiring considerable 

search, and official photographer Hal G. Stephens 

rephotographed the scenes taken with cumbersome wet-plate 

cameras nearly 100 years earlier by E. 0. Beaman (above the site 

of Lees Ferry) and by J. K. Hillers (below the site). A report containing these remarkable sets of before and after photographs 

hopefully will be published eventually as a delayed part of the 

Powell centennial. A few pairs have been published by others 

(Baars and Molenaar, 1971, p. 90-99), and two pairs are shown 

herein as figures 62 and 67. As these photographs show, in most 

places the rocks and even the vegetation remain virtually unchanged after nearly a century, but a few other pairs not included herein show catastrophic changes resulting from local 

floods or rockfalls. 

CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK, showing location in Utah, Lake Powell, Dead Horse t> 

Point State Park, boundaries, streams, roads, trails, landforms, and principal named 

features. There was insufficient room to show all named features; some not shown are 

related in text by distance and direction to named ones, and some additional names are 

given in figures 7, 51, and 59. Hans Flat Ranger Station near left border is in Glen 

Canyon National Recreation Area. The reader is referred to road maps issued by the 

State or by oil companies for the location of U.S. Highway 163 (shown as 160 on old 

maps) and other nearby roads and for the locations of the towns of Green River, 

Crescent Junction, Moab, La Sal Junction, and Monticello. Visitors also can obtain 

pamphlets at the entrance stations to the Needles and Island in the Sky districts of the 

park or at the National Park Service office in Moab; these contain up·to·date maps of the 

park and the latest available information on roads, trails, campsites, and picnic sites. 

(Fig. 1) 

5 
EXPLANATION 

- Pavedroad N 

= Gravel or dirt road I _____.... Jeep trail 

,. ----- Foot trail 

·--- Park Boundary 

l Campground 

~ Primitive campsite 

0 MILES 

"1 • )Canyonlands 

· • Resort ' 

~·Provo 

U T A 

"Richfield 
On June 26, 1969, state and local officials met along the Green 

River at the mouth of Split Mountain Canyon, in Dinosaur 

National Monument, to dedicate a monument to Major Powell, 

commemorating the 100th anniversary of his first river trip, and 

to dedicate the Powell Centennial Scenic Drive, also known as 

the Powell Memorial Highway. In the absence of any roads 

closely paralleling the Green and Colorado Rivers except for 

short distances, this route is virtually the only means of approach to the rivers and comprises parts of several state and 

federal highways connecting Green River, Wyo., and Grand Canyon, Ariz. A segment of it, U.S. Highway 163, connects Crescent Junction, Moab, Monticello, and Blanding, all in Utah, and 

provides the principal access routes to Canyonlands and Arches 

National Parks and Natural Bridges National Monument. 

The ceremonies at the mouth of Split Mountain Canyon began 

with the landing of the official party flotilla of four boats similar 

to the ones used 100 years earlier by Powell, who was impersonated by a bearded man dressed to resemble the one-armed 

major. After the dedication, the four boats resumed the voyage 

down the Green River for another ceremony. 

On June 29 a second monument was dedicated at the head of 

Desolation Canyon, some 50 miles southwest of Vernal, Utah, 

where the 1869 Powell expedition first ventured into the then 

unknown wilderness. The bronze plaque identifies Desolation Canyon, named by Powell, as a national historic landmark that 

comprises 58,000 acres in an area 1 mile wide on each side of a 

95-mile reach of the Green River. 

8 
Prehistoric people 

There is abundant evidence that the canyon lands were inhabited by cliffdwellers centuries before the explorations of 

Powell or the earlier visits of the Spanish explorers and the fur 

trappers. Projectile points and other artifacts found in the nearby La Sal and Abajo Mountains indicate occupation by 

aborigines from about 3,000-2,000 B.C. to about 1 A.D. (Hunt, 

1956). 

Archeologists have found evidence of two occupations by 

prehistoric peoples in and near Canyonlands National Park-the 

Fremont people around 850 or 900 A.D. and the Pueblo or 

Anasazi people from about 1075 to their departure in the late 

12th century (Jennings, 1970). Within the park, the most densely populated area was along Salt Canyon and its tributaries in 

the Needles district, but many prehistoric dwellings and 

granaries are also found just south of the park in Beef Basin and 

Ruin Park. 

The Fremont people, who were mainly hunters, seemingly left 

no artifacts, but they did leave beautiful pictographs, or rock 

paintings, such as the group of ghostly human figures on the 

sandstone wall of Horseshoe Canyon (fig. 2), in the detached unit 

northwest of the park proper (fig. 1). The All American Man (fig. 

3), a most unusual "Humpty Dumpty" figure painted in red, 

white, and blue on the wall of a cave about 31

13 miles above the 

cable across the east fork of Salt Canyon, is believed to have 

been done in the Fremont style, but as shown in the photograph, 

it is next to one of three dwellings in the same cave that were 

built later by the Anasazi people. Tower Ruin (fig. 4) is one of 

many well-preserved granaries built by the Anasazi, who 

farmed the flood plains of creeks such as Salt and Horse 

Canyons. According to Jennings (1970), 

9 
PICTOGRAPHS ON WALL OF HORSESHOE CANYON, believed to have been made by 

Fremont people about 1,000 years ago. Numbered chalkmarks 1 foot apart along bottom 

were made by some previous photographer. Photograph by Walter Meayers Edwards, 

"' 1971 National Geographic Society. (Fig. 2) 

THE ALL AMERICAN MAN, on wall of cave in Cedar Mesa Sandstone Member of Cutler 

Formation along upper Salt Canyon, believed to have been painted by Fremont people. 

Granary on right was built by Anasazi people. Chalk outline was added by some previous 

photographer. Photograph by National Park Service. (Fig. 3) 
TOWER RUIN, an Anasazi granary in cave in Cedar Mesa Sandstone Member along 

tributary of Horse Canyon. (Fig. 4) 

11 
There is some evidence that these early Utah people practiced a form of irrigation, using shallow ditches to carry water to their crops. There is also evidence 

that a change in climate sometime around the late 12th century brought about 

summer flash flooding and induced the cliff dwellers to abandon their 

Canyonlands homes and farms. 

Visitors to the Needles district pass through Indian Creek 

State Park 12 miles west of U.S. Highway 163. The principal attraction, which is visible at the base of the Wingate Sandstone 

cliff on the right (north), is Newspaper Rock (fig. 5), one of the 

best preserved and most intriguing petroglyphs, or rock inscriptions, in the canyon lands. Many of the older cliff faces of the 

Wingate and Navajo Sandstones are darkened or blackened by 

desert varnish, a natural pigment of iron and manganese oxides. 

The prehistoric inhabitants of the canyon country learned that 

effective and enduring designs could be created simply by chiseling through the thin dark layer to reveal the buff or tan 

sandstone beneath. According to Jesse D. Jennings (letter of 

Mar. 20, 1962, to Utah Div. Parks and Recreation), 

There are at least three periods of workmanship visible on the rock. The last is 

quite recent since it shows men mounted on horses [brought in by Spanish explorers]. These are probably less than 200 years old and are probably the work of 

Ute tribesmen. The others cannot be identified with any specific cultural group, 

although the earliest may be as much as one thousand years old and are probably 

the work of the so-called "Fremont" peoples * * * 

In addition to the designs by the Fremont, Anasazi, and Ute artists, you will note a few names and dates as late as 1954. 

NEWSPAPER ROCK, petroglyphs cut in Wingate Sandstone cliff in Indian Creek State [> 

Park. Inscriptions probably span about 1,000 years and include figures by Fremont, 

Anasazi, and Ute people (mounted horsemen) and by a few early white settlers. (Fig. 5) 

12 

late arrivals 

The modern history of Canyonlands is as colorful as the 

canyons themselves, and involves Indians, cattlemen, bank 

robbers, cattle rustlers, and horsethieves, followed by oil 

drillers, uranium hunters, potash miners, jeepsters, boaters, 

and tourists. A brief summary of their activities is taken mainly 

from a recent account by Maxine Newell (1970), to whose work 

you are referred for further details. 

Bands of Ute and Navajo Indians roamed the canyons and 

mesas until the late 1800's, but gradually they were driven out 

and succeeded by pioneer cattlemen, the first of whom were 

George and Silas Green in 1874-75, followed by the Taylor 

brothers in 1880-81. Cowboys named many of the natural 

features of the area, and the Needles country provided the scenic 

background for some of Zane Grey's western tales and for David 

Lavender's "One Man's West." Lavender Canyon, whose 

headwaters were recently annexed to the park, was named for 

him. Visitors to the Needles district pass the Dugout Ranch 

about 7 miles northwest of Newspaper Rock. The earliest ranch 

dwellings were dirt houses built by the Somerville and Scorup 

brothers, who bought the huge Indian Creek spread for $426,000 

from the Carlisle Co. in 1918. In 1973 the ranch was operated by 

Robert and Heidi Redd, whose line camp at Cave Spring served 

as temporary park headquarters and later was restored to a 

typical line camp (fig. 6) as part of the Cave Spring Environmental Trail. 

Robbers Roost Canyon and Spring some 30 miles west of the 

park was the hangout of a horsethief named Cap Brown in the 

seventies. From 1884 until about 1900 it was the hiding place for 

the notorious Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch, who robbed 

banks, trains, and mine payrolls and stole or traded horses and 

cattle from the ranchers. Cassidy and his gang managed to get 

along with the cattlemen by either replacing or paying for most 

of the horses and cattle, but the law finally drove them out, and 

Butch, the Sundance Kid, and a woman named Etta Place 

moved to Bolivia. According to the movie version, Butch and the 

Sundance Kid were hunted down and shot by Bolivian soldiers 

for robbing banks and mine payrolls, but according to Baker 

(1971) Butch returned safely to the United States and died in the 

Northwest in 1943 or 1944, and the Sundance Kid is reported to 

have died in Casper, Wyo., in 1958 at age 98. Art Ekker (Findley, 

1971, fig. 3), present owner of Robbers Roost Ranch, which contains the former hangout, commented: "A lot of people are sure 

that Butch and his gang buried some money around Robbers 

14 
CAVE SPRING LINE CAMP. Above, line-camp exterior, showing entrance and corral; 

below, interior, showing furnishings and staple food items kept in stock. Served as 

regular cowboy line camp for many years, than as part of temporary park headquarters; 

later restored as part of Cave Spring Environmental Trail. A nearby cave, also in Cedar 

Mesa Sandstone, contains a spring. (Fig. 6) 
Roost. Every so often somebody turns up with a map or a metal 

detector and wants to start digging. They've found a lot of rusty 

tin cans and old horseshoes." 

The uranium boom of the 1950's, touched off by Charlie 

Steen's fabulous Mi Vida mine south of La Sal, Utah, temporarily skyrocketed the population of Moab and sent uranium 

hunters into every nook and cranny of the canyon lands. Many 

of the jeep trails were first made then, and landing strips and 

prospect holes of that period are plentiful. Most of the prospects 

were in the Chinle Formation, particularly in the Moss Back 

Member at the base, but some were in rocks older than the Chinle, and some were in younger rocks. The uranium mines in the 

park are no longer operating, but production has been resumed 

in a few mines just north and east of the park. Information on 

some of these mines, obtained from E. P. Beroni (U.S. Atomic 

Energy Comm., oral commun., Feb. 14, 1973) is given at appropriate places below. 

The number of boaters or floaters on the Colorado and Green 

Rivers is increasing steadily, and trips by jet boat and other 

power boats are available from Moab. Tourist travel over good 

roads on Island in the Sky and Hatch Point and by paved road to 

The Needles also is increasing steadily. Travel west of the Green 

River and main stem of the Colorado River is still restricted 

largely to a few jeep trails and to hiking or horseback riding. 

16 
Geologists have divided the United States into many 

provinces, each of which has distinctive geologic and 

topographic characteristics that set it apart from the others. 

One of the most intriguing and scenic of these is the Colorado 

Plateaus province, referred to in this report simply as the 

Colorado Plateau, or the Plateau. This province, which covers 

some 150,000 square miles and is not all plateaus, as we shall 

see, extends from Rifle, Colo., at the northeast to a little beyond 

Flagstaff, Ariz., at the southwest and from Cedar City, Utah, at 

the west nearly to Albuquerque, N. Mex., at the southeast. 

Canyonlands National Park appropriately occupies the heart of 

the Canyon Lands section, one of the six subdivisions of the 

Plateau. As the names imply, the Canyon Lands section of the 

Plateau comprises a high plateau, generally ranging in altitude 

from 5,000 to 7,000 feet, which has been intricately dissected by 

literally thousands of canyons. 

Canyonlands National Park is drained entirely by the 

Colorado and Green Rivers, whose confluence is an important 

and scenic central feature of the park (figs. 59, 60). Individual 

canyons traversed or drained by these rivers are discussed in 

later chapters. 

When Major Powell reached the confluence in 1869, the river 

flowing in from the northeast to join the Green River was called 

the Grand River, and the Green and Grand joined there to form 

the Colorado River. The Grand River was renamed Colorado 

River by act of the Colorado State Legislature approved March 

24, 1921, and by act of Congress approved July 25, 1921. But the 

old term still remains in names such as Grand County, Colo., the 

headwaters region; Grand Valley, a town 16 miles west of Rifle, 

Colo.; Grand Valley between Palisade and Mack, Colo.; Grand 

Mesa, which towers more than a mile above the Grand and Gunnison River valleys; Grand Junction, Colo., a city appropriately 

located at the confluence of the Grand and Gunnison Rivers; 

Grand County, Utah, which the river traverses after entering 

Utah; and Grand View Point, the southern terminus of Island in 

the Sky. 

17 
When viewed at a distance of 1 foot, the shaded relief map 

(fig. 1) shows the general shape of the land surface in and near 

Canyonlands National Park to the same horizontal scale as it 

would appear to a person in a spacecraft flying at a height of 

250,000 feet, or about 48 miles. This map was prepared by artist 

John R. Stacy from parts of the reverse sides of four plastic 

relief maps 2

-Salina, Moab, Cortez, and Escalante quadrangles, 

at a scale of 1 : 250,000-using a simple time- and money-saving 

method he devised (Stacy, 1962). 

An image of Canyonlands National Park and vicinity from a 

satellite at a height of about 570 miles is shown in figure 7. Note 

white clouds and black cloud shadows on right. 

"These plastic relief maps, made by the U.S. Army Map Service, can be obtained from the T.N. Hubbard 

Scientific Co., Box 105, Northbrook, Ill. 60062. Topographic maps at scales of 1:250,000 and 1:62,500 for the 

entire area, topographic maps at a scale of 1:24,000 for rnu~h of the area, and a special topographic map of 

"Canyonlands National Park and Vicinity" at a scale of 1:62,500 are available from the U.S. Geological 

Survey, Denver Distribution Section, Federal Center, Denver, Colo. 80225, and from privately owned shops 

where maps are sold. A revised edition of the latter, including relief shading, will soon be available. An index map of Utah showing all available topographic maps is free upon request to the above address. 

CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK AND VICINITY, from NASA's unmanned Earth [> 

Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1),at height of about 570 miles. The space image 

map was prepared from simultaneous scanning in three color bands-blue green, red, 

and near infrared-that were combined to produce a false-color image in which vigorous 

green vegetation (forests and irrigated areas) appears bright red, water dark blue, and 

soils and bare rocks various shades of blue, blue green, or yellow green. Bright-blue area 

on west bank of Colorado River about 10 miles southwest of Moab is the group of large 

evaporation ponds of Texas Gulf, Inc., shown in figures 31 and 71. Images were taken at 

10:31:10 a.m., Aug. 23, 1972, during the 432d orbit, telemetered to Alaska, videotaped, 

then photographed. Sun elevation was 53 degrees above horizon from azimuth of 130 

degrees. Image covers an area about 100 miles square. (See scale.) Location of Mon· 

ticello is approximate; that of other towns is believed to be correct. Park boundaries are 

not shown because of difficulty in locating them accurately, but features such as 

Colorado and Green Rivers can easily be compared with those in figure 1. (Fig. 7). 

18 
19 
The vivid and varied colors of the bare rocks and the fantastic 

canyons, buttes, spires, columns, alcoves, caves, arches, and 

other erosional forms of the canyon country result from a fortuitous combination of geologic and climatic circumstances and 

events unequaled in most other parts of the world. 

First among these events was the piling up, layer upon layer, 

of thousands of feet of sedimentary rocks under a wide variety 

of environments. Sedimentary rocks of the region are composed 

of particles ranging in size from clay and silt through sand and 

gravel carried to their resting places by moving water, silt and 

sand particles transported by wind, and some materials 

precipitated from water solutions, such as limestone (calcium 

carbonate), dolomite (calcium and magnesium carbonate), gypsum (calcium sulfate with some water), anhydrite (calcium sulfate alone), common salt (sodium chloride), potash minerals 

such as potassium chloride, and a few other less common types. 

Some of the materials were laid down in shallow seas that once 

covered the area (fig. 8) or in lagoons and estuaries near the sea. 

Some beds were deposited by streams in inland basins or plains, 

a few were deposited in lakes, and some, like the Navajo 

Sandstone, were carried in by the wind. The character and 

thickness of the sedimentary rocks, and the names and ages 

assigned to them by geologists, are shown in the rock column in 

figure 9 and in the cross sections in figures 10 and 15, and the 

history of their deposition is discussed in the chapter "Summary 

of Geologic History." The rock column was compiled mainly 

from generalized stratigraphic sections given by Baker (1933, 

1946), McKnight (1940), Hinrichs and others (1967, 1971b), and 

F. A. McKeown and P. P. Orkild (U.S. Geol. Survey, unpub. 

data, Mar. 16, 1973). 

Not exposed in the area but present far beneath the sedimentary cover, and exposed in a few surrounding places, are examples of the other two principal types of rocks: (1) igneous 

rocks, solidified from molten rock forced into or above younger 

rocks along cracks, joints, and faults and (2) much older 

20 
metamorphic rocks, formed from other pre-existing rock types 

by great heat and pressure at extreme depths. The particles 

comprising the sedimentary rocks were derived by weathering 

and erosion of rocks of all three types in the headwater regions 

of the ancestral Colorado River basin. Igneous rocks of Tertiary 

Age (fig. 80) form the nearby La Sal, Abajo, and Henry Mountains (fig. 7). 

Second among the main events leading to the formation of the 

canyon country was the raising and buckling of the Plateau by 

earth forces so that it could be vigorously attacked by various 

forces of erosion and so that the rock materials thus pried loose 

or dissolved could eventually be carted away to the Gulf of 

California by the ancestral Colorado River. Some idea of the 

enormous volume of rock thus removed is apparent when you 

look down some 2,000 feet to the river from any of the high 

overlooks, such as Dead Horse Point (fig. 15) or Green River 

Overlook (fig. 23), or when you lay a straightedge across the 

three high mesas in figure 10 and note the large volume of missing rocks below. Not so apparent, however, is the fact that some 

10,000 feet of younger Mesozoic and Tertiary rocks that once 

overlay this high plateau also has been swept away. In all, the 

river has carried thousands of cubic miles of sediment to the sea 

and is still actively at work on this gigantic earthmoving project. 

In an earlier report (Lohman, 1965, p. 42) I estimated that the 

rate of removal may have been as great as about 3 cubic miles I 

\ y Deep sea r -- -- ------ '"= ._, ..., ,., __ ~_ 

( 

\ 

r~ / 

I 1,/ 

I J / ,- - r' 

SHALLOW INLAND SEA which covered Canyonlands and vicinity during Middle Penn· 

sylvanian time. (Fig. 8) 

21 
250 

300 Pennsylvanian 

Unnamed 

upper 

member 

Blue, greenish, a d gray fossiliferous limestone 

bedded with white, gray, and greenish 

gray to green shale. lower part known only 

deep wells. forms steep canyon walls. 

ROCK COLUMN OF CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK One foot equals 0.305 meter. (Ftg. 9) 

? Paradox Valley, Colo. 
each century. For a few years the bulk of it was dumped into 

Lake Mead, but now Lake Powell is getting much of it. When 

these and other reservoirs ultimately become filled with sediment, for reservoirs and lakes are but temporary things, the 

Gulf of California will again become the burial ground. 

Last but far from least among the factors responsible for the 

grandeur of the canyon country is the desert climate, which 

allows us to see virtually every foot of the vividly colored naked 

rocks and has made possible the creation and preservation of 

such a wide variety of fantastic sculptures. A wetter climate 

would have produced a far different and smoother landscape in 

which most of the rocks and land forms would have been hidden 

by vegetation. In the canyon lands the vegetation is mainly on 

the high mesas and on the narrow flood plains bordering the 

rivers, but scanty vegetation does grow on the gentle slopes or 

flats. 

The desert climate has combined with the nearly flat lying 

layers of sediments of different character, hardness, and 

thickness to produce steep slopes having many cliffs and ledges 

and generally sharp to angular edges rather than the subdued 

rounded forms of more humid regions. This has led geologists to 

refer to such terrain as having "layer-cake geology," and this is 

brought out" by the profile in the rock column (fig. 9), by the 

cross section (fig. 10), by figure 15, and by many of the other 

photographs. But the baker of this cake was rather 

careless-not only do the layers range widely in thickness and 

character, but some are wedge shaped, thick on one side of the 

cake but thin or absent on the other. Then too, when he ran out 

of icing in the midst of a layer, he was apt to finish with a 

different kind or color, for no inspector was on the job to insure 

orderly construction. 

If all the rock strata in the park were present at one locality, 

their sequence and thickness would be those shown on the righthand side of the graphic section in figure 9. However, because of 

the lateral changes in thickness and character and the wedging 

out of certain beds, such as the White Rim Sandstone Member of 

the Cutler Formation, no two sections of the strata are exactly 

alike. This will be brought out in photographs of different exposures of rocks in various parts of the park. 

An often-asked question is, why are most of the rocks so red? 

This can be answered by one word-iron, the same pigment used 

in rouge and in paint for barns and boxcars. Various oxides of 

iron, some including water, produce not only brick red but also 

pink, salmon, brown, buff, yellow, and even green or bluish 

green. This does not imply that the rocks could be considered as 

23 
~w 

~ 8 NORTH POINT 

~ = : 

~ ~ Kayenta 

-: ~ . Upper port of 0 

.SKILOMETEIS 

sources of iron ore, for the merest trace of iron, generally only 1 

to 3 percent, is enough to produce even the darkest shades of red. 

The only rocks in the park that contain virtually no iron are 

white sandstones of the White Rim Sandstone Member of the 

Cutler Formation (figs. 21-24) and the Navajo Sandstone. 

As pointed out by Stokes (1970, p. 3), microscopic examination 

of the colored grains of quartz or other minerals shows the pigment to be merely a thin coating on and between white or 

colorless particles. Sand or silt weathered from such rocks soon 

loses its color by the scouring action of wind or water, so most of 

the sand dunes and sand bars are white or nearly so. 

The map (fig. 1) and cross section (fig. 10) of the park show 

that in general the major features of the landscape lie at three 

different and distinctive levels. A recently erected plaque on 

Grand View Point appropriately refers to these levels as the 

"Three Worlds." The high plateaus, or mesas, in and adjoining 

the park dominate the skyline-in fact, the central one, between 

the Green and Colorado Rivers, is appropriately named Island in 

the Sky. If you stand on either the east or the west shore of this 

towering cliff-bordered island, you can look across a sea of fantastic erosional forms to a similar cliff-bordered shore at about 

the same level. Closer inspection of the sea of rocks on either 

side shows relatively flat benches or platforms about halfway to 

the bottom; below these are the generally steep sided or cliffbordered canyons of the two rivers and their larger tributaries. 

From some vantage points along the shore, such as Dead Horse 

Point (fig. 15) or Green River Overlook (fig. 23), you can see the 

deepest level of all-the channels and flood plains of the Green 

and Colorado Rivers. 

What caused the "Three Worlds" and the formidable cliffs 

supporting the high mesas or forming towering monoliths like 

Angel Arch or Druid Arch (figs. 43, 54)? Differences in the composition, hardness, arrangement, and thickness of the rock layers 

determine their ability to withstand the forces of fracturing and 

24 
SECTION ACROSS CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK from North Point at west (left), 

via Grand View Point in middle, to Needles Overlook at east (right), showing the three 

principal topographic levels and character of the rock strata. Line of section bends at 

Grand View Point, which is northernmost part. (Fig. 10) 

erosion and hence their tendency to form cliffs, ledges, or slopes. 

Most of the cliff- or ledge-forming rocks are sandstones consisting of sand grains deposited by wind or water and later 

cemented together by silica ( SiO ·l, calcium carbonate t ('a( '0 :l, 

or one of the iron oxides (such as FP .() : l, but some hard, resistant 

ledges are made of limestone (calcium carbonate). The rock 

column (fig. 9) shows in general how these rock formations are 

sculptured by erosion and how they protect underlying layers 

from more rapid erosion. The nearly vertical cliffs supporting 

the highest mesas consist of the well-cemented Wingate 

Sandstone protected above by the even harder sandstone of the 

Kayenta Formation. To borrow from an earlier report of mine 

(Lohman, 1965, p. 17), 

Vertical cliffs and shafts of the Wingate Sandstone endure only where the top of 

the formation is capped by beds of the next younger rock unit-the Kayenta Formation. The Kayenta is much more resistant than the Wingate, so even a few 

feet of the Kayenta * * * protect the rock beneath. 

In some places remnants of the overlying Navajo Sandstone 

make up the topmost unit of the cliff. 

25 
The question of how to see the park has no simple answer, for 

the park is too vast and complex to comprehend by a quick visit 

to any one of its many and varied parts or by any one means of 

transportation. Some, as did Major Powell, view it only from the 

rivers-by boat plus a few back-breaking climbs up the bordering canyon walls. Others see only the small parts reachable by 

passenger cars. The more venturesome see vastly more by jeep, 

foot, or horseback. And a few prefer to view it as the birds 

do-from the air. Many, those who put aside their magazines 

long enough, get bird's-eye views without half trying, for 

Canyonlands is beneath the principal air routes connecting Los 

Angeles with Grand Junction and Denver. Actually, a full appreciation of all the wonders and beauties of the park is possible 

only by combining all these approaches and methods of locomotion, but only a few fartunate souls such as Bates Wilson have 

thus been able to inspect virtually every square foot of it. 

The task clearly before me, then, is how best to present such a 

complex wonderland to you, the reader. The method I selected, 

after considerable thought and a few false starts, is to begin at 

the top-the high mesas-and work my way downward much as 

the rivers have done in carving out this fantastic area, to some of 

the broad benchlands beneath the mesas and eventually to the 

river channels and deep canyons. Although the approach I 

selected may not be the best, and admittedly is but one of several that comes to mind, I hope it gets the job done. 

26 
Even though the "peninsular" mesas east and west of Island in 

the Sky, known respectively as Hatch Point and the Orange 

Cliffs, lie outside the present boundaries, they provide 

breathtaking views of important features within the park, so 

brief descriptions of them are included below. But first, let us 

take a closer look at Island in the Sky. 

Island in the Sky 

As the map (fig. 1) shows, Island in the Sky is really a fork of a 

wedge-shaped peninsula extending southward between the two 

rivers. An outlier to the south named Junction Butte has already 

been severed from the main peninsula by erosion and now is a 

true island. (See frontispiece and fig. 22.) A large chunk of 

Island in the Sky south of The Neck was about to be severed by 

erosion from the main peninsula to become a true island, when 

recent widening and grading of the road gave it a temporary 

reprieve. When my family and I first squeaked over this narrow 

neck in 1960 by jeep, furtive glances to right or left showed the 

two canyons perilously close, and complete severance seemed 

imminent. The road builders have staved off disaster for a few 

thousand years, but ultimately the large section to the south will 

become another island, and a bridge will be required to connect 

it to the mainland. Its appearance from the air before the road 

widening is shown in figure 11. 

27 
AERIAL VIEW OF THE NECK AND SHAFER TRAIL, looking southwest, taken before 

rebuilding of park road on mesa top. Cliff·walled canyon to right of The Neck, in middle, 

drains westward to the Green River; south fork of Shafer Canyon to left drains eastward 

to Colorado River. This is the narrowest part of Island in the Sky. Photograph by National 

Park Service. (Fig. 11) 

The entrance road to Island in the Sky intersects U.S. 

Highway 163 at a point 10 miles northwest of Moab, or 21 miles 

southeast of Crescent Junction on Interstate Highway 70. From 

U.S. 163 a paved road climbs colorful Sevenmile Canyon past 

sandstone cliffs of the Wingate, Kayenta, and Navajo Formations to reach the high mesa. There, just "offshore" to the 

north, are anchored the "battleships" that guard the 

island-Merrimac and Monitor Buttes (fig. 12). These landmarks are composed of the Entrada Sandstone-the same rock 

that forms Church Rock at the entrance to the Needles district 

(fig. 37) and that shapes the spectacular arches in Arches 

28 
MERRIMAC (LEFT) AND MONITOR BUTTES guard north entrance to Island in the Sky. 

White rock near middle is Navajo Sandstone. Buttes comprise all three members of En· 

trada Sandstone: remnant white top of Moab Member, vertical cliffs of Slick Rock 

Member, and sloping base of Dewey Bridge Member. (Fig. 12) 

National Park. All three members of the Entrada (Wright and 

others, 1962), as noted in the figure 12 caption, are present here 

as well as at Church Rock. Eleven miles from the junction with 

U.S. Highway 163 a graded road to the right, called Horsethief 

Trail, goes 16 miles down to the Green River, where it connects 

with roads following the river both upstream and downstream. 

The road upstream leads to two uranium mines in the lower part 

of Mineral Canyon which were reactivated in 1972 and 1973. The 

switchbacks are quite spectacular and are reminiscent of the 

Shafer Trail. Three miles south of the Horsethief Trail turnoff is 

a fork in the road-to the left the pavement continues to Dead 

Horse Point, and straight ahead a graded road leads southward 

to the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park. 

Most of Island in the Sky has a scattered growth of pinon and 

juniper trees, but several large flat areas, such as Grays 

Pasture, contain sufficient sandy soil to support a mantle of 

grass and weeds, which is used for grazing; however, grazing in 

this part of the park will be discontinued in 1975. 

29 
DEAD HORSE POINT STATE PARK 

Let us follow the paved road from U.S. Highway 163 all the 

way to Dead Horse Point, which was set aside as a state park in 

1957. The park has a visitor center, museum, modern 

campgrounds and picnic facilities, and piped water, which is 

hauled all the way from Moab. An entrance fee of $1 permits us 

to drive across the narrow neck to a parking area near the point 

proper, which is protected by stone walls and is provided with a 

ramada, benches, paths, and sanitary facilities. From Dead 

Horse Point we get breathtaking views in several directions, including a loop of the Colorado River called the Goose Neck, 2,000 

feet nearly straight down. 

CANE CREEK ANTICLINE, looking northeast toward the La Sal Mountains from Dead 

Horse Point. Colorado River cuts across crest at middle right, above which is Anticline 

Overlook. (See fig. 31.) Jeep trail and part of Shafer dome lie below. (Fig. 13) 

How did such a magnificent viewpoint get such a macabre 

name? Dead Horse Point was named for a sad but colorful 

legend concerning a band of wild horses that once roamed the 

high mesas. The point is really an embryo island separated from 

the mainland by a narrow neck barely wide enough for the present road. In the early cowboy days the island was used as a 

natural corral in which wild mustangs were penned up behind a 

short fence across the neck so that the better ones could be 

30 
sorted out and driven to mines in the San Juan Mountains of 

Colorado. A band of horses corralled too long without water 

allegedly died of thirst within sight of the river 2,000 feet below, 

hence the name of the point, or at least so one version of the 

story goes. Some versions allude to the wranglers as cowboys; 

others, as horsethieves. 

To the northeast we can see the Cane Creek anticline-an upward fold of the rocks-behind which loom the La Sal Mountains (fig. 13). A cutaway view of a typical anticline is shown in 

figure 14. A better view of the Cane Creek anticline can be seen 

from Anticline Overlook, as shown in figure 31. From our vantage point at Dead Horse Point, we can see much of Hatch Point, 

including Anticline Overlook, by looking east and southeast. 

Spectacular views of the northern part of Canyonlands National 

Park lie to the south, southwest, and east. Looking southwest 

(fig. 15), we see most of the rock formations exposed in 

Canyonlands- more than can be seen from any other vantage 

point in or near the park. The names of the visible rock units 

shown in figure 15 can be compared with the complete list in the 

rock column (fig. 9). Parts of Shafer dome, a "closed" rounded 

anticline, are visible in the lower left of figure 15 and in the 

lower right of figure 13. Its general domelike shape is outlined 

by the bluish-white Shafer limestone, a marker bed which also 

caps the bench on the peninsula within the Goose Neck of the 

river. This limestone, which here forms the top of the Rico Formation, is not shown in the rock column (fig. 9) because •its exposure is limited to the Shafer dome and the Cane Creek anticline and its name is used only locally by prospectors for oil 

and gas. 

CUTAWAY VIEW OF ANTICLINE, or upfold of the rocks. From Hansen (1969, p. 31). 

(Fig. 14) 

31 
LOOKING SOUTHWEST FROM DEAD HORSE POINT toward Island in the Sky 

on right skyline, Orange Cliffs on left skyline, Colorado River and White Rim 

Trail below, and Shafer dome at lower left. Sketch from photograph shows 

names of rocks. (Compare with fig. 9.) (Fig. 15) 

'-WHITE RIM 
Note that the White Rim Sandstone Member of the Cutler 

Formation, referred to hereinafter simply as the White Rim 

Sandstone, becomes thinner toward the right (northeast) in 

figure 15 but is absent entirely in figure 13, just a short distance 

to the northeast. The gradual disappearance of recognizable 

beds of this type toward the northeast, including the disappearance of some limestone beds containing marine fossils, 

are examples of what geologists call facies changes. Here the 

changes result from the fact that while strata were being 

deposited in or near ancient seas that lay to the southwest, beds 

of different character were being laid down on land by streams 

emanating from the northeast. This will be gone into in more 

detail in discussions that accompany illustrations to follow, particularly figures 27, 31, and 35. 

NORTH ENTRANCE 

The north entrance to the Island in the Sky district of 

Canyonlands National Park used to be 6 miles south of the junction with the paved road to Dead Horse Point, but since the land 

additions of November 1971, it is only 41

/z miles south of this 

junction. A temporary trailer-housed entrance station marks 

the old boundary. 

SHAFER WHITE RIM TRAILS 

During the early 1950's a remarkable but hair-raising road 

known as Shafer Trail was cut down the face of the cliffs below 

The Neck to reach the C Group of uranium claims near the head 

of Lathrop Canyon. It branches southward from the park road a 

mile south of the new entrance, then descends in a series of 

switchbacks. The aerial view (fig. 11) shows the upper trail and 

The Neck before the park road was graded and widened, and a 

view from near The Neck (fig. 16) shows the precipitous cliffs 

the trail descends. It follows the general route of an old foot 

trail. 

Shafer Trail connects with the White Rim Trail, which, as the 

name suggests, is built mainly on the White Rim, after which 

the White Rim Sandstone was named. The White Rim Trail can 

be followed northeastward to join the pavement at Potash, or it 

can be followed southward along the Colorado River canyons to 

SHAFER TRAIL, from just south of The Neck (figs. 1, 11 ). Navajo Sandstone is above !> 

road at left, Kayenta Formation forms upper half of cliff below road, and Wingate 

Sandstone forms lower, vertical half of cliff; lower part of road is in Chinle Formation. 

(Fig. 16) 

34 

Junction Butte, thence northward along Stillwater and 

Labyrinth Canyons of the Green River to and beyond the 

northern boundary of the park. At Horsethief Bottom, you can 

leave the canyon by Horsethief Trail and rejoin the paved road 

leading northward to U.S. 163. At Lathrop Canyon, 8 or 10 miles 

south of where Shafer Trail meets the White Rim Trail, a branch 

of the White Rim Trail leads downward to the Colorado River, 

where picnic tables and sanitary facilities are provided. This is 

used as a lunch stop by some boating groups. 

Although some two-wheel-drive cars or trucks have traversed 

the White Rim and Shafer Trails, they may encounter trouble 

with deep sand, washouts, or fallen rocks, so four-wheel-drive 

vehicles are recommended. In the summer these trails should 

not be attempted without plenty of water, and two vehicles 

traveling together provide an added margin of safety. All 

vehicles should carry emergency equipment including a shovel, 

tow chain or rope, jack, tire tools, and other necessary items. 

Geologists and uranium prospectors working along the White 

Rim Trail have obtained good drinking water from small springs 

that flow from the base of the White Rim Sandstone in many 

places (Neal Hinrichs, U.S. Geol. Survey, oral commun., Feb. 

1973). After rains, runoff gathers in large potholes in the White 

Rim Sandstone in some places and affords emergency drinking 

water. Several such potholes filled with water are shown in 

figure 17. Some potholes occur also in the Cedar Mesa Sandstone 

in the Needles district. 

GRAND VIEW POINT 

About a mile southwest of The Neck, the road crosses Grays 

Pasture-the widest and flattest part of Island in the Sky. The 

drive over this flat grassland yields not the slightest hint of the 

awesome cliff-walled chasms on either side of the island. Some 5 

miles southwest of The Neck, both the island and the road 

branch like a Y. At a point 0.4 mile north of theY, Mesa Trail 

leads one-quarter mile east to Canyon Viewpoint Arch, which 

frames the Colorado River canyon and the La Sal Mountains 

(fig. 18). This arch, at the very top edge of the cliff, is composed 

of the lower part of the Navajo Sandstone. The only other arch 

of Navajo Sandstone in or near the park that I know of is the 

small one shown in figure 33, but of course there may be others. 

CANYON VIEWPOINT ARCH, framing Colorado River canyon at east end of Mesa Trail !> 

0.4 mile north of Y in Island in the Sky road. Arch is in lower part of Navajo Sandstone. 

(Fig. 18) 

36 
NATURAL TANKS, filled with runoff from rain, serve as emergency sources of drinking 

water. Largest tank in foreground contains 4 feet of water and small fresh-water shrimp. 

So-called tanks, or potholes, are formed partly by water dissolving the calcium carbonate 

cement and partly by wind or water removing the resulting loose sand grains. View is 

north toward Junction Butte from point about a mile south of the White Rim Trail. Red 

rocks in hill on right are in lower part of Moenkopi Formation. Photograph by E. N. 

Hinrichs. (Fig. 17) 

37 
EXPLANATION 

- Pavedrood 

Grovel or dirt road 

_____...... Jeep trail 

____ ..,.,., Foot trail 

0 

I 

Park Boundary 

i Campground 

A Primitive campsite 

MILES 

I I 11 I 1 1 I I 

KILOMETERS 

N 

r 

I 

10 

EMERY CO --WAYNE- CO ____ _ 

WAYNE 

----GARFIELD 

INDEX MAP showing localities where most of 

the photographs were taken. Arrows point to 

distant views. Numbers refer to figure numbers. v 

(Fig. 19) «, v 

~ 

~0 

·-·-·-·1 

L.-, 

I 

B E E F 

B A S I N 

"1 

0 

? 

GIBSON 

DOME 

• !Canyonlands 

· • Resort 
THE WHITE RIM, looking northeast toward La Sal Mountains from overlook 3 miles north 

of Grand View Point. White Rim Sandstone here is thicker than near Dead Horse Point 

(fig. 15) but thinner than in Monument Basin and Stillwater Canyon (figs. 21, 23). (Fig. 

20) 

Let us now take the branch south of the Y and follow the 

narrow crest of Grand View Point for about 6 miles to the main 

overlook. About 0.9 mile south of theY, a short walk to the west 

over the lower part of the Navajo Sandstone affords a magnificent view of Stillwater Canyon of the Green River, including 

Turks Head (figs. 23, 24). Half way to the point is a parking area 

and overlook, from which we get a spectacular view of canyons 

cutting the White Rim and of the La Sal Mountains beyond (fig. 

20). Note that the White Rim Sandstone, which forms the broad 

bench appropriately named the White Rim, is here much thicker 

than where seen near Dead Horse Point (fig. 15). 

Three more miles southward takes us to Grand View Point and 

its nearby picnic area. Though named after the former Grand 

River some 2,000 feet below, Grand View Point has a double 

meaning, for we see from here a truly grand view (fig. 21)! At 

our feet is spectacular Monument Basin, cut below the White 

Rim into the brick-red Organ Rock Tongue of the Cutler Formation. The White Rim Sandstone here is slightly thicker thari to 

MONUMENT BASIN FROM GRAND VIEW POINT, Needles Overlook on left skyline, Abajo [> 

Mountains on right skyline. Red spires and cliffs in basin are Organ Rock Tongue of 

Cutler Formation. (Fig. 21) 

40 

the northeast (fig. 20) but thinner than to the west (fig. 23), 

because it forms a wedge-shaped body that thickens westward. 

In the distance southeastward are the Abajo Mountains, just 

west of Monticello, Utah. The prominent projection on Hatch 

Point on the left skyline is Needles Overlook, from which the 

photograph in figure 27 was taken. A closeup view of Monument 

Basin, showing Junction Butte and Grand View Point in the 

background, is shown in figure 22. The slender spire in the 

foreground has a measured height of 305 feet (Findley, 1971, p. 

78). 

MONUMENT BASIN FROM THE AIR, looking north to Junction Butte and Grand View 

Point. Spire of Organ Rock Tongue in foreground is 305 feet high. White top of Cedar 

Mesa Sandstone is at bottom of photograph. Photograph by National Park Service (Fig. 

22) 

42 
About a quarter mile west of theY, a left fork of the road goes 

about a mile and a half to Green River Overlook, which provides 

a superb view of Stillwater Canyon of the Green River, the 

Orange Cliffs beyond, and the Henry Mountains in the extreme 

distance (fig. 23). Note that here the White Rim Sandstone is 

much thicker than in preceding views. The prominent butte 

enclosed by the loop of the river is known as Turks Head and is 

better seen from the air (fig. 24). The light-colored band near the 

base of the cliffs in the background of figure 24 is characteristic 

of the bleached upper part of the Moenkopi Formation in this 

part of the park. According to F. A. McKeown and P. P. Orkild 

(U.S. Geol. Survey, unpub. data, Feb. 16, 1973), petroliferous 

material or odor generally occurs in this bleached zone and in 

the basal beds of the Moenkopi. 

The campground just north of Green River Overlook has no 

water at this writing (1973), but water from wells in Taylor Canyon will eventually be piped to nearby parts of Island in the 

Sky. 

UPHEJW/~1 

Five miles northwest of theY we come to Upheaval Dome, one 

of the most unusual geographic and geologic features of the 

park. Viewed from the air (fig. 25), it resembles somewhat a 

volcanic or meteor crater and has been called such by some. 

Because beds of salt are known to underlie the park, some have 

suggested that the salt may have thickened and welled upward 

to form a salt dome, similar to domes along the Gulf Coast (Mattox, 1968). However, only 1,470 feet of salt was encountered in 

an oil test just east of Upheaval Dome (Robert J. Hite, U.S. Geol. 

Survey, oral commun., Feb. 13, 1973); so although salt may have 

played a role, Upheaval Dome clearly is not a salt dome with 

dimensions similar to the Gulf Coast types. It may be related to 

a mound on the deep-seated Precambrian rocks (Joesting and 

Plouff, 1958, fig. 3; Joesting and others, 1966, p. 13, 14, 17), but 

the exact origin of the dome is not clear. 

The central part has the structure of a dome, in that the strata 

dip downward away from the middle. A ringlike syncline, or 

downward fold in the rock layers (fig. 26), surrounds the dome, 

beyond which the strata resume their nearly flat position. The 

white rock in the bottom of the crater like depression is not salt, 

but jumbled large fragments of the White Rim Sandstone. 

Surrounding that are slopes of the Moenkopi and Chinle Formations, cliffs of the Wingate Sandstone, a circular bench of the 

43 
STILLWATER CANYON AND GREEN RIVER, looking southwest from Green River loop of river. Brown material covering nearby parts of the White Rim is lower part of 

Overlook. Orange Cliffs in background, Henry Mountains on right skyline, Turks Head in Moenkopi Formation. (Fig. 23) 
TURKS HEAD, an erosional remnant of the White Rim Sandstone supported by red beds 

of Organ Rock Tongue, in loop of Green River. Aerial view looking north. Photograph by 

National Park Service. (Fig. 24) 

UPHEAVAL DOME, aerial view looking northwest toward junction of Upheaval and Taylor 

Canyons with Labyrinth Canyon of Green River. Photograph by Walter Meayers Edwards, 

c 1971 National Geographic Society. (Fig. 25) 
CUTAWAY VIEW OF SYNCLINE, or downfold of the rocks. From Hansen 

(1969, p. 108). (Fig. 26) 

Kayenta Formation, and outer ramparts of the Navajo 

Sandstone. Upheaval Canyon leads to Stillwater Canyon of the 

Green River at the upper left. 

One mile before the road ends, a well-marked foot trail leads 

to the top of Whale Rock, a prominence on the Navajo Sandstone 

that forms the outer ring of the dome. At the end of the road, 

another foot trail ascends from the picnic area to the foot of the 

Wingate Sandstone cliffs around the central part of the dome. 

The views of the dome from these trails are interesting, but you 

are really too close to get a true picture of the unusual feature, 

which is obtainable only from the air, as shown in figure 25. 

Just west of Upheaval Dome, Bighorn Mesa is connected to 

Steer Mesa by a neck only 15 feet wide flanked by 300-foot vertical cliffs, as pointed out by McKnight (1940, p. 12). I later 

learned from Ed McKnight (oral commun., June 6, 1973) that 

during his field work in this area in 1926 he was riding a mule 

across this riarrow neck when the half-asleep mule suddenly 

became aware of the dropoff on one side and began to turn 

around and head back. Ed hastily but cautiously dismounted 

and led the mule across! When this neck is finally breached by 

erosion, Bighorn Mesa will be just as isolated and inaccessible as 

Junction Butte, now cut off from Grand View Point. (See frontispiece and fig. 27.) 

Hatch Point 

The high mesa east of Canyonlands National Park and the 

Colorado River canyons, called Hatch Point, contains several 

vantage points ideally suited for viewing scenic features of the 

park and adjacent areas. Hatch Point is part of the vast public 

domain administered by the Bureau of Land Management-a 

46 
sister agency of the Geological Survey and the National Park 

Service, all in the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Bureau, 

hereinafter referred to simply as the B.L.M., has made many 

improvements on Hatch Point, including fine roads, two modern 

campgrounds with sanitary facilities and piped water from 

wells, and two overlooks with protective fences, benches, paths, 

sanitary facilities, and ramadas containing panels that describe 

the features visible from the viewpoints. Because of these improvements, the B.L.M. has appropriately named this area "Canyon Rims Recreation Area." 

Geologically, Hatch Point is similar to Island in the Sky. Both 

are bordered by towering cliffs of the Wingate Sandstone capped 

by the resistant Kayenta Formation, and rounded remnants of 

the overlying Navajo Sandstone rise above the otherwise-flat 

mesa surface in many places. 

Access to this high tableland is by a good paved road leading 

west from U.S. Highway 163 at a point 32 miles south of Moab 

and 22 miles north of Monticello. About 5 miles west of the 

highway we pass Windwhistle Campground, nestled in an attractive cove of Entrada Sandstone cliffs, and 16 miles from the 

highway we reach an intersection. From here it is 7 miles west 

by paved road to Needles Overlook, 10 miles north to Anticline 

Overlook. Like the other high mesas, Hatch Point contains 

peripheral areas of scattered pinon and juniper trees and large 

flat grasslands used for grazing. Grain tanks here and there 

store winter feed for the cattle. 

Let us follow the pavement to Needles Overlook, from which 

fine morning views of Canyonlands National Park can be seen to 

the south and west. Northwestward (fig. 27) we look 10 miles 

across the Colorado River canyon to Junction Butte and Grand 

View Point. (This view is along the line of the east half of the 

cross section in fig. 10.) The feather edge of the White Rim 

Sandstone caps the White Rim west of the Colorado River, but 

the White Rim is absent on the east side of the canyon and in the 

entire Needles district to the southwest, where the important 

scenic features are carved from the underlying Cedar Mesa 

Sandstone Member of the Cutler Formation, referred to 

hereinafter simply as the Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Both these 

sandstones are missing in the foreground of figure 27 -their 

place being taken by thin beds of red siltstone, mudstone, and 

sandstone similar to those that comprise the Organ Rock Tongue 

shown between the two sandstones in figure 22. These are additional examples of facies changes mentioned earlier (p. 34). 

47 
JUNCTION BUTTE AND GRAND VIEW POINT, looking northwest from Needles Overlook. 

(Fig. 27) 

CANYONLANDS OVERLOOK 

Turning north from the intersection 7 miles east of Needles 

Overlook, we traverse a nearly flat grassy tableland to Hatch 

Point Campground. In figure 1 the campground is shown west of 

the old road; the new road is west of the campground, but no 

map of the new route was available for plotting in figure 1. 

About a mile before we reach the campground a jeep trail heads 

west then northwest about 5V2 miles to Canyonlands Overlook, a 

scant mile from, but some 1,400 feet above, the eastern border of 

Canyonlands National Park. This overlook affords fine views of 

the Colorado River canyons and the eastern shore of Island in 

the Sky, but at present (1973) there are no plans to improve the 

trail for passenger-car travel. 

Two miles north of the campground we cross a minor drainage 

leading northeastward into the north fork of Trough Springs 

Canyon. The B.L.M. plans a road down this canyon to Kane 

Springs Canyon, 1,100 feet below, where it will connect both 

with a scenic drive to Moab, the lower part of which is paved, 

and with the jeep trail going west over Hurrah Pass (fig. 30) and 

thence south along the eastern benches of the canyons of the 

Colorado River to the Needles district of the park. E. Neal 

Hinrichs (U.S. Geol. Survey, oral commun. Feb. 16, 1973) 

reported specimens of blue celestite (strontium sulfate, SrSO 1) 

and barite (barium sulfate, KaSO 1) in the Cutler Formation at a 

point where a sharp bend of this jeep trail crosses a fault, or 

48 
fracture (fig. 56), in the northeast fork of Lockhart Canyon 

(shown in fig. 1 as the easternmost loop of the trail about 6 miles 

northeast of Lockhart Basin). Farther south, the trail swings 

west of Lockhart Basin, whose center exposes part of a syncline 

(fig. 28). 

SYNCLINE IN CORE OF LOCKHART BASIN, near Needles Overlook. Dish·shaped roof is 

Wingate Sandstone, partly bleached; sloping sides are Chinle Formation; dark sloping 

ledge at left middle ground is Moss Back Member of Chinle resting on Moenkopi 

Formation. Photograph by E. N. Hinrichs. (Fig. 28) 

U-3 LOOP 

Two and a half miles farther north, or about 2 miles south of 

Anticline Overlook, a short road leads to the west and entirely 

around a small conical butte of the Navajo Sandstone. This new 

circular drive has not yet been formally named and is simply 

called the U-3 loop, as designated in the surveyor's notebook. It 

affords splendid views to the west and is to be equipped with picnic tables. Looking west (fig. 29) we see a W-shaped loop of the 

Colorado River, Dead Horse Point on the right skyline, and 

Island in the Sky on the distant skyline. The strata curving over 

Shafer dome appear in the right middle background. 

49 
VIEW WESTWARD FROM U-3 LOOP. Dead Horse Point on right skyline, Island in the Sky 

capped by Navajo Sandstone in extreme distance, Kayenta Formation in foreground at 

left. Cliffs topping ridge at left are Wingate Sandstone protected by caprock of the 

Kayenta Formation; red slopes beneath cliffs are Chinle Formation, with dark ledge of 

Moss Back Member at base; steep slopes and ledges beneath are Moenkopi Formation, 

lower part of which is Hoskinnini Tongue; reddish gentle slopes below are Cutler Formation; nearly flat benches above Colorado River are Rico Formation, with Shafer limestone 

at top. (Fig. 29) 

ANTICLINE OVERLOOK 

Two more miles takes us to Anticline Overlook for the most sublime views in this part of the area. To the north (fig. 30) we look 

across the northeast flank of the Cane Creek anticline, an upfold 

of the rocks (figs. 13, 14). Hurrah Pass straddles the narrow wall 

separating the Colorado River and its canyon at the left from 

Kane Springs Canyon on the right. The Colorado River appears 

again in the right background, where it leaves Moab Valley. The 

Kings Bottom syncline, or downfold (fig. 26), seen in the middle 

distance between the Cane Creek anticline and the Moab anticline, exposes a wide area of the Navajo Sandstone. The ridge 

on the right skyline, composed of the Entrada Sandstone, is The 

Windows Section of Arches National Park, and the left skyline 

shows faintly the distant Book Cliffs. 

On the east wall of Kane Springs Canyon just to the right of 

figure 30 is the Atomic King mine in the Cutler Formation, from 

which uranium ore has been mined at intervals during the last 2 

or 3 years. 

LOOKING NORTH FROM ANTICLINE OVERLOOK, across axis of Cane Creek anticline. C> 

Unimproved road crosses Hurrah Pass in foreground. Colorado River at left is near 

Potash and in right background is at Moab. For description of strata, see caption for 

figure 31. (Fig. 30) 

50 


To the northwest (fig. 31; see also fig. 13) is a textbook example 

of a rock fold-the Cane Creek anticline-laid bare by the 

Colorado River cutting directly across its crest (fig. 1). Anticlines are noted as sources of or at least hunting grounds for oil 

and gas, and this one is no exception, although production has 

been relatively small and was stopped altogether in about 1963. 

Some oil and gas was produced also from wells on the north 

flank of Shafer dome, just beneath Dead Horse Point (figs. 1, 

15), but other favorable-looking structures farther south that 

were tested, such as Lockhart anticline, Rustler dome, and Gibson dome (fig. 1), failed to yield commercial amounts (Baker, 

1933, p. 80-84). Some of the colorful events in the early days of 

wildcatting are noted on page 100. 

Exploration for oil and gas led to the discovery of potash 

beneath several anticlines in eastern Utah and western 

Colorado. According to Hite (1968, p. 325), the Cane Creek anticline is underlain by about 5,200 feet of salt-bearing rocks in 

the Paradox Member of the Hermosa Formation (fig. 9), of 

which about 84 percent is halite (common salt, sodium chloride) 

and associated potash salts (sylvite, potassium chloride). The 

potash mine of Texas Gulf, Inc., is shown at the right in figure 31 

The white area to the left of the mine is waste common salt, 

which is recovered with the potash salts, and the white area with 

dark stripes at the left is a small part of more than 400 acres of 

evaporation ponds built to separate the salts. These ponds also 

can be seen from Dead Horse Point. The dark stripes are the 

visible parts of plastic membranes lining the ponds. Mining of 

an 11-foot bed of ore began by usual underground methods from 

the bottom of a shaft 2,788 feet deep but became too difficult 

because of intense and intricate folding of the salt beds. Now the 

salts are being extracted by a method involving solution, 

wherein river water is introduced into the former workings and 

allowed to stand long enough to dissolve the salts, then the brine 

is pumped out to evaporation ponds, and the valuable potash 

salts are separated from the sodium salts. Closeup views of the 

mine and evaporation ponds are seen in figures 70 and 71. 

<J CANE CREEK ANTICLINE, looking northwest from Anticline Overlook. Colorado River is 

cutting into limestone of unnamed upper member of Hermosa Formation in lower bench 

at crest of fold; Rico Formation, with bluish·white Shafer limestone at top, forms upper 

curved bench; remainder of formations are as given in caption for figure 29. Potash mine 

(right) and evaporation ponds (left) are operated by Texas Gulf, Inc. Merrimac and 

Monitor Buttes on right skyline are shown in figure 12. (Fig. 31) 

53 
As noted earlier, most of the readily recognizable thin beds, 

such as the White Rim Sandstone, pinch out south of here, and 

figure 31 marks the northeasternmost exposure of the Shafer 

limestone at the top of the Rico Formation. Northeast from here 

the Rico and overlying Cutler Formation are not readily 

separable and are included in the so-called Cutler Formation undifferentiated. This land-laid unit of red sandstone, siltstone, 

and shale is as much as 8,000 feet thick just southwest of the ancient Uncompahgre highland (present Uncompahgre Plateau, in 

western Colorado and eastern Utah), from which it was derived 

by erosion during the Permian Period (fig. 80). 

Orange Cliffs 

The high mesas west of Canyonlands National Park do not 

form as distinct a mainland as does Hatch Point, but rather are 

broken up into a maze of peninsulas and islands, as shown in 

figure 1. Owing to the gentle northwestward dip of the rock 

strata, the altitude of the mesas declines from about 7,000 feet in 

the south to about 5,300 feet in the north and northwest, where 

the whole aspect of the country becomes more rounded and subdued. As shown on the map (fig. 1), however, the name Orange 

Cliffs is applied to much of the eastward-facing cliffs, which are 

made of the Wingate Sandstone capped by the Kayenta Formation. Remnants of the Navajo Sandstone increase in number to 

the north and west, where remnants of the next two younger 

rock units-the Carmel Formation and the Entrada 

Sandstone-also occur. Thus, the cliff-forming units dip 

downward beneath younger rocks that form the relatively flat 

Green River Desert to the northwest, also referred to as the San 

Rafael Desert. Figure 32 is a view southeastward from The 

Spur, shown on the map (fig. 1) as the northern section of the 

Orange Cliffs. 

At present (1973), the areas west of the Green River and the 

main stem of the Colorado River are the least accessible of any 

in the park and in this respect have not changed much since 

Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch roamed the area, except that 

the former main horse trails are now jeep trails. A secondary 

road south from the town of Green River goes past the north 

side of the Horseshoe Canyon Detached Unit (figs. 1, 2) and connects with another secondary road to the west, which joins Utah 

VIEW SOUTHEASTWARD FROM THE SPUR, in northern section of Orange Cliffs. June- t> 

tion Butte and Grand View Point on left skyline; Abajo Mountains in extreme distance to 

right of center. Photograph by Parker Hamilton, Flagstaff, Ariz. (Fig. 32) 

54 

LOOKING NORTH DOWN MILLARD CANYON from head of canyon a mile northwest of 

French Spring. Note small arch or window in the Navajo Sandstone at upper left, which is 

shown in figure 1 as "Arch." The Navajo is underlain by the cliff-forming Kayenta Formation and Wingate Sandstone resting upon a sloping base of the Chinle Formation and, 

farther downstream, ledges and slopes of the Moenkopi Formation. Photograph by 

Parker Hamilton, Flagstaff, Ariz. (Fig. 33) 

56 
Highway 24 at Temple Junction, 20 miles north of Hanksville; 

near Horseshoe Canyon a jeep trail leads south to the Orange 

Cliffs. Owing to blowing sand, these "roads" are not considered 

reliable for passenger cars and are best negotiated by fourwheel-drive vehicles or horses. 

According to Baker (1971, p. 12), the road leading eastward 

along North Point was used by the Wild Bunch in traveling to 

French Spring, whence they dropped down Millard Canyon (fig. 

33) and crossed the Green River at Bonita Bend, which is just 

east of Buttes of the Cross (fig. 64). They also followed the Old 

Spanish Trail from the Henry Mountains eastward across the 

Dirty Devil River, up North Hatch Canyon, across Sunset Pass, 

and down across the Land of Standing Rocks to Spanish Bottom 

on the Colorado River (fig. 1). After crossing the river, they 

followed the trail up Lower Red Lake Canyon (fig. 59) and 

eastward through The Needles to Monticello. 

57 
The White Rim, a broad benchland some 1,000-1,200 feet 

below the southern half of Island in the Sky, and some of the 

associated benchlands west of the Green River and between the 

Colorado River and Hatch Point have already been discussed as 

viewed from Island in the Sky, the White Rim Trail, or Hatch 

Point. There remain for consideration several other prominent 

bench lands. 

The Maze and Land of Standing Rocks 

The Maze, an intricately carved series of canyons and gullies, 

has been called a "Thirty-square-mile puzzle in sandstone" 

(Findley, 1971, p. 71-73), and one can readily visualize a kingsized rat struggling in vain to find a way out. The rock is the 

Cedar Mesa Sandstone, which here underlies red shales beneath 

the White Rim Sandstone. South of The Maze an area containing 

tall spires was appropriately named by the Indians "Toom'-pin 

wu-near' Tu-weap ', "or "Land of Standing Rocks" (Powell, 1875, 

p. 154). 

West of The Maze is Elaterite Basin, so named because of a 

dark-brown elastic mineral resin called elaterite, which seeps 

from the White Rim Sandstone. One of these seeps is shown in 

figure 34, and a wedge-shaped layer of the sandstone is shown in 

·-- - - ------ figure-35.--{n the Range Canyon area shown in figure 35, sand -

was being laid down in an offshore bar at the left, while red silts 

and muds were being deposited on land to the right. The dark 

bed just above the White Rim near the middle of the photograph 

is the Hoskinnini Tongue of the Moenkopi Formation, which intertongues with and pinches out in beds of the Moenkopi Formation to left. These are excellent examples of what geologists call 

facies changes. 

South of the Land of Standing Rocks are equally colorful 

areas known as The Fins and Ernies Country (named after Ernie Larson, an early-day sheep man). A prominent row of spires 

near Cataract Canyon is known as The Doll House (fig. 36). 

58 
ELATERITE SEEPING FROM WHITE RIM SANDSTONE in Elaterite Basin west of The 

Maze. Elaterite is a dark·brown elastic mineral resin. Photograph by Donald L. Baars. 

(Fig. 34) 

WHITE RIM SANDSTONE in north wall of Range Canyon, south of Elaterite Basin. Bed 

thins from 230 feet at left (west) to 38 feet at right (east), and disappears (by facies 

change into red shales) a short distance farther east. See description in text of pinch out 

of Hoskinnini Tongue. Bed at top of mesa is Moss Back Member of Chinle Formation. 

Photograph by Donald L. Baars. (Fig. 35) 
THE DOLL HOUSE, eroded from Cedar Mesa Sandstone just west of Spanish Bottom, 

above Cataract Canyon. Notice the red layer at right offset by a fault. Photograph by 

Parker Hamilton, Flagstaff, Ariz. (Fig. 36) 

The Needles district 

The Needles district is currently (1973) the most highly 

developed part of the unfinished park as the result of design, not 

accident, for this district includes the greatest number and 

widest variety of spectacular features- The Needles proper, The 

Grabens (pronounced griibans), colossal arches and other 

erosional forms, large meadows such as Squaw Flat and Chesler 

and Virginia Parks, a wide variety of prehistoric ruins and pictographs, and Confluence Overlook for viewing the joining of 

two mighty rivers-the Green and the Colorado. Like the White 

Rim and The Maze, the Needles district is another of the broad 

benchlands about midway between the high mesas and the 

deep canyons. 

Utah Highway 211, as mentioned already, is a 38-mile-long 

paved road leading to the Needles district from U.S. Highway 

163 at a point 15 miles north of Monticello and 18 miles south of 

La Sal Junction. The intersection is well marked by Church Rock 

(fig. 37), a butte of the Entrada Sandstone. Highway 211 

gradually climbs an eastward-dipping slope of the Navajo 

Sandstone dotted with a few buttes and patches of the Entrada 

Sandstone, such as Church Rock, and reaches the first of two 

60 
summits 3 miles west of Highway 163. The road crosses a broad 

gentle valley in the Navajo Sandstone, reaches the second summit about 10 miles from the highway, then descends steeply 

through the Navajo Sandstone and part of the Kayenta Formation to Indian Creek, 11

/2 miles below, and follows this creek 

nearly to The Needles. Half a mile down the canyon takes us to 

the top of the cliff-forming Wingate Sandstone, and another half 

mile brings us to Indian Creek State Park and its striking 

Newspaper Rock (fig. 5). Another 1% miles takes us to the base 

of the Wingate and top of the underlying Chinle Formation, 

which forms the red slope beneath the cliffs. 

Historic Dugout Ranch (p. 14) is 19 miles west of the 

highway, and from here a dry-weather road leads southward up 

north Cottonwood Creek 37 miles to Beef Basin and connects 

with roads to Elk Ridge and the Bears Ears, both just west of 

the Abajo Mountains. Just west of the ranch we get a good view 

ahead of two historic landmarks- North and South Six-Shooter 

Peaks (fig. 38), so named because of their resemblance to a pair 

of revolvers pointing skyward. The guns are sculptured from 

slivers of Wingate Sandstone resting upon conical mounds of the 

Chinle. These can be seen from a wide area; both appear in 

figures 38 and 40, and the north one is seen in figure 77. 

CHURCH ROCK, standing guard at the intersection of U.S. Highway 163 and the east 

end of Utah Highway 211 leading to the Needles district. Rock is Entrada Sandstone: red 

foundation is Dewey ~;!ridge Member; yellowish smooth rounded body of church is Slick 

Rock Member; white steeple is Moab Member. La Sal Mountains at left. (Fig. 37) 
NORTH AND SOUTH SIX-SHOOTER PEAKS, looking west from entrance road to The 

Needles. (Fig. 38) 

A mile west of Dugout Ranch we descend to the top of the 

Moss Back Member of the Chinle, a ledge of gray-green 

sandstone forming the base of this generally red formation, and 

reach the base of the member at the top of the Moenkopi Formation in the next mile and a half. The Moss Back is uranium bearing in nearby areas. 

At 3.8 miles west of Dugout Ranch a poorly marked road on the 

left crosses Indian Creek, then forks; the left-hand fork follows 

the bed of Lavender Canyon, and the right-hand fork goes into 

Davis Canyon. Headwaters of both these canyons are new additions to the park. 

The red Organ Rock Tongue of the Cutler Formation is seen 

about 3 miles beyond the turnoff, or about 6 miles west of 

Dugout Ranch. Another l 1

/2 miles takes us down in the rock 

column (fig. 9) to the top of the Cedar Mesa Sandstone. The 

White Rim Sandstone, which forms such a prominent bench 

around the southern part of Island in the Sky (figs. 20-23) and 

west of the Green River, is missing from the Needles district, its 

place in the rock column being taken by red shales and 

sandstones of the Cutler Formation. South of Indian Creek other 

underlying red beds of the Cutler are gradually replaced in turn 

62 
by the thick Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Erosion has reduced the 

general level of the Needles district to or into the Cedar Mesa 

Sandstone, but many streams have cut into the underlying Rico 

Formation, and the Colorado River has cut also into, and in 

places through, the limestones of the unnamed upper member of 

the Hermosa Formation. Our first view of The Needles is 

another 4 miles, and 1 more mile takes us to the park boundary, 

nearly 32 miles from the U.S. Highway 163. We pass a road on 

the right leading to Canyonlands Resort, and on the left is a new 

line camp which replaces the restored one at Cave Spring (fig. 6). 

The unusual features of the Needles district are due in some 

part to the character and thickness of the underlying rocks but 

in large part to erosion along joints and faults. Joints are fractures along which no displacement has taken place, and faults 

are fractures along which there has been displacement of the 

two sides relative to one another (fig. 76). The Cedar Mesa 

Sandstone comprises 500 to 600 feet or more of hard wellcemented buff, white, and pink beds of massive sandstone. On 

the basis of the type and amount of deformation and erosion of the 

Cedar Mesa Sandstone and underlying rocks, the Needles district can be divided into three differing areas: (1) an eastern area 

where the rocks are relatively undeformed but are carved into 

an intricate series of canyons, including Salt Canyon and the upper reaches of Davis and Lavender Canyons-the section of the 

district that contains most of the arches and Indian ruins; (2) 

The Needles proper, where tensional forces have cracked the 

brittle Cedar Mesa Sandstone into a crazy-quilt pattern of 

square to rectangular blocks separated by joints widened by erosion, creating a myriad of spires and pinnacles; and (3) The 

Grabens, where the previously jointed rocks were later subjected to additional tensional forces that produced a series of 

nearly parallel faults that trend northeastward and separate 

downdropped blocks of rock, called grabens, from intervening 

stationary or upthrown blocks of rock, called horsts. 

Let us examine each of these areas in the order named. For 

traveling to most features a four-wheel-drive vehicle is strongly 

recommended. Some visitors negotiate the jeep trails with dune 

buggies or motorcycles, but four-wheel-drive vehicles are considered safer and generally more reliable. A few trails can be 

traveled only on foot. 

Squaw Flat, in the western part of the relatively undeformed 

area, is a nearly flat area of lower Cedar Mesa Sandstone 

covered here and there by a thin layer of sparsely vegetated soil 

and surrounded by generally low hilly erosional forms in the upper part of the sandstone. Short canyons and alcoves in the 

63 
SQUAW FLAT CAMPGROUND, in the Needles district, in Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Large 

pinon and juniper trees draw ground water from this sandstone. (Fig. 39) 

sandstone hills along the west side afford excellent semi-private 

campsites, each of which has its own paved access road, picnic 

table, and trash can (fig. 39). Moreover, ground water at shallow 

depth in the underlying sandstone has encouraged the growth of 

exceptionally large pinon and juniper trees that provide 

welcome shade. 

SALT, DAVIS, AND LAVENDER CANYONS 

A glance at the southeast corner of the map (fig. 1) shows that 

most of the arches and prehistoric ruins in the park are in Salt 

Canyon and its main tributary, Horse Canyon. A few are in adjacent Davis and Lavender Canyons, whose headwaters were 

recently annexed to the park. These canyons are accessible only 

by negotiating the streambeds on four-wheel-drive vehicles, 

horseback, or foot. Salt or Horse Canyons are best conquered by 

four-wheel-drive vehicles plus short hikes in the northern part 

and long hikes in the southern part. 

An aerial view (fig. 40) eastward across Salt Canyon shows 

that erosion has produced an intricate series of meandering 

canyons separated by rather narrow walls of the Cedar Mesa 

Sandstone, resembling somewhat The Maze, west of the Green 

River. 

64 
The massive sandstone beds of the Cedar Mesa are composed 

of sand grains cemented together by calcium carbonate (CaC03), 

which also forms the mineral called calcite and the rock known 

as limestone. Limestone and calcite are soluble in acid, even 

weak acid such as carbonic acid ( H·HCO :), formed by solution of 

carbon dioxide WOe lin water. Ground water, found everywhere 

in rock openings at differing depths beneath the surface, contains considerable dissolved carbon dioxide derived from decaying organic matter in soil, from the atmosphere, and from other 

sources. Even rain water and snow contain small amounts absorbed from the atmosphere-enough to dissolve small amounts 

of limestone or of calcite cement in sandstone. The calcite cement in the Cedar Mesa and many other sandstones is unevenly 

distributed, so the cement is removed first from places that contain the least amounts, and once the cement is dissolved, the 

loose sand grains are carried away by gravity, wind, or water. 

Thus, relatively thin walls of sandstone containing irregularly 

distributed patches of soluble cement are prime targets for the 

formation of potholes (fig. 46), alcoves, and caves. Once a 

breakthrough occurs, weakened chunks from the ceiling tend to 

fall off, and arches of various shapes are produced, because an 

AERIAL VIEW EASTWARD ACROSS SALT CANYON. Note narrow walls and pinnacles 

between canyons and alcoves. Six-Shooter Peaks are in left background. Photograph by 

Wayne Alcorn, National Park Service. (Fig. 40) 
arch is naturally the strongest form that can support the overlying rock load. Man, from the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians to modern day, has long made use of arches in building 

bridges, aqueducts, temples, cathedrals, and other enduring 

edifices. All the spectacular arches we are about to see were 

carved from the Cedar Mesa Sandstone. 

Let us begin our tour of Salt and Horse Canyons by driving a 

four-wheel-drive vehicle eastward from the fine campground at 

Squaw Flat. After about a mile we pass the Wooden Shoe (fig. 

41) capping a ridge south of the highway; it contains one of the 

smallest arches we will encounter. Three quarters of a mile east 

of the temporary ranger station we come to Cave Spring, an old 

restored cowboy line camp pictured in figure 6. This and an adjacent cave containing a spring are part of the interesting wellmarked Environmental Trail, well worth the half hour or so it 

requires. 

The jeep trail up Salt Canyon lies mostly in the sandy bed of 

Salt Creek but includes a few shortcuts across goosenecks and 

some rough rocky stretches around rapids or waterfalls. It is 

best traveled when the canyon bottom is moist but not soaked. 

When the sand is soft and dry, a shift into four-wheel drive is 

generally necessary. Signs warn of quicksand, which occurs 

when the sand is fully saturated; hence, summer thundershowers sometimes require delaying or postponing the trip. 

WOODEN SHOE, near temporary ranger headquarters, the Needles district. Carved in 

Cedar Mesa Sandstone. (Fig. 41) 
When in doubt, consult a park ranger for expected weather and 

trail conditions. Thundershowers sometimes occur so suddenly 

and violently as to cause serious floods, and the "road" is closed 

when heavy rain is expected. However, if an unexpected storm 

occurs while you are up in the canyon, try to reach high ground 

and wait until the flood subsides. If you do not have time to get 

your vehicle out of the flood's path, at least get yourself and 

passengers to a safe spot. 

Two and a half miles south of Cave Spring we reach the confluence with Horse Canyon, marked by a sign at the Y giving 

distances to points of interest up each canyon. Let us try Horse 

Canyon first. After about a mile we pass Paul Bunyans Potty on 

the left-one of the most aptly titled features of the park (fig. 

42). Two miles south of the Y is Keyhole Ruin, nestled in a cleft 

PAUL BUNYANS POTTY, on east wall of Horse Canyon. (Fig. 42) 
high on the cliff to our left-a granary built by the Anasazi. 

Here we face another Y. The left fork leads half a mile east to 

Tower Ruin (fig. 4), one of the largest and best preserved 

Anasazi granaries in the park. The right fork takes us on up 

Horse Canyon, and in about 2 miles we pass Gothic Arch on the 

right. In 2 more miles, 4 miles from Salt Canyon, a short hike up 

the tributary to the right leads to Castle Arch and Thirteen 

Faces. Assuming we have taken photographs of the important 

features along the way, it probably is about time to return to 

camp at Squaw Flat, unless we choose to spend the night at 

Peek-a-boo Spring and primitive campground in Salt Canyon, 

about 1.2 miles above the confluence with Horse Canyon. 

Another drive takes us up Salt Canyon 81/z miles past the confluence with Horse Canyon to another confluence and Y, which 

has a primitive campsite without water. One mile up the left, or 

southeast, tributary is a parking area where we begin the 1

/zmile walk to Angel Arch, considered by many people to be the 

most beautiful and spectacular arch in the park if not in the entire canyon country. Angel Arch was drawn for the front cover 

by John R. Stacy and is pictured in figure 43. 

ANGEL ARCH, along tributary of Salt Canyon. (Fig. 43) 1> 

68 

FISHEYE ARCH, along upper Salt Canyon, looking north. Photograph by National Park 

Service. (Fig. 44) 

From the last Y we can proceed only about 21/z miles farther 

up main Salt Canyon by vehicle, and the remaining features 

shown on the map (fig. 1) can be reached only on foot. The All 

American Man, a unique pictograph referred to earlier (fig. 3), is 

about 31/z miles up the canyon. Those hardy souls who wish to 

hike many additional miles to the head of Salt Canyon will be 

rewarded with views of four additional arches and several ruins. 

Two of these arches are shown in figures 44 and 45. 

The more adventuresome may wish to explore upper Lavender· 

and Davis Canyons by driving up the sand washes in a fourwheel-drive vehicle, but inquiry should be made from a park 

ranger regarding access to the canyon mouths and condition of 

the washes. Hand Holt Arch (fig. 46) and Cleft Arch (fig. 47) are 

two of the rewarding sights in Lavender Canyon, and figure 48 

shows one of the arches in Davis Canon. 

HAND HOLT ARCH, in Lavender Canyon. Note holes in sandstone formed by solution t> 

and wind scour. Photograph by National Park Service. (Fig. 46) 

70 
CLEFT ARCH, in upper Lavender Canyon, looking north. Photograph by E. N. Hinrichs. 

(Fig. 47) 

ARCH, in upper Davis Canyon, looking northwest. Photograph by E. N. Hinrichs. (Fig. 48) 
WEDDING RING ARCH, along upper Salt Canyon. Photograph by National Park Service. 

(Fig. 45) 
THE NEEDLES AND THE GRABENS 

The northeastern edge of The Needles proper can be seen from 

Squaw Flat (fig. 49), but the true character of The Needles can 

be appreciated better from the air (fig. 50). You cannot get far 

into The Needles without traversing part of The Grabens, so we 

will consider them together. An aerial oblique view (fig. 51) 

shows The Needles in the foreground and The Grabens in the 

middle background. As shown on the map (fig. 1), you can hike 

THE NEEDLES, looking southwest from Squaw Flat. (Fig. 49) 

CHESLER PARK IN THE NEEDLES, aerial view looking northeast. Photograph by Walter 

Meayers Edwards, c 1971 National Geographic Society. (Fig. 50) 

into The Needles and The Grabens from Squaw Flat, but let us 

make the trip using a four-wheel-drive vehicle and several short 

hikes. 

Ordinary passenger cars now can go 2% miles west of Squaw 

Flat to Soda Spring, at the east base of Elephant Hill, but 

beyond Soda Spring four-wheel-drive vehicles should be used. 

Some people conquer the hill in dune buggies or on motorcycles, 

but this is considered quite dangerous. Both sides of this short 

(1 14 miles) but formidable hill have switchback curves too sharp 

to negotiate in the regular manner, so special driving techniques 

must be followed. On the east side, you must drive out on a flat 

rock, jockey back and forth until turned completely around, then 

proceed up the hill. On the west side, you descend a 40-percent 

grade to a shelf, back down a narrow stretch of about 30-percent 

grade and back sharply to the left onto a flat rock, then go 

forward again. On the return trip the whole procedure is carried 

out in reverse order. 

West of Elephant Hill, the road reaches a Y, at which you 

must turn left on a one-way road; the right-hand road is for later 

one-way return to the Y. Why the left-hand fork is one way soon 

becomes apparent, for the road leads into a narrow shallow 

graben, called Devils Pocket (fig. 51), between rock walls, and is 

barely wide enough for one car. After about 2 miles the graben 

widens out into a beautiful spot called the Devils Kitchen, which 

contains several picnic tables tucked into shady recesses in the 

sandstone walls. This is the starting point for two trails leading 

southward by different routes to Chesler Park, from which 

other trails lead to Druid Arch or back to Squaw Flat. 

From the Devils Kitchen, the road turns abruptly westward 

for about half a mile to another Y in about the middle of Devils 

Lane, one of the larger grabens and one of two whose entire 

length is traversed by roads, as shown on the map (fig. 1). Only 

the left fork is a two-way road, so let us take the left fork 2% 

miles southwestward to the next road junction. About halfway 

down Devils Lane, a fault crossing the graben has created a 

narrow steep ridge appropriately called SOB Hill, because the 

road over it creates a challenge that some vehicles fail to meet on 

the first attempt! 

The next road intersection is now shown on the map (fig. 1) as 

a sharp turn leading southwest to Ruin Park and Beef Basin. 

The abandoned left fork (not shown) leads east into Chesler 

<l THE NEEDLES AND THE GRABENS, aerial oblique view looking west over Chesler Park in 

foreground, The Grabens to the right, and Cataract Canyon behind. Photograph by U.S. 

Army Air Fore e. (Fig. 51) 

75 
Park. This park, shown in figure 50 and near the bottom of 

figure 51, is a beautiful natural meadow of several hundred 

acres fenced by a natural wall of needles and containing a central island of needles. Because of vehicular damage to meadow 

vegetation, the National Park Service found it necessary to close 

the road. To reach Chesler Park now, vehicles must go right a 

short distance to the Chesler Canyon turnoff, then left about 

half a mile to a parking area. From here, a %-mile hike east 

through the narrow Joint Trail gets us to the south side of 

Chesler Park, where we join the abandoned road to reach the 

northeast corner of the park and the trails into The Needles 

proper (fig. 1). 

This change adds 1% miles (one way) to the hike to Druid 

Arch, making the round trip about ll 1

/2 miles. At the old 

trailhead, near the northeast corner of Chesler Park, is a sign 

proclaiming the need for rubber-soled shoes and water, and I 

strongly support these admonitions, for much of the hike is on 

bare smooth sandstone and includes steep slopes and generally 

dry waterfalls. The hike should not be attempted by anyone not 

in good physical condition, and it should not be undertaken 

alone; two or more people should travel together. 

As shown in figure 52, the trail to Druid Arch from Chesler 

Park starts out on bare Cedar Mesa Sandstone marked by a 

succession of rock cairns, two of which are visible and without 

which the trail would soon be lost. The trail drops rapidly down 

into Elephant Canyon, which is then followed southward 2 miles 

to the arch. This canyon has cut through the Cedar Mesa into the 

underlying Rico Formation, and much of the canyon is quite 

narrow and steep sided, as shown in figure 53. Although much of 

the Rico consists of red beds laid down above sea level by ancient 

streams, the trail crosses several thin beds of dark-gray hard 

limestone containing fossil marine seashells and ancient sea 

anemones whose original calcium carbonate parts have been 

locally replaced by jasper (red iron-bearing silica). When at last 

the weary hiker makes the steep climb out of the canyon and 

rounds the final bare-rock curve, the sudden and striking view of 

Druid Arch (fig. 54) seems worth every bit of the effort-at least 

it was to me and my hiking companion. 

After my friend and I hiked to Druid Arch and after the 

length of this route was increased to a round-trip distance of 

11 V2 miles, a new route was constructed having a round-trip 

length of only 8V2 miles. This new trail starts at the end of the 

passenger-car road at the east edge of Elephant Hill, goes 1% 

miles southwest to join an older trail in Elephant Canyon, then 

follows this canyon 3 miles south to the arch. 

76 
TRAIL TO DRUID ARCH, near its beginning at northeast corner of Chesler Park, marked 

only by rock cairns, two of which are visible. (Fig. 52) 

UPPER ELEPHANT CANYON, containing trail to Druid Arch. (Fig. 53) 
78 
After returning to our vehicle west of Chesler Park and 

backtracking over SOB Hill to the intersection in the middle of 

Devils Lane, let us proceed northward on a one-way road to and 

beyond the Silver Stairs for a closer look at Devils Lane and 

other grabens to the west and for a look at the confluence of the 

Green and Colorado Rivers. But first let us pause and reflect 

upon the possible origin of The Grabens. 

Geologists have different opinions as to just how grabens and 

complex systems of joints have formed, but all seem to agree 

that tensional forces were involved. Some think that solution of 

salt and gypsum from the Paradox Member of the Hermosa Formation by ground-water movement allowed the brittle Cedar 

Mesa Sandstone and other overlying rocks to sag, producing tension cracks and faults. Others believe that removal of the salt 

and gypsum occurred by plastic flowage toward the Meander anticline (see p. 108 and fig. 61), whose axis follows the Colorado 

River southwest from The Loop, past the confluence, and to and 

beyond Spanish Bottom. Some suppose that compaction due to 

the \veight of the abnormally thick pile of sedimentary rock underlying the area may have caused the sagging, cracking, and 

faulting. The rock deformation may have resulted from a combination of these and possibly other things, of course, but 

whatever the cause, the resulting features are very striking. 

There was room to show only two of the named grabens within 

the park on the map (fig. 1), but all are shown in figure 51, and 

several appear in figure 59. A diagramatic cross section of a 

typical graben is shown in figure 55. The tension faults shown in 

figures 55 and 56 are called normal faults, in contrast to faults 

formed by horizontal compression, which are called reverse 

faults (figs. 75, 76). 

The Grabens range in width from about 7 or 8 feet at the north 

end of Devils Pocket to nearly 2,000 feet at the south end of Red 

Lake Canyon, but the average width is about 500 feet. The floors 

of The Grabens are covered by soil and grass, but the displacement along the faults is believed to approximate the height of 

the walls-nearly 300 feet. That The Grabens are of fairly recent 

origin is attested by the fact that most of the walls are vertical 

fault faces showing little sign of erosion (fig. 57); that no 

through drainage has yet been established in Cyclone Canyon, 

which is a series of basins with low divides between; and that 

several pre-existing streams were interrupted or diverted by the 

faulting. 

<l DRUID ARCH, from end of arduous trail shown in figures 52 and 53. (Fig. 54) 

79 
A SIMPLE GRABEN, formed by tension in directions indicated by horizontal arrows. 

Downdropped central block is the graben; stationary or uplifted blocks on sides are called 

horsts. From Hansen (1969, p. 123). See also figur.e 76. (Fig. 55) 

CUTAWAY VIEW OF NORMAL FAULT, resulting from tension in and lengthening of the 

earth's crust. Note amount of displacement and repetition of strata. Compare with figure 

76. From Hansen (1969, p. 116). (Fig. 56) 

Now let us continue our journey northward along Devils Lane. 

Just before reaching the Silver Stairs we may wish to pause long 

enough to take in the distant view to the northwest toward Junction Butte and Grand View Point. (See frontispiece.) After 

descending the steep Silver Stairs in a narrow cleft between rock 

walls, we reach another intersection: a two-way road continuing 

northwest goes to our destination, and a one-way road turning 

right returns to Elephant Hill via part of Elephant Canyon (fig. 

58). 

About 2 miles to the northwest we cross the north end of 

Cyclone Canyon, the largest graben. It contains a road 31/2 miles 

long and is well worth seeing. About one-half mile from the 

south end, an old trail follows Red Lake and Lower Red Lake 

Canyons to the Colorado River across from Spanish Bottom 

(figs. 1, 61). 

From near the north end of Cyclone Canyon (figs. 1, 59), we 

drive west three-fourths mile to a parking area and hike one-half 

mile to an overlook for a spectacular view of the confluence of 

the Green and Colorado Rivers (figs. 59, 60) and of the northern 

part of Cataract Canyon (fig. 61). These and other canyons are 

discussed in the next chapter. 

80 
WEST WALL OF CYCLONE CANYON GRABEN, a nearly vertical fault face showing little 

sign of erosion. (Fig. 57) 

LOWER ELEPHANT CANYON, followed by jeep trail from near Silver Stairs to Elephant 

Hill. (Fig. 58) 
THE CONFLUENCE FROM THE AIR, and some of The Grabens. See also figure 51. Ver· 

tical aerial photograph by U.S. Geological Survey. (Fig. 59) 

82 
THE CONFLUENCE FROM CONFLUENCE OVERLOOK, shown in figures 1 and 59. Green River entering from left, Colorado River from right. Red beds near top are 

Rico Formation, overlain by Cedar Mesa Sandstone and underlain by unnamed upper member of Hermosa Formation. (Fig. 60) 
CATARACT CANYON, from the rim, looking south to Spanish Bottom at bend. Beds dip 

to left and right away from Colorado River, which here is followed by axis of Meander 

anticline. (See p. 108). Cliff below overhanging rock resembles profile of a man; the rock 

resembles his hat. Photograph by Walter Meayers Edwards, '" 1971 National Geographic 

Society. (Fig. 61) 

84 
We have discussed two of the three major topographic 

divisions of the park-the high mesas and the benchlands-and 

there remains to consider the third division-the canyons of the 

mighty Green and Colorado Rivers and some of their tributaries. 

After we discuss a few features common to both rivers, we will 

take up the details of each river. 

A glance at the map (fig. 1) shows that above the confluence 

both rivers are very crooked and contain many loops, or 

meanders, the most striking of which are Bowknot Bend of the 

Green River (fig. 62), several miles north of the park, and The 

Loop of the Colorado River (fig. 74). In contrast, the main stem 

of the Colorado River below the confluence is considerably 

straighter. Not apparent on the map are the facts that the 

crooked rivers above the confluence have very gentle grades and 

are free from rapids or falls, whereas a few miles south of the 

confluence the main stem plunges into Cataract Canyon- the 

steepest and wildest reach of the river, containing 64 rapids. 

These differences are partly explicable on the basis of the 

geologic structure and character of the rocks through which the 

rivers have cut. Above the confluence, the soft strata dip gently 

northward, so in flowing generally southward the two rivers are 

cutting "against the grain," which tends to impede their flow 

and thus reduce their grades. Below the confluence, the hard 

limestones of the Hermosa Formation lie relatively flat for 

several miles and then begin to dip gently southward, thus 

allowing the river to cut "with the grain" and therefore drop 

more rapidly. 

The quiet, smooth waters above the confluence permit 

power boating between the towns of Green River, Utah, and 

Moab during part of the year, whereas the rapids below Spanish 

Bottom, 31/z miles below the confluence, restrict river travel to 

float trips using sturdy boats or rafts. 

85 
Above the confluence, a so-called Friendship Cruise is run 

each year during the Memorial Day weekend. Participants tow 

their own power boats on trailers to the town of Green River, 

and after the boats are launched, facilities are available at 

nominal cost for transporting cars and boat trailers to Moab to 

await the arrival of the boats. Although some high-powered 

speedboats are reported to have made the run down the Green 

River to the confluence then up the Colorado River to Moab in a 

few hours, the trip for most boats requires 2 to 7 days. 

Trips by power boats, including jet boats, can be arranged 

from either Green River or Moab. Some passengers from Moab 

return by jeep from Lathrop Canyon via the White Rim Trail, 

and some from Green River return on land via the Horsethief 

Trail. Many prefer the quieter float trip down to the confluence, 

with return to either town by a prescheduled power boat, and 

some more adventurous souls float through the rapids of 

Cataract Canyon all the way to Lake Powell. 

In the spring of 1972, a 93-foot !50-passenger stern-wheeler 

(fig. 69) began passenger service on the Colorado River from just 

above Potash to the foot of Dead Horse Point and return 

(Lansford, 1972). 

Entrenched and cuto'ff meanders 

Meanders such as those above the confluence generally are 

formed by streams flowing in soft alluvium consisting of clay, 

silt, and sand, such as along the Mississippi River below Cairo, 

Ill. But there is no soft alluvium along the Colorado and Green 

Rivers, so how did these meanders form? They probably attained their serpentine shape while cutting in softer, younger 

material, which long ago was removed by erosion, and then continued to cut their crooked channels down, until they created the 

deep rock-walled canyons in which they now flow as "entrenched" meanders. 

Meandering streams tend to shorten their lengths from time 

to time by cutting through narrow walls between adjacent loops, 

leaving abandoned horseshoe-shaped channels or lakes. In most 

of the United States these are known as oxbows or cutoff 

meanders, but in the desert Southwest they are commonly called 

by the Spanish term "rincon." Cutoffs are common along soft 

alluvial channels such as the lower Mississippi River valley but 

are rare along channels whose meanders are entrenched into 

hard rock. Thus, there have been many natural (and several 

manmade) cutoffs along the lower Mississippi during historic 

times, but the most recent ones along the Green and upper 

86 
Colorado Rivers probably occurred a million or so years ago, 

during the Pleistocene Epoch (figs. 65, 80). 

Mark Twain served several years as an expert riverboat pilot 

on the Mississippi River during which several cutoffs took place. 

Chapter 27 of his "Life on the Mississippi" contains sage 

references to both natural and artificial cutoffs and concludes 

with a few good-natured jibes at geologists in particular and 

scientists in general: 

Therefore the Mississippi between Cairo and New Orleans was twelve hundred 

and fifteen miles long one hundred and seventy six years ago. It was eleven hundred and eighty after the cutoff of 1722. It was one thousand and forty after the 

American Bend cut-off. It has lost sixty-seven miles since. Consequently, its 

length is only nine hundred and seventy-three miles at present. 

Now, if I wanted to be one of those ponderous scientific people, and "let on" to 

prove what had occurred in the remote past by what had occurred in a given time 

in the recent past, or what will occur in the far future by what has occurred in 

late years, what an opportunity is here! Geology never had such a chance, nor 

such exact data to argue from! Nor "development of species," either! Glacial 

epochs are great things, but they are vague-vague. Please observe: 

In the space of one hundred and seventy-six years the Lower Mississippi has 

shortened itself two hundred and forty two miles. That is an average of a trifle 

over one mile and a third per year. Therefore, any calm person, who is not blind 

or idiotic, can see that in the Old Oolitic Silurian Period, just a million years ago 

next November, the Lower Mississippi River was upward of one million three 

hundred thousand miles long, and stuck out over the Gulf of Mexico like a fishing 

rod. And by the same token any person can see that seven hundred and forty-two 

years from now the Lower Mississippi will be only a mile and three-quarters 

long, and Cairo and New Orleans will have joined their streets together, and be 

plodding comfortably along under a single mayor and a mutual board of alderman. There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale 

.returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact. 

Much more has been written about the Green River and the 

main stem of the Colorado than about the Colorado above the 

confluence (the former Grand River), because all but one of the 

early float trips began on the Green. The first reports concerning Powell's memorable voyages of 1869 and 1871 were his articles published in Scribners Monthly during 1874 and 1875 

followed by his formal1875 report "Exploration of the Colorado 

River of the West and Its Tributaries." As pointed out by Porter 

(1969, p. 21), however, Powell's narrative 

is written as if everything chronicled therein occurred during the first trip. 

Events which actually occurred in 1871 and 1872 are reported as happening in 

1869. There is no mention of the personnel of the 1871-72 party, nor is there an 

indication that there even was a second trip. The engravings illustrating the 

report were made from photographs taken by Beaman and Hillers between 1871 

and 1874, but this fact is not noted. 

87 
For these reasons, Porter's account contains Powell's diary of 

the first (1869) trip and many of the missing photographs, plus 

his own beautiful color prints. Much more complete and accurate accounts of the 1871 voyage than those of Powell, including many of the photographs taken by Beaman and Hillers, 

were given by Dellenbaugh (1902, 1962), who was a member of 

Powell's 1871 expedition. 

Numerous river trips were undertaken in the years following 

Powell's pioneering expeditions. The ill-fated Brown-Stanton 

voyage of 1889-90 included starts on both the Grand and the 

Green Rivers. (See section on "Colorado River.") More successful 

were Nathan Galloway and William Richmond, trappers who 

left Henrys Fork, Wyo., late in 1896 and reached Needles, Calif., 

on February 10, 1897 (Kolb, 1927, p. 338). Trappers Charles S. 

Russell, E. R. Monette, and Bert Loper left Green River, Utah, in 

three steel boats on September 20, 1907; Russell and Monette 

reached Needles in one boat in February 1908, but Loper was 

drowned. Dellenbaugh's 1902 book was carried by the Kolb 

brothers as a guide for their 1911 trip down the river (Kolb, 

1927). In addition to making superb still photographs, the Kolb 

brothers took the first moving pictures in the canyons, and these 

are still being shown in the Kolb Studio on the South Rim of the 

Grand Canyon. Julius F. Stone and party traversed the canyons 

in 1909, and his account (1932) also contains excellent 

photographs. E. C. LaRue, of the U.S. Geological Survey, and 

assistants made two trips down the Green and Colorado Rivers 

in 1914 and 1915 and additional trips from 1921 through 1924. 

Their comprehensive hydrographic findings and studies, plus excellent photographs, are given in two reports (La Rue, 1916, 

1925). The 1916 report also contains (p. 16-22) a good condensed 

account of earlier explorations and voyages from 1531 through 

1911, taken in part from Dellenbaugh (1902). 

As noted earlier, a modern river runners' guide by Mutschler 

(1969), which logs the Green and Colorado Rivers from Green 

River, Utah, to Lake Powell, is now available. River mileages in 

this log were taken from detailed topographic maps of both 

rivers prepared under the direction of Herron (1917). We will 

visit only a few notable features of the canyons; the mile-by-mile 

details for the Green River can be obtained from Mutschler 

(1969), and those for the Colorado River, from Baars and 

Molenaar (1971, p. 61-99). Several other references are given 

below, and additional ones are given by Rabbitt (1969, p. 20-21). 

All travelers down the Green River embarking from Green 

River, Utah, or above, were impressed with Bowknot Bend (fig. 

62), so named by Powell and his men (1875, p. 54) near the begin88 
BOWKNOT BEND, of Green River, looking east from west end of narrow intervening 

saddle. Upper photograph was taken by E. 0. Beaman on September 10, 1871, during 

second voyage of Major John Wesley Powell and his party. Lower photograph was taken 

from same camera station on August 19, 1968, by Hal G. Stephens, U.S. Geological 

Survey, on expedition led by E. M. Shoemaker to recover camera stations of the 1871 

voyage and rephotograph the scenes to record changes during the nearly 100 year 

interval. Note that almost no changes occurred in the bedrock, or even in the loose rocks, 

but that considerable change occurred in the vegetation along the river. Although salt 

cedar (tamarisk) had been introduced into this country from the Mediterranean area long 

before 1871, it had not yet spread to this area, but the bare islands shown in the earlier 

photograph are covered by salt cedar in the 1968 photograph. (Fig. 62) 

89 
ning of Labyrinth Canyon, which they also named for its deeply 

entrenched meanders. The upper photograph in figure 62 was 

taken by Beaman on September 10, 1871, looking eastward from 

the west end of the narrow saddle separating the upper and 

lower reaches of the river; the lower photograph was taken from 

the same point on August 19, 1968, by Hal G. Stephens nearly 97 

years later. Although there are changes in the vegetation, as 

described in the caption, there are virtually no visible changes in 

the bedrock. Nevertheless, the distant future will likely see a 

breakthrough, whereby Green River will shorten itself by about 

7 miles (Herron, 1917, pl. 15C). It is interesting to note that the 

vertical cliffs of Wingate Sandstone in and west of Bowknot 

Bend are only a few hundred feet above the river, whereas, 

because of the gentle northward dip of the beds and the gentle 

southward grade of the rivers, the Wingate cliffs are more than 

2,000 feet above the two rivers at Grand View Point and Junction Butte, at the southern tip of Island in the Sky. 

At the mouth of Horseshoe Canyon, about 3 miles below 

Bowknot Bend, we pass a large rincon where the Green River 

shortened its course by about 3 miles. Some idea of the rincon's 

antiquity is gained from the facts that the river is now some 350 

feet lower than at cutoff time, whereas Bowknot Bend (fig. 62) 

has shown no visible deepening in 97 years. This rincon was not 

noted by Powell or other early voyagers, seemingly because they 

did not happen to climb the banks at this point, but it is quite 

noticeable on modern topographic maps and on aerial 

photographs. This rincon and Jackson Hole along the Colorado 

River may be as old as late Tertiary (fig. 80). 

At a point reported to be 350 yards above the mouth of Hell 

Roaring Canyon, which enters from the east about 3V2 miles 

below the rincon, an early day trapper named Julien left his 

mark. Stone (1932, p. 69, pl. 39A) seems to have been the first 

river runner to find (from a description given him by a Mr. 

Wheeler at Green River), record, and photograph the inscription 

shown in figure 63. Mutschler (1969, p. 31) indicated that this inscription is carved on a massive Moenkopi sandstone bed about 

40 feet above the canyon floor. A similar inscription by Julien 

was found in Cataract Canyon, 31 miles below the confluence, 

but it is now covered by Lake Powell (Mutschler, 1969, p. 65). 

Some boaters are met by car and taken out to Moab or Green 

River via the Horsethief Trail (fig. 1), just north of the park. The 

road along the river here continues south for 6V2 miles to the 

mouths of Taylor and Upheaval Canyons, where it becomes the 

White Rim Trail. 

90 
INSCRIPTION BY JULIEN, near mouth of Hell Roaring Canyon, thought to have been 

carved by Dennis Julien, an early day trapper. Photograph by K. Sawyer, August 1914, 

member of expedition led by E. C. La Rue (1916). (Fig. 63) 

Coming down the Green River, we enter Canyonlands 

National Park where the Grand-San Juan county line meets the 

Emery-Wayne county line (fig. 1), about 21

A miles north of 

Taylor and Upheaval Canyons. The National Park Service had 

three successful test wells put down in Taylor Canyon, and 

water under artesian pressure was found in the White Rim 

Sandstone at depths of 373 to 482 feet. When funds become 

available, they hope to complete one or more of these wells and 

pump the water up to Island in the Sky, where two dry holes 

were drilled earlier. 

About 5lfz miles below Upheaval Canyon is an interesting ruin 

on a hill in the middle of a large nearly closed loop of the river 

enclosing Fort Bottom. This was noted by Dellenbaugh (1902) 

during Powell's 1871 trip and was described in more detail by 

Mutschler (1969, p. 33-34): 

The ruin consists of two, two-story, interconnected, crudely circular towers, and 

a third separate, completely collapsed tower, built on the summit of the bluff 

with a commanding view downriver and of Fort Bottom. Other collapsed structures are present on the summit, and a slab-lined cist is present beneath the 

Moss Back ledge west of the towers. The ruin was built of dry laid masonry and 

most of the mud plaster on the inside has been washed away, leaving the structure in danger of imminent collapse. Please do not climb the walls! 

91 
Fort Bottom also contains a cabin believed to have been used by 

Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch (Baker, 1971, p. 198). 

At about the mouth of Millard Canyon, we leave Labyrinth 

Canyon and enter Stillwater Canyon, aptly named by members 

of the 1869 Powell voyage (Dellenbaugh, 1902, p. 276). The beginning of Stillwater Canyon is marked by vertical walls of the 

White Rim Sandstone. From here Powell's men observed a butte 

to the southwest thought to resemble a fallen cross and named it 

"Butte of the Cross." Farther downstream they realized they 

had been looking at two buttes, a small one in front of a larger 

one, so the feature was renamed "Buttes of the Cross." An aerial 

view of Buttes of the Cross is shown in figure 64. 

BUTTES OF THE CROSS, looking southwest from the air. Millard Canyon enters Green 

River in foreground, North Point is in right middle ground, Orange Cliffs are in 

background, and Henry Mountains form right skyline. White Rim Sandstone forms White 

Rim near mouth of Millard Canyon and near Anderson Bottom at left middle. (See fig. 

65.) Buttes are Wingate Sandstone capped by Kayenta Formation; slopes down to promi· 

nent ledge are Chinle Formation, Moss Back Member forming the ledge; steep and gen· 

tie slopes between ledge and White Rim are Moenkopi Formation. Photograph by 

National Park Service. (Fig. 64) 

92 
About 2 miles below the mouth of Millard Canyon, at Anderson Bottom, we reach one of the most interesting features on the 

river- the most recent rincon of a major river in the park, if not 

in the entire canyon country. Although some rincons are more 

recent, they are along minor tributaries such as Indian Creek 

(fig. 73). The cutoff at Anderson Bottom probably took place 

during the Pleistocene Epoch, whereas most of the -others along 

the main rivers probably occurred during the Tertiary Period 

(fig. 80). An aerial view of the Anderson Bottom rincon is shown 

in figure 65, and a sketch of the drainage change is shown in 

figure 66. This feature was noted and correctly interpreted by 

Powell and his men, who applied the name Bonita Bend to the 

sharp new course the river took after the cutoff. 

Continuing through Stillwater Canyon, we pass Turks Head 

(figs. 23, 24) and head for the confluence of the Green River with 

the Colorado River. Figure 67 shows the canyon just west of the 

confluence. The lowest and largest cliff above the river is the upper member of the Hermosa Formation, overlain by the slopes 

and thin ledges of the Rico Formation. The massive sandstone at 

the top of the canyon wall is the Cedar Mesa. Junction Butte and 

Grand View Point are on the right skyline. 

We have already viewed the confluence and Cataract Canyon 

from the land and from the air (figs. 59-61); soon we will see 

them from the Colorado River. 

93 
ANDERSON BOTTOM RINCON, aerial view looking southeast. Jointed White Rim 

Sandstone forms the clifflike canyon walls and the mesa in middle of Anderson Bottom. 

Green River is now about 60 feet lower than former channel at right. Photograph by 

National Park Service. (Fig. 65) 

DRAINAGE CHANGES AT ANDERSON BOTTOM RINCON. River shortened itself about 2 

miles by this cutoff. (Fig. 66) 

EXPLANATION 

Present channel 

~-- ........ 

----- Former channel 

s 

1 

Y2 MILE 

0.8 KILOMETER 
STILLWATER CANYON, of Green River, viewed from a point on the south rim about 1 

mile above (west of) confluence with the Colorado River. Upper photograph was taken by 

E. 0. Beaman on September 16, 1871, during second Powell voyage. Lower photograph 

was taken from same camera station on August 23, 1968, by Hal G. Stephens, U. S. 

-Geological Survey. (See caption for figure 62.) Note that there are no noticeable 

changes in rocks or bushes away from the river but that sand bars in the early 

photograph are covered with salt cedar (tamarisk) in the later photograph, as described 

for figure 62. (Fig. 67) 
As indicated earlier, all but one of the early river voyages 

began on the Green River. The Grand (Colorado) River above the 

confluence was neglected for some 18 years after Powell's second 

voyage, until, in 1889, Frank M. Brown organized a company for 

construction of the proposed Denver, Colorado Canyon, and 

Pacific Railway. This railroad was to carry coal from mines in 

Colorado over a "water-level" line through the canyons of the 

Colorado River to the Gulf of California some 1,200 miles away; 

from there the coal would presumably be shipped to ports as far 

north as San Francisco (Dellenbaugh, 1902, p. 343-369). On 

March 26, 1889, Brown, president, F. C. Kendrick, chief 

engineer, and T. P. Rigney, assistant engineer, drove the first 

stake for a survey of the new line at Grand Junction, Colo., then 

Brown left for the East to obtain financing, and the other two 

plus some hired hands took off down the Grand River. After 

reaching the confluence they towed the boat up the Green River, 

thus becoming the first to make this trip upstream. They nearly 

ran out of food, but thanks to the hospitality of some cattlemen, 

they replenished their stock and after about 9 days reached the 

railroad at Green River, Utah. Brown, who had returned from 

the East, his newly appointed chief engineer, Robert Brewster 

Stanton, and 14 others in six ill-designed boats of cedar, rather 

than oak, left Green River on May 25, 1889. Against the advice of 

Major Powell and A. H. Thompson, Powell's topographer on the 

1871 trip, they carried no life preservers. After many mishaps, 

Brown and two others were drowned near the head of Marble 

Canyon, and the ill-fated expedition was temporarily halted. 

However, the indefatigable Stanton contracted for new boats 

built of oak and, with a reorganized party of 12, left the mouth of 

the Fremont (Dirty Devil) River on November 25. After many 

further mishaps, the party finally reached the Gulf of California 

on April 26, 1890. Needless to say the proposed railway was not 

built. 

Although the Colorado River enters Canyonlands National 

Park about 33 river miles below Moab, most boaters or floaters 

begin their voyage either at Moab or near Potash, and most 

travelers of the White Rim Trail begin at Moab, so we will start 

our trip at Moab. No logs or river runners' guides are available 

as yet for the reach from Moab to Potash, but below Potash 

some details of the geology have been described by Baars in 

Baars and Molenaar (1971, p. 59-87). 

As noted at the beginning of this chapter, above the confluence both the Green and Colorado Rivers are very crooked, 

96 
The Kings Bottom syncline (fig. 30) southwest of Moab Valley 

brings the Navajo Sandstone down to and slightly below water 

level, whereas at The Portal (fig. 68) the Navajo caps the 

southwest wall of Moab Valley. Several anticlines at or near the 

river from Potash to and beyond the confluence (fig. 1) bring up 

strata as old as the Rico or the unnamed upper member of the 

Hermosa. Between these extremes, much of the river's course 

lies in strata of the Cutler Formation. 

About 7 miles below The Portal, Highway 279 is joined on the 

right by a branch line of the Denver and Rio Grand Western 

Railroad completed in 1962 to haul potash 36 miles from the 

mine at Potash north to the main line at Crescent Junction. The 

railroad emerges from a tunnel at the head of Bootlegger Canyon. Two natural arches near the mouth of the tunnel-Pinto 

and Little Rainbow Bridge-can be reached by trail. About 3 

miles farther down the Colorado is a temporary dock from which 

jet boats and the Canyon King, a 93-foot 150-passenger 

stern-wheeler, take off for points downriver during the spring 

and early summer, when water depth permits. The Canyon King 

(fig. 69), a small replica of a Mississippi River stern-wheeler, 

carries passengers about 30 miles downriver to the foot of Dead 

Horse Point and returns (Lansford, 1972). 

About 12 miles below The Portal we reach Potash-the potash 

"mine" (fig. 70) of Texas Gulf, Inc. (See fig. 31 and its associated 

text for description of operation.) Travelers down the jeep trail 

below 'Potash pass the evaporation ponds (fig. 71) used to 

separate the potash from common salt. 

THE CANYON KING, a 93-foot !50-passenger stern-wheeler which hauls passengers 

some 30 miles below Potash and returns. Trips run during the spring and early summer, 

when water depth permits. Photograph by Henry Lansford, Boulder, Colo. (Fig. 69) 
have very low grades, and are free from rapids. As with the 

Green, the soft rocks along the Colorado have a generally low 

northward dip that partly explains the river's gentle grade and 

its southward flow through increasingly lower and older strata. 

Unlike the Green, however, the gentle dips of the strata in the 

canyons of the Colorado are interrupted by several gentle anticlinal (fig. 14) and synclinal (fig. 26) folds and by at least one 

fault. The most important of these geologic structures and other 

features will be noted as we journey down the river. 

The first 14 miles from Moab Valley to Potash can be made 

either by river or by paved Utah Highway 279. This highway 

leaves U.S. Highway 163 near the uranium ore-reduction plant 

several miles northwest of Moab, leaves Moab Valley through 

The Portal (fig. 68), and follows the west bank of the river. A 

paved secondary road from Moab follows the east bank of the 

river through The Portal and through Kings Bottom, where it 

crosses the Kings Bottom syncline, to the mouth of Kane 

Springs Canyon, then becomes a gravel road that ascends this 

canyon southward to and beyond Hurrah Pass (fig. 30). High 

above this road north of Kings Bottom are petroglyphs and a few 

cliff dwellings in the vertical cliffs of Wingate Sandstone. A 

ranch "house" at Kings Bottom has been excavated entirely into 

the Wingate cliff. Convenient turnouts have been provided at 

several places along Highway 279 for viewing petroglyphs or 

other points of interest. Small viewing tubes welded to vertical 

steel posts having signs help visitors locate and see the features 

described. 

THE PORTAL, in south wall of Moab Valley, through which the Colorado River, Utah 

Highway 279 (on right), and a paved secondary road (on left) leave the valley to enter 

the canyons in and above Canyonlands National Park. Rounded remnants on top are 

Navajo Sandstone; cliffs are Kayenta Formation and Wingate Sandstone; red slopes are 

Chinle and Moenkopi Formations, and perhaps a little of the Cutler Formation at the 

base. Light-colored patches at base of slope behind trees on left are contorted intrusions 

of Paradox Member of Hermosa Formation. (Fig. 68). 
POTASH MINE OF TEXAS GULF, INC. at Potash, as viewed from a boat. High cliffs on 

right are Wingate Sandstone capped by Kayenta Formation and underlain by slopes of 

Chinle and Moenkopi Formations. (Fig. 70) 

EVAPORATION PONDS, used to separate potash from common salt, viewed from jeep 

trail. Black borders are parts of plastic membranes covering bottoms of ponds. Crest of 

Cane Creek anticline and La Sal Mountains in right background. (Fig. 71) 

99 
Across the river east from Potash is Jackson Hole, a large rincon. Since abandonment, which shortened the river by about 3Vz 

miles, the river has cut its channel nearly 200 feet deeper. It is 

comparable in size to the large rincon along Green River below 

Bowknot Bend (p. 90) but probably is somewhat younger. Both 

rincons may be as old as late Tertiary (fig. 80). Just below 

Potash we cross the axis of the huge Cane Creek anticline (fig. 

31) and also leave Grand County to enter San Juan County. A 

mile east of this point, high on the canyon wall, is the School 

Section 13 uranium mine, which has yielded considerable ore 

and is expected to resume production sometime during 1973. It 

can be seen from the river or the trail, and some of the tailings 

are visible on the left flank of the anticline in figure 13. 

Voyagers who cross the axis of the Cane Creek anticline may 

observe on the right-hand (west) bank a protruding oil-well casing, some drill bits, and several shacks-all that remain of the 

Frank Shafer No. 1 oil test started during the winter of 1924-25 

and completed by the Midwest Exploration Co. (Baker, 1933, p. 

81). As described by Maxine Newell (U.S. Natl. Park Service, 

written commun., 1970), 

The well blew in in December 1925, caught fire, and spewed burning oil 300 feet 

into the air. * * * The local Times-Independent newspaper called it "Mother 

Nature's Christmas Gift to Grand County." The gusher burned down the rig, a 

barge of equipment, and it took three months to get it under control. Then it 

didn't produce. 

Various 1925 and 1926 issues of the Moab Times-Independent 

reported that despite many efforts to plug the well, it continued 

to flow from 1,000 to several thousand barrels of oil per day for 6 

months or more, all of which floated down the river. The last 

blowout occurred in 1937, after which the well was plugged with 

an additional 180 tons of cement. 

Mrs. Newell added, 

The stories told of the early-day exploration are endless and delightful. Equipment and supplies were barged down the Colorado River by the old Moab Garage 

Company; in winter months materials were carried by team and sled over the 

river ice. They would take a couple of rig timbers and pile a lot of lumber on 

them (they could take 10,000 feet), then we'd give them a start with a crowbar 

and the mules would trot all the way downhill to the well. When they'd get there 

they had a little trouble stopping sometimes; they would turn into the bank, unload, then put the double trees on one mule, ride the other, and head back for a 

new load of rig lumber. 

The evaporation ponds shown in figures 31 and 71 are in 

Shafer Basin, a synclinal basin separating the Cane Creek anticline and Shafer dome. We cross the axis of Shafer Basin about 

2 miles below the county line. 

100 
Further downstream is Shafer dome, a closed anticlinal bulge 

just beyond theW-shaped bend in the river as shown in figure 

29. Parts of the dome also show up in the lower right of figure 13 

and the lower left of figure 15. From almost anywhere in the 

Goose Neck, the sharp bend of the river shown in figure 15, we 

get an excellent view of Dead Horse Point some 2,000 feet above. 

Robert R. Norman (oral commun. Feb. 27, 1973) described to 

me a small petrified forest-which he said resembles a log 

jam-in the eastern part of the Shafer dome, at mileage 39 

(Baars and Molenaar, 1971, p. 65), just north of this point about 

half way between the river and the jeep trail below Dead Horse 

Point. He estimated that there probably are 20 to 30 logs, some 

of which are as large as 18 inches in diameter and more than 20 

feet long, and also described a stump about 3 feet in diameter. 

They occur in red beds at about the middle of the Rico Formation, hence could be either Pennsylvanian or Permian in age 

(figs. 9, 80). The original wood has been replaced by silicatSiO~l 

and stained a dark reddish brown, as shown in figure 72. 

Mr. Norman and his brother also discovered many teeth of a 

primitive sharklike fish in the Rico Formation at the same 

general locality as the petrified wood and also in the Rico on the 

Cane Creek anticline. I submitted two of the teeth to Dr. David 

H. Dunkle, curator of the Cleveland Museum of Natural 

History, who reported them to be "one tooth of the cochliodont 

'shark' Deltodus, and one tooth of the petalodont 'shark' 

Petalodus" (written commun., May 22, 1973). 

About 4 miles below the Goose Neck, we enter Canyonlands 

National Park and remain in the park almost to the north end of 

Lake Powell. 

About 61/2 miles into the park, at the north end of a bend much 

like the Goose Neck, is the mouth of Lathrop Canyon, where 

many boaters stop for lunch and where a side road connects with 

the White Rim Trail (fig. 1). 

Six and one half miles below Lathrop Canyon is the mouth of 

Rustler Canyon, which is joined near its mouth by Indian 

Creek-the creek followed by the highway leading to The 

Needles from U.S. 163. Within an airline distance of only 3 

miles, the lower reach of Indian Creek, an intermittent stream, 

flows past four small rincons, three of which (fig. 73) are within 

an airline distance of only 0.8 mile. The stream has cut its new 

channel into the red sandstones and shales of the Cutler Formation only 15 to 20 feet deeper than the abandoned ones in the two 

rincons at the left in figure 73 and only about 25 feet deeper than 

the one on the right. These figures suggest, at least to me, that 

these cutoffs probably occurred sometime during the Holocene 

101 
PETRIFIED LOG, near middle of Rico Formation, about 1 mile southeast of Dead Horse 

Point. Log is estimated to be about 18 inches in diameter. Photograph by Robert R. Nor· 

man. (Fig. 72) 

102 
( 

I 

\ \ 

\ \ .... .I 

I MILE 

1.6 KILOMETERS 

z--- ----

RELATIVELY RECENT RINCONS ALONG INDIAN CREEK, about 31

/ 2 miles above mouth 

and about 2 miles east of Canyonlands National Park. Above, stereoscopic• pair of aerial 

photographs by U.S. Geological Survey; below, sketch showing drainage changes. The 

stereoscopic pair can be viewed without optical aids by those accustomed to this 

procedure, or by use of a simple double-lens stereoscope. (Fig. 73) 

103 
Epoch, or age of man-that is, probably within the last 10,000 

years (fig. 80). A detailed study of these rincons might change 

this estimate, particularly if, say, buried driftwood or other carbonaceous material could be found for an age determination by 

the radiocarbon method. 

About 5 miles below the mouth of Rustler Canyon and Indian 

Creek, and. also about 5 miles above the confluence, is The 

Loop- an even sharper and more symmetrical figure eight than 

Bowknot Bend of the Green River (fig. 62). An aerial view of The 

Loop (fig. 74) shows that the channels on the south loop are only 

about 500 feet apart and that those on the north loop are only 

about 1,700 feet apart. At the narrowest places, both saddles are 

considerably eroded- the southern one is only about 150 feet 

above the river, but the northern one is still about 350 feet 

above. Erosion of both saddles has been hastened by the facts 

that the axis of the Meander anticline (see p. 108) passes through 

each saddle and that an interesting reverse fault (fig. 75) passes 

through the lower and thinner southern saddle. The differences 

between reverse and normal faults are shown by comparing 

figures 56 and 76. It seems inevitable that some day the small 

THE LOOP, of Colorado River, about 5 miles northeast of the confluence. Lower canyon 

walls are unnamed upper member of Hermosa Formation overlain by slopes of the Rico 

Formation. Jointed sandy ledges at top become sandier to south, where they comprise 

the Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Aerial photograph by U.S. Geological Survey. (Fig. 74) 
REVERSE FAULT in southern saddle of The Loop, looking northwest from boat in river. Ap· 

parent angle of dip is 12° below horizontal. Rocks at left, above fault plane, have been shoved 

about 10 feet past and over those on right. Curving of dark bed near middle of fault 

plane is called "drag." (See fig. 76.) Rocks are unnamed upper member of Hermosa For· 

mation. (Fig. 75) 

CUTAWAY VIEW OF REVERSE FAULT, resulting from horizontal compression, which 

caused a shortening of earth's crust. Note "drag" of beds on each side of fault plane. Low· 

angle reverse faults, also called thrust faults, may have displacements ranging from a few feet 

to many miles. From Hansen (1969, p. 116). (Fig. 76) 

105 
saddle will be cut through by the Colorado River, and a new rincon will result. Eventually, the other loop also probably will be 

abandoned. As one of my colleagues remarked, how wonderful it 

would seem, to be present at the proper moment to witness such . 

an event, particularly if one had a time-lapse movie camera to 

record it for posterity! 

About a mile and a half below the south saddle of The Loop we 

meet the mouth of Salt Creek, which drains a large part of the 

Needles district. Figure 77 was taken in Salt Creek canyon 

about 2 airline miles above the mouth looking southeast toward 

Six-Shooter Peaks and Shay Mountain, northernmost of the 

Abajo Mountains, on the horizon. 

A mile and a half above the confluence is The Slide, a jumbled 

mass of angular blocks of rock that fell from the northwest canyon wall and originally probably extended all the way to the 

southeast bank of the river. As shown in figure 78, it still extends nearly across the river, leaving only a narrow deep chute 

along the southeast bank. Just after the photograph was taken, 

we hit rough fast water in the chute, with waves about 2 feet 

high. At higher stages of the river, progressively more of The 

Slide is covered by water, and there is less tendency for waves to 

form. The date of this landslide is not known, but it is shown on 

a map by Herron (1917, pl. 22A) made prior to 1917 and may well 

have occurred during prehistoric times. 

Soon we reach the confluence of the Green and Colorado 

Rivers (figs. 59, 60). This important junction of two mighty 

rivers was noted by all previous voyagers, but their impressions 

of it differed considerably. Powell (1875, p. 56) remarked: 

These streams unite in solemn depths, more than one thousand two hundred feet 

below the general surface of the country. The walls of the lower end of Stillwater 

Canon are very beautifully curved [see fig. 67], as the river sweeps in its 

meandering course. The lower end of the caiion through which the Grand comes 

down, is also regular, but much more direct, and we look up this stream, and out 

into the country beyond, and obtain glimpses of snow clad peaks, the summits of 

a group of mountains known as the Sierra La Sal [La Sal Mountains]. Down the 

Colorado, the caiion walls are much broken. 

Dellenbaugh (1902, p. 277) gave a fuller description but concluded: "In every way the Junction is a desolate place" -an appraisal with which I disagree. The most colorful account I have 

read is that of Captain Francis Marion Bishop, a member of 

Powell's 1871 expedition, who recorded in his journal for 

September 15, 1871 (1947, p. 202): 

Well, we are at last, after many days of toil and labor, here at the confluence of 

the two great arteries of this great mountain desert. No more shall our frail 

boats dash through thy turbid waters, Old Green, and no more shall we press on 

to see the dark flood from the peaks and parks of Colorado. Grand and Green 

106 
SALT CREEK CANYON, looking southeast from point on rim 2 miles above mouth. Lower 

ledges are limestones in unnamed upper member of Hermosa Formation; slope and upper cliff are Rico Formation capped by remnants of Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Horizon 

shows Six-Shooter Peaks in center and Shay Mountain, northernmost of Abajo Mountains, at right. Photograph by E. N. Hinrichs. (Fig. 77) 

THE SLIDE, which partly blocks the Colorado River about l 1/2 miles above the confluence. 

View downstream. (Fig. 78). 

107 
here sink to thy rest, and from thy grave the Colomdo de Grande shall flow on 

forever, and on thy bosom henceforth will we battle with rock and wave. One 

can hardly tell which is the largest of the two rivers. Neither seems to flow into 

the other, but there seems to be a blending of both, and from their union rolls the 

Colorado River. 

Cataract Canyon heads at the confluence, but the rapids do 

not appear until we leave Spanish Bottom some 31/2 miles below. 

Between The Loop and Spanish Bottom, the Colorado River 

follows closely the axis of an anticline. Along this reach the rock 

strata dip downward away from the river, as shown in figure 61. 

This fold was noted by Powell and some of his men, and Bishop 

(1947, p. 203) reported in his journal for September 16, 1871: 

He [Steward] is at a loss how to account for the folded appearance of the strata 

here. But doubtless will find some explanation. Says the dip recedes from the 

river canon, and thinks it is a fissure. Maj. [Powell] thinks it is owing to an upheaval, and that the beds next to the river have broken up from the mass, etc., 

etc. 

Forty-four years later Harrison (1927) named this structure the 

Meander anticline and concluded that the weight of the rocks on 

each side of the river had squeezed underlying beds of salt in the 

Paradox Member of the Hermosa Formation and caused them to 

move upward along the river, where the confining strata had 

been removed by erosion. Harrison's theory was accepted by 

Baker (1933) and most later workers in the area. Thus we have 

what may be termed an erosional anticline, whose axis, or crest, 

follows the river. Erosional anticlines also occur elsewhere, as 

along the Eagle and Roaring Fork valleys of central Colorado. 

Mutschler and Hite (1969) suggested that this zone of weakness 

in Canyonlands overlies and follows a break in the hard Precambrian (fig. 80) rocks that underlie the area at great depth. At any 

rate, Powell was on the right track even though he was totally 

unaware of the underlying salt or the deep-seated fault. 

Smooth water continues from the confluence to Spanish Bottom, where the Old Spanish Trail comes down to the river from 

the west and continues up Lower Red Lake Canyon to the east. 

As mentioned earlier, this is about the south end of the Meander 

anticline, and an intruded chunk of the Paradox Member, mostly 

gypsum, occupies part of the mouth of Lower Red Lake Canyon, 

as shown in figure 79. 

The remaining 10 miles or so of Cataract Canyon within 

Canyonlands National Park contains many rapids and should be 

traversed only under the leadership of experienced river guides. 

If and when Lake Powell reaches its maximum level, it will extend to within about a mile of the park, but at present (1973) it 

heads near the mouth of Gypsum Canyon, about 5 miles below 

the park. 

108 
GYPSUM PLUG of Paradox Member, intruded along south end of Meander anticline at 

mouth of Lower Red Lake Canyon. Common salt has been removed by solution, leaving 

residue of gypsum and some shale. Photograph by Donald L. Baars. (Fig. 79) 

GEOLOGIC TIME SPIRAL, showing the sequence, names, and ages of the geologic eras, r> 

periods, and epochs, and the evolution of plant and animal life on land and in the sea. The 

primitive animals that evolved in the sea during the vast Precambrian Era left few traces 

in the rocks because they had not developed hard parts such as shells, but hard shells or 

skeletal parts became abundant during and after the Paleozoic Era. (Fig. 80) 

109 

Having finished our geologic ramble through canyonlands 

National Park, let us see how this pile of eroded rocks fit into the 

bigger scheme of things-the geologic age and events of the 

earth as a whole, as depicted in figure 80. As shown in figure 9, 

the rock strata still preserved in the park range in age from 

Pennsylvanian to Jurassic, or from about 300 to 175 million 

years ago, a span of about 125 million years. This seems an incredibly long time, until you note that the earth is some 4.5 

billion years old and that our rock pile is but one twenty-fifth, 

or 4 percent, of the age of the earth as a whole. Thus, in figure 80 

the rocks exposed in the park occupy only about the left-hand 

third of the top whorl of the spiral. 

But this is not the whole story. As indicated earlier, about 

10,000 feet of younger Mesozoic and Tertiary rocks that once 

covered the area have been carried away by erosion, and if we include these, the span is increased to about 250 million years, or 

nearly a full whorl of the spiral. 

Deep tests for oil and gas tell us that much older rocks underlie the area, and we have seen that some of these rocks played 

a part in shaping the park we see today-note the breaks in the 

deep-seated Precambrian rocks and the salt in the Paradox 

Member. In addition to the Precambrian igneous and 

metamorphic rocks, there are about 2,000 feet of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks older than the Pennsylvanian Paradox Member. 

Most of these sedimentary rocks were laid down in ancient seas 

during Cambrian, Ordovician, Devonian, Mississippian, and 

Pennsylvanian times (fig. 80). There are some gaps in the rock 

record caused by temporary emergence of the land above sea 

level and erosion of the land surface before the land again subsided below sea level so that deposition could resume. Silurian 

rocks are absent altogether, presumably because here the 

Silurian Period was dominated by erosion rather than deposition. 

112 
While Pennsylvanian and Permian sediments were being 

deposited in and southwest of the park, a large area to the 

northeast-called by geologists the Uncompahgre highland, 

because it occupied the same general area as the present Uncompahgre Plateau-rose slowly above sea level. Whatever 

Paleozoic rocks there were on this rising land, plus part of the 

underlying Precambrian rocks, were eroded and carried by 

streams into deep basins to the northeast and southwest. Thus, 

while mostly marine or nearshore deposits were being laid down 

in and near the park, thousands of feet of red beds were being 

laid down by streams in an area between the park and the Uncompahgre Plateau. During part of Middle Pennsylvanian time 

a large area including the park and known as the Paradox Basin 

was alternately connected to or cut off from the sea, so the water 

evaporated during cutoff periods and was replenished during 

periods when connection with the sea resumed. In this huge 

evaporation basin were deposited the layers of salt and gypsum 

plus some potash salts and shale that now make up the Paradox 

Member. 

The old Uncompahgre highland continued to shed debris into 

the bordering basins until Triassic time, when it began to acquire a veneer of red sandstone and siltstone of the Chinle Formation (Lohman, 1965). The area remained above sea level during the Triassic Period and most if not all the Jurassic Period, 

although the Jurassic Carmel Formation was laid down in a sea 

that lay just to the west. 

Late in the Cretaceous Period a large part of central and 

southeastern United States, including the eastern half of Utah, 

sank beneath the sea, as shown in figure 81, and received 

thousands of feet of mud, silt, and some sand that later compacted into the Mancos Shale. This formation and all the 

younger and some older strata have long since been eroded from 

the park area but are present in adjacent areas, such as the 

lower slopes of the Book Cliffs north of Green River, Crescent 

Junction, and Cisco (fig. 7). 

The land rose above the sea at about the close of the 

Cretaceous and has remained above ever since, although inland 

basins and lakes received sediment during parts of the Tertiary 

Period. Compressive forces in the earth's crust produced some 

gentle folding of the strata at the close of the Cretaceous, but 

more pronounced folding and some faulting occurred during the 

Eocene Epoch, when most of the Rocky Mountains took form. 

During the Miocene Epoch molten igneous rock welled up into 

the strata to form the cores of the nearby La Sal, Abajo, and 

113 
\ 

I 

\ 

/ 

I 

( 

I (-A...---'-r-\... \. 

) 

I ( 

,-' 

~"---' 1 \ 

\ (_.............--\Shallow sea \'\. \ 

1 I '-vi 

'-.\ I 

\ 

LATE CRETACEOUS SEA, which covered parts of central and southeastern United 

States. (Fig. 81) 

Henry Mountains (fig. 7). Additional uplift and some folding occurred in the Pliocene and Pleistocene Epochs. 

Much of the course of the Colorado River was established in 

the Miocene Epoch, with some additional adjustments in the late 

Pliocene and early Pleistocene Epochs (Hunt, 1969, p. 67). Erosion during much of the Tertiary Period and all of the Quaternary Period, combined with some sagging and breaking of the 

crust brought on by solution and lateral squeezing of salt beds 

beneath The Needles, The Grabens, and the Meander anticline, 

produced the landscape as we now see it. 

The Precambrian rocks beneath the area are about 1.5 billion 

years old, so an enormous span of time is represented by the 

rocks and events in and beneath Canyonlands National Park. 

If we consider the geologic formations that make up the 

Colorado Plateau-including national parks (N.P.), national 

monuments (N.M.) (excluding small historical or archeological 

ones), Monument Valley, San Rafael Swell, and Glen Canyon 

National Recreation Area-certain formations or groups of formations play starring roles in some parks or monuments, some 

play supporting roles, and in a few places the entire cast of rocks 

gets about equal billing. Let us compare them and see how and 

where they fit into the geologic time spiral (fig. 80). 

Dinosaur N. M., with exposed rocks ranging in age from 

Precambrian to Cretaceous, represents the greatest time span 

(nearly 2 billion years) but has one unit-the Jurassic Morrison 

Formation-in the starring role, for this unit contains the many 

114 
dinosaur fossils that give the monument its name and fame; 

several older units have supporting roles. Grand Canyon N. P. 

and N. M. are next, with rocks from Precambrian through Permian (excluding the Quaternary lava flows in the N. M.), but 

here there is truly a team effort, for the entire cast gets about 

equal billing. Canyonlands N. P. stands third in size of cast, with 

rocks ranging from Pennsylvanian to Jurassic, but we would 

have to give top billing to the Permian Cedar Mesa Sandstone 

Member of the Cutler Formation, from which The Needles, The 

Grabens, and most of the arches were sculptured; the Triassic 

Wingate Sandstone and Kayenta Formation get second billing 

for their roles in forming and preserving Island in the Sky and 

other high mesas. 

Now let us consider those with only one or few players in the 

cast, beginning at the bottom of the time spiral. Black Canyon of 

the Gunnison N. M., cut entirely in rocks of early Precambrian 

age (except for only a veneer of much younger rocks), obviously 

has but one star in its cast. Colorado N. M. contains rocks ranging from Precambrian to Cretaceous-equal to Dinosaur in this 

respect-but it is unique in that all the rocks of the long 

Paleozoic Era and some others are missing from the cast; of 

those that remain, the Triassic Wingate and Kayenta are the 

stars, with strong support from the Jurassic Entrada Sandstone. 

All the bridges in Natural Bridges N. M. were carved from the 

Permian Cedar Mesa Sandstone, also the star in Canyonlands N. 

P. In Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "dee shay") N. M. and 

Monument Valley (neither N. P. nor N. M., as it is owned and 

administered by the Navajo Tribe), the de Chelly Sandstone 

Member of the Cutler Formation-a Permian member younger 

than the Cedar Mesa-plays the starring role. 

Wupatki N. M., near Flagstaff, Ariz., stars the Triassic 

Moenkopi Formation. Petrified Forest N. P. (which now includes 

part of the Painted Desert) also has but one star-the Triassic 

Chinle Formation, with its many petrified logs and stumps of 

ancient trees. The Triassic-Jurassic Glen Canyon Group (fig. 9), 

which includes the Triassic Wingate Sandstone and Kayenta 

Formation and the Triassic-Jurassic Navajo Sandstone, receives 

top billing in recently enlarged Capitol Reef N. P., but the 

Triassic Moenkopi and Chinle Formations enjoy supporting 

roles. 

The Triassic-Jurassic Navajo Sandstone, erosional remnants 

of which are found on the high mesas of Canyonlands N. P., is 

the undisputed star of Zion N. P., Rainbow Bridge N. M., and 

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, despite the fact that the 

latter is the type locality of the entire Glen Canyon Group (fig. 

115 
9). The Navajo also forms the impressive reef at the eastern edge 

of the beautiful San Rafael Swell (a dome, or closed anticline, 

fig. 7), now crossed by Highway 1-70 between Green River and 

Fremont Junction, Utah. 

As we journey upward in the time spiral (fig. 80), we come to 

the Jurassic Entrada Sandstone, which stars in Arches N. P., 

with help from the underlying Navajo Sandstone and a supporting cast of both older and younger rocks. The Entrada also forms 

the grotesque erosional forms called "hoodoos and goblins" in 

Goblin Valley State Park, north of Hanksville, Utah. 

Moving ever upward in the spiral, we come to the 

Cretaceous-the age of the starring Mesaverde Group, whose 

caves in Mesa VerdeN. P. now house beautifully preserved ruins 

once occupied by the Anasazi, the same ancient people who once 

dwelt in Canyonlands N. P. 

This brings us up to the Tertiary Period, during the early part 

of which the pink limestones and shales of the Paleocene and 

Eocene Wasatch Formation were laid down in inland basins. 

Beautifully sculptured cliffs, pinnacles, and caves of the 

Wasatch star in Bryce Canyon N. P. and nearby Cedar Breaks N. 

M. This concludes our climb up the time spiral, except for 

Quaternary volcanoes and some older volcanic features at 

Sunset Crater N. M., near Flagstaff, Ariz. 

Thus, one way or another, many geologic units that formed 

during the last couple of billion years have performed on the 

stage of the Colorado Plateau and, hamlike, still lurk in the 

wings eagerly awaiting your applause to recall them to the 

footlights. Don't let them down-visit and enjoy the national 

parks and monuments of the Plateau, for they probably are the 

greatest collection of scenic wonderlands in the world. 

116 
Many reports covering various aspects of the area have been 

cited in the text by author and year, and these plus a few additional ones are listed below under "Selected References." A 

few of general or special interest should be mentioned, however. 

Between 1926 and 1931 virtually the entire area now included 

in the park was mapped geologically in three classic 

reports-two by Baker (1933, 1946) and one by McKnight (1940). 

These men and their field assistants mapped the area by use of 

the plane table and telescopic alidade without benefit of modern 

topographic maps or aerial photographs, except for topographic 

maps of narrow stretches along the Green and Colorado Rivers 

made under the direction of Herron (1917). Only small sections 

could be reached by automobile, so nearly all the area was 

traversed using horses or by hiking. 

During the uranium boom of the early and middle 1950's, the 

U.S. Geological Survey remapped the topography of most of the 

area at a scale of 1:24,000 and also remapped the geology of 

much of the area at this same scale. The southern part of the 

Needles district was mapped by Lewis and Campbell (1965). The 

geologic mapping west of the Green and Colorado Rivers was 

done by F. A. McKeown, P. P. Orkild, C. C. Hawley, and others; 

that east of the Colorado River and a little between the two 

rivers was done by E. N. Hinrichs and others. Only four of the 

geologic maps have been published (Hinrichs and others, 1967, 

1968, 1971a, b), but all this work and the older reports were used 

by Williams (1964) in compiling the 1:250,000-scale geologic map 

of the Moab quadrangle, by Williams and Hackman (1971) in 

compiling a similar map of the Salina quadrangle, and by 

Haynes, Vogel, and Wyant (1972) in compiling a similar map of 

the Cortez quadrangle. These three maps show the geology of 

the entire park. 

The 1970 issue of the Naturalist in which the cited papers by 

Jennings, Newell, and Stokes appear also contains other papers 

on Canyonlands National Park, including one on the plants. 

117 
Several early reports on the Green and Colorado Rivers and 

their potential utilization contain a wealth of information and 

many fine photographs-two reports on the Colorado River by 

La Rue (1916, 1925), one on the Green River by Wooley (1930), 

and one on the upper Colorado River (above the confluence) by 

Follansbee (1929). 

For those who wish to learn more about the science of geology, 

I suggest the textbook by Gilluly, Waters, and Woodford (1968). 

My deep appreciation goes to Bates Wilson, former 

superintendent of Canyonlands National Park, and to Joe 

Carithers, former assistant superintendent, for their splendid 

cooperation in supplying data and information and for making 

available four-wheel-drive vehicles. I also wish to thank Chuck 

Budge, former chief ranger; Dave May, assistant chief ranger; 

Joe Miller, former maintenance engineer; Bob Kerr, new 

superintendent; Maxine Newell, park historian and member of 

the staff at Arches National Park; Jerry Banta, park ranger at 

Arches; and Dave Minor, district ranger for the Needles district, 

for their many favors. 

I am grateful to several colleagues and friends for the loan of 

photographs, for geologic help and data, and for reviewing this 

report. I am also deeply grateful to my wife Ruth for accompanying me on all the field work and for her help and encouragement. 

Baars, D. L., and Molenaar, C. M., 1971, Geology of Canyonlands and Cataract 

Canyon: [Durango, Colo.] Four Corners Geol. Soc., 6th Field Conf., Cataract 

Canyon River exped., 99 p. 

Baker, A. A., 1933, Geology and oil possibilities of the Moab district, Grand and 

San Juan Counties, Utah: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 841, 95 p. 

__ 1946, Geology of the Green River Desert-Cataract Canyon region, Emery, 

Wayne, and Garfield Counties, Utah: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 951, 122 p. 

Baker, Pearl, 1971, The Wild Bunch at Robbers Roost: New York, Toronto, London, Abelard-Schuman, 224 p. 

Bishop, Captain Francis Marion, 1947, Bishop's Journal edited by Charles 

Kelley, in Biographical sketches and original documents of the second 

Powell expedition of 1871-72: Utah State Hist. Soc., Utah Hist. Quart., v. 15, 

p. 159-238. 

Crampton, C.G., 1964, Standing up country, the canyon lands of Utah and 

Arizona: New York, Alfred A. Knopf (Utah Univ. Press, in association with 

Amon Carter Mus. Western Art), 191 p. 

Dellenbaugh, F. S., 1902, The romance of the Colorado River: New York, G. P. 

Putnam's Sons, 399 p. [reprinted 1962 by Rio Grande Press, Chicago, Ill.] 

118 
__ 1962, A canyon voyage: The narrative of the second Powell Expedition 

down the Green-Colorado River from Wyoming, and the explorations on 

land, in the years 1871 and 1872: New Haven and London, Yale Univ. Press, 

Foreward by William H. Goetzmann, 277 p. 

Everhart, W. C., 1972, The National Park Service, Praeger Library of U.S. 

Government Departments and Agencies No. 13: New York, London, Praeger 

Publishers, Inc., 276 p. 

Findley, Rowe, 1971. Canyonlands-realm of rock and the far horizon: Nat. Geog. 

Mag., July, p. 71-91. 

Follansbee, Robert, 1929, Upper Colorado River and its utilization: U.S. Geol. 

Survey Water-Supply Paper 617, 394 p. 

Gilluly, James, Waters, A. C., and Woodford, A. 0., 1968, Principles of geology 

[3d ed.]: San Francisco and London, W. H. Freeman and Co., 685 p. 

Hansen, W .R., 1969, The geologic story of the Uinta Mountains [with graphics by 

John R. Stacy]: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 1291, 144p. 

Harrison, T. S., 1927, Colorado-Utah salt domes: Am. Assoc. Petroleum 

Geologists Bull., v. 11, no. 2, p. 111-133. 

Haynes, D. D., Vogel, J. D., and Wyant, D. G., 1972, Geology, structure, and 

uranium deposits of the Cortez quadrangle, Colorado and Utah: U.S. Geol. 

Survey Misc. Geol. Inv. Map I-629. 

Herron, W. H., 1917, Profile surveys in the Colorado River basin in Wyoming, 

Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico: U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 

396, 6 p., 43 pl. 

Hinrichs, E. N., and others, 1967, Geologic map of the northwest quarter of the 

Hatch Point quadrangle, San Juan County, Utah: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. 

Geol. Inv. Map I-513. 

__ 1968, Geologic map of the northeast quarter of the Hatch Point 

quadrangle, San Juan County, Utah: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. Geol. Inv. Map 

I-526. 

__ 1971a, Geologic map of the southeast quarter of the Hatch Point 

quadrangle, San Juan County, Utah: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. Geol. Inv. Map 

I-669. 

__ 1971b, Geologic map of the southwest quarter of the Hatch Point 

quadrangle, San Juan County, Utah: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. Geol. Inv. Map 

1-670. 

Hite, R. J., 1968, Salt deposits of the Paradox Basin, southeast Utah and 

southwest Colorado, in Mattox, R. B., ed., Saline deposits: Geol. Soc. 

America Spec. Paper 88, p. 319-330. 

Hunt, Alice, 1956, Archeology of southeastern Utah, in Geology and economic 

deposits of east-central Utah: Intermountain Assoc. Petroleum Geologists, 

7th Ann. Field Conf., Salt Lake City, Utah, 1956, p. 13-18. 

Hunt, C. B., 1969, Geologic history of the Colorado River, in The Colorado River 

region. and John Wesley Powell: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 669, p. 59-

130. 

Jennings, J. D., 1970, Canyonlands-aborigines: Naturalist, v. 21, Summer, 

Spec. Issue 2, p. 10-15. 

Joesting, H. R., and Plouff, Donald, 1958, Geophysical studies of the Upheaval 

Dome area, San Juan County, Utah: Intermountain Assoc. Petroleum 

Geologists, 9th Ann. Field Conf., Salt Lake City, Utah, 1958, p. 86-91. 

Joesting, H. R., Case, J. E., and Plouff, Donald, 1966, Regional geophysical investigations of the Moab-Needles area, Utah: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

516-C, 21 p. 

Kolb, E. L., 1927, Through the Grand Canyon from Wyoming to Mexico [2d ed.]: 

New York, Macmillan, 344 p. 

119 
Lansford, Henry, 1972, Boatman in the desert, a passenger-carrying sternwheeler in canyon country: Empire [magazine of the Denver Post], Nov. 5, p. 

18-19. 

La Rue, E. C., 1916, Colorado River and its utilization: U.S. Geol. Survey WaterSupply Paper 395, 231 p. 

__ 1925, Water power and flood control of Colorado River below Green River, 

Utah, with a forward by Hubert Work, Secretary of the Interior, p. 1-100. 

[App. A, A report on water supply, by E. C. La Rue and G. F. Holbrook, p. 

101-123; app. B, A geologic report on the inner gorge of the Grand Canyon of 

Colorado River, by R. C. Moore, p.l25-171]: U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply 

Paper 556, 176 p. 

Lewis, R. Q., and Campbell, R. H., 1965, Geology and uranium deposits of Elk 

Ridge and vicinity, San Juan County, Utah: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

474-B, 69 p. 

Lohman, S. W., 1965, The geologic story of Colorado National Monument: Colo. 

and Black Canyon Nat. History Assoc., 56 p. 

McKnight, E. T., 1940, Geology of area between Green and Colorado Rivers, 

Grand and San Juan Counties, Utah: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 908, 147 p. 

Mattox, R. B., 1968, Upheaval Dome, a possible salt dome in the Paradox Basin, 

Utah, in Mattox, R. B., ed., Saline deposits: Geol. Soc. America Spec. Paper 

88, p. 331-347. 

Mutschler, F. E., 1969, Labyrinth, Stillwater, and Cataract Canyons: River 

runners' guide to the canyons of the Green and Colorado Rivers, with 

emphasis on geologic features, volume II: Denver, Colo., Powell Soc., Ltd., 

79 p. 

Mutschler, F. E., and Hite, R. J., 1969, Origin of the Meander anticline, Cataract 

Canyon, Utah, and basement fault control of Colorado River drainage [abs.]: 

Geol. Soc. America, Rocky Mtn. Sec., 22nd Ann. Mtg., Salt Lake City, Utah, 

1969, Abs. with Programs, pt. 5, p. 57-58. 

Newberry, J. S., 1861, Geological report, in Ives, J. C., Report upon the Colorado 

River of the West: U.S. 36th Cong. 1st sess., S. Ex. Doc. and H. Ex. Doc. 90, 

pt. 3, 154 p. 

Newell, Maxine, 1970, Canyonlands-modern history: Naturalist, v. 21, 

Summer, Spec. Issue 2, p. 40-47. 

Newman, W. L., 1970, Geologic time: U.S. Geol. Survey, 20 p. 

Porter, Elliot, 1969, Down the Colorado, John Wesley Powell diary of the first 

trip through the Grand Canyon 1869: New York, E. P. Dutton & Co., 168 p. 

Powell, J. W., 1875, Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and its 

tributaries: Washington, D.C., 291 p. 

Rabbitt, M. C., 1969, John Wesley Powell: pioneer statesman of federal science, 

in The Colorado River region and John Wesley Powell: U.S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 669, p. 1-21. 

Sharrock, F. W., 1966, An archeological survey of Canyonlands National Park: 

Utah Univ., Dept. Anthropology, Anthropol. Papers, Misc. Paper 83, p. 51-

84. 

Stacy, J. R., 1962, Shortcut method for the preparation of shaded-relief illustrations, in Short papers in geology, hydrology, and topography: U.S. 

Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 450-D, p. D164-D165. 

Stokes, W. 1., 1970, Canyonlands-geology: Naturalist, v. 21, Summer, Spec. 

Issue 2, p. 3-9. 

Stone, J. F., 1932, Canyon country-The romance of a drop of water and a grain 

of sand: New York, London, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 442 p. 

U.S. Geol. Survey, [1969], John Wesley Powell-soldier, explorer, scientist: 23 p. 

120 
Williams, P. 1., 1964, Geology, structure, and uranium deposits of the Moab 

quadrangle, Colorado and Utah: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. Geol. Inv. Map I360. 

Williams, P. L., and Hackman, R. J., 1971, Geology, structure, and uranium 

deposits cf the Salina quadrangle, Utah: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. Geol. Inv. 

Map I-591. 

Wooley, R. R., 1930, The Green River and its utilization: U.S. Geol. Survey 

Water-Supply Paper 618, 456 p. 

Wright, J. C., Shaw, D. R., and Lohman, S. W., 1962, Definition of members of 

the Jurassic Entrada Sandstone in east-central Utah and west-central 

Colorado: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 46, no. 11, p. 2057-2070. 

121 

Index 

[Italic page numbers indicate major references] 

A Page 

Abajo Mountains------------------------- 21, 113 

Additions to the park---------------------------1 

All American Man pictograph--------------- 9, 70 

Anasazi people --------------------------9, 12, 68 

Anderson Bottom -----------------------------93 

Angel Arch------------------------------- 24, 68 

Anticline Overlook ------------------------31, 50 

Arches -----------------------------------64, 70 

Angel --------------------------------24, 68 

Canyon Viewpoint -------------------------36 

Castle ------------------------------------68 

Druid --------------------------------24, 76 

Gothic------------------------------------68 

in Cedar Mesa Sandstone------------- 66, 115 

in Navajo Sandstone ----------------------36 

Little Rainbow Bridge ---------------------98 

origin ------------------------------------65 

Pinto------------------------------------ -98 

Wooden Shoe -----------------------------66 

Arches National Park --------------------28, 116 

B 

Beef Basin--------------------------------- 9, 75 

Benchlands -----------------------------------58 

Bighorn Mesa ---------------------------------46 

Bishop, Francis Marion, quotation -------------106 

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National 

Monument ----------------------115 

Bonita Bend ------------------------------57, 93 

Bootlegger Canyon ----------------------------98 

Bowknot Bend ----------------------------85, 88 

Bryce Canyon National Park------- -----------116 

Bureau of Land Management ------------------46 

Buttes, Junction ------------------------------27 

Merrimac and Monitor--------- ------------28 

of the Cross ------------------------------92 

Turks Head------------------- -----40, 43, 93 

c 

Page 

Canyonlands Resort------------------------ 2, 63 

Canyons, access roads --------------------------8 

Bootlegger --------------------------------98 

Cataract---------------------------5, 85,108 

Colorado River--------------------------- -85 

Cyclone ------------------------------79, 80 

Davis --------------------------------64, 70 

Desolation ---------------------------------8 

Elephant ---------------------------------76 

Green River ------------------------------85 Horse-------------------------------- 64, 67 

Horseshoe ------------------------------ 1, 9 

Kane Springs -----------------------------48 

Labyrinth -----------------------------5, 90 

Lathrop------------------------------ 34, 36 

Lavender----------------------------- 64, 70 

Lockhart ---------------------------------49 

Lower Red Lake --------------------------80 

Millard----------------------- ------------57 

Mineral ----------------------------------29 

Range ------------------------ ------------58 

Red Lake--------------------- ------------80 

Salt-------------------------- ------9, 64, 66 

Seven mile --------------------------------28 

Stillwater -----------------------5, 40, 43, 92 

Taylor----------------------------------- -91 

Trough Springs ---------------------------48 

Upheaval ---------------------------------46 

Capitol Reef National Park -------------------115 

Castle Arch--------------------------------- --68 

Cataract Canyon------------------ -----5, 85, 108 

Cave Spring Environmental Trail----------- 14, 66 

Cave Spring line camp---------------------- 2, 14 

Cedar Breaks National Monument -------------116 

Cedar Mesa Sandstone------------------47, 58, 63 

arches------------------------------- 66, 115 

potholes------------------------------ 36, 65 

Chesler Park------------------------------ 75, 76 

Chinle Formation ----------------------------115 

Moss Back Member-------------------- 16, 62 

Church Rock---------------------- ------------60 

Climate --------------------------------------23 

Campgrounds, Hatch Point --------------------48 Colorado National Monument -----------------115 

near Green River Overlook-----------------43 Colorado Plateau ----------------------17,21,114 

Peek-a-boo Spring-------------------------68 Colorado River--------------------------- 96, 114 

Squaw Flat---------------------------- 2, 63 river runners' guidebook------- -------------5 

Wind whistle------------------ ------------47 Confluence of Green and Colorado Rivers17, 80, 106 

Cane Creek anticline ---------------31,50,53,100 Confluence Overlook---------------------------80 

Canyon de Chelly National Monument ---------115 Cutler Formation -------------------48, 54, 62, 98 

Canyon King---------------------- ------------98 Cedar Mesa Sandstone Member ------------47 

Canyon Rims Recreation Area -----------------47 

Canyon Viewpoint Arch -----------------------36 

Canyonlands Overlook------------- ------------48 

de Chelly Sandstone Member--------------115 

Organ Rock Tongue -----------------------40 

White Rim Sandstone Member -------------34 

123 
Cutler Formation-Continued Page History-Continued Page 

See also Cedar Mesa Sandstone; White 

Rim Sandstone. 

Cyclone Canyon ---------------------------79, 80 

D,E 

Davis Canyon----------------------------- 64, 70 

Dead Horse Point ---------------------30, 31, 101 

Dead Horse Point State Park ------------------30 Desolation Canyon -----------------------------8 

Devils Kitchen --------------------------------75 

Devils Lane------------------------------- 75, 80 

Devils Pocket ---------------------------------75 

Dinosaur National Monument-------------- 8, 114 

Druid Arch------------------------------- 24, 76 

Dugout Ranch ----------------------------14, 61 

Elaterite Basin------------------------------ --58 

Elephant Canyon---------------------------- --76 

Elephant Hill------------------------------ 2, 75 

Entrada Sandstone ----------------28, 60, 115, 116 

Entrances, Island in the Sky district------2, 28, 34 

Needles district------------------------ 2, 60 

Ernies Country -------------------------------58 

Erosion------------------------------- 21, 64, 114 

landslide --------------------------------106 

Needles district ---------------------------63 

rate---------------------------------- 21, 90 

volume of rock removed --------------21,112 

F, G 

Facies changes ---------------------34, 47, 58, 113 

Faults -----------------------------48, 63, 79, 104 

Floods-----------------------------·--------- -67 

Fort Bottom-----------------------·------ 91, 92 

Fossils ----------------------------·----- 76, 101 

Four-wheel-drive roads. See Jeep trails. 

Fremont people--------------------·------- 9, 12 

Gas-------------------------------·----- 53, 112 

Geologic history-------------------------- 20, 112 

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area --------115 

Goblin Valley State Park -----------·---------116 

Goose Neck ------------------------·--30, 31, 101 

Gothic Arch -----------------------· ----------68 

Grand Canyon National Park -------·---------115 

Grand (Colorado) River-------------·------ 17, 96 

Grand View Point ------------------·----------40 

Grays Pasture ----------------------------29, 36 

Green River ----------------------------------87 

Overlook ---------------------------------43 

River runners' guidebook -------------------4 

Ground water----------------------·------ 64, 65 

H,I 

Hatch Point -----------------------·----------1,6 

Hatch Point Campground -----------·----------48 

Henry Mountains ------------------------21, 114 

Hermosa Formation, Paradox Member- -53, 79, 108 

History, Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch- -14, 57 

92 

cliff dwellers -------------------.-----------9 

cliff dwellings ------------------.----------97 

mapping-------------------------------- -117 

Powell river expeditions ----------------4,87 

railroads ---------------------------------96 

trapper Julien ----------------------------90 

Horse Canyon----------------------------- 64,67 

Horseshoe Canyon---------------------------1, 9 

Horseshoe Canyon Detached Unit --------------54 

Horsethief Trail------------------------29, 36,90 

Hurrah Pass------------------------------ 48, 50 

Igneous rocks---------------------------- 20, 113 

Indian Creek--------------------------61, 93, 101 

lndian Creek State Park-------------------12, 61 

Indian ruins. See Ruins. 

lndians, Anasazi ------------------------9, 12, 68 

Fremont------------------~------------ 9, 12 

Pueblo -------------------------·----------9 

Ute --------------------------------------12 

!ron------------------------------------------23 

Island in the Sky -------------------· ---------27 

J 

Jackson Hole ----------------------------90, 100 

Jeep trails, Davis Canyon ----------------------70 

Elephant Hill-------------------------- 2, 75 

Horse Canyon---------------------------- -67 

Hurrah Pass----------------------------- -48 

Island in the Sky district ------------------36 

Lavender Canyon -------------------------70 

Needles district ---------------------2, 63, 75 

Potash area------------------------------ -98 

reason for building ------------------------16 

Salt Canyon ------------------------------66 

Silver Stairs ------------------------2, 79, 80 

SOB Hill ------------------------------2, 75 

west of Green River ·----------------------54 

Jennings, J.D., quotation------------------- 9, 12 

Joint Trail------------------------------------76 

Joints------------------------------------ 63, 79 

Julien ----------------------------------------90 

Junction Butte --------------------------------27 

K, L 

Kane Springs Canyon -------------------------48 

Kayenta Formation -------------------25, 54, 115 

Keyhole Ruin ---------------------------------67 

Kings Bottom syncline--------------------- 50, 98 

La Sal Mountains------------------------ 21, 113 

Labyrinth Canyon-------------------------- 5, 90 

Lake Powell -----------------------------23. 108 

Land of Standing Rocks -----------------------58 

Lathrop Canyon--------------------------- 34, 36 

Lavender Canyon ------------------------- 64, 70 

Little Rainbow Bridge -------------------------98 

Lockhart Basin -------------------------------49 

Lockhart Canyon----------------------------- -49 

Lohman, S. W., quotation----------------------25 

Lower Red Lake Canyon -----------------------80 

M 

cowboys-----------------------·------ 14, 30 Maps, geologic -------------------------------117 

first siting by white man -------------------4 satellite image ----------------------------18 

124 
Maps -Continued Page Powell-Continued Page 

shaded relief---------------------------- --18 John Wesley, quotation -------------------106 

Meander anticline ------------------------79, 108 river expeditions------------------- 4, 87 

Merrimac and Monitor Buttes ------------------28 Memorial Highway------------ -------------8 

Mesa Trail------------------------------------36 Pueblo people--------------------- -------------9 

Mesa Verde National Park --------------------116 

Mesas------------------------------------ 27, 46 

Metamorphic rocks ----------------------------21 

Metric conversion factors -----------------------1 

Millard Canyon ------------------------------·57 

Mineral Canyon -------------------------------29 

Mines, Atomic King ----------------·----------50 

Mi Vida ----------------------------------16 

potash-------------------------------- 53, 98 

School Section 13 ------------------------100 

uranium -----------------------16, 29, 50, 100 

Moab--------------------------------- -16, 86, 96 

Moab anticline --·-----------------------------50 

Moenkopi Formation ------------------43, 58, 115 

Monument Basin-------------------------- 40, 42 

Monument Valley ----------------------------115 

Morrison Formation --------------------------114 

Moss Back Member of Chinle Formation---- 16, 62 

Mutschler, F. E., quotation --------------------91 

N, 0 

Natural Bridges National Monument-----------115 

Navajo Sandstone -----------------46, 98, 115, 116 

arches---------------------------------- --36 

color -------------------------------------24 

environment of deposition -----------------20 

resistance to erosion -----------------------25 

Needles district -------------------------------60 

Needles Overlook-------------------------- 42, 47 

Newell, Maxine, quotation --------------------100 

Newspaper Rock -------------------------- 12, 61 

North Point --------------------·-------------57 

Oil------------·---------------------53, 100, 112 

Old Spanish Trail ------------------------57, 108 

Orange Cliffs ---------------------------------54 

Organ Rock Tongue of Cutler Formation --------40 

Overlooks, Anticline----------------------- 31, 50 

Canyonlands ------------------------------48 

Confluence------------------------------- -80 

Dead Horse Point--------------------- 30, 31 

Grand View Point -------------------------40 

Green River ------------------------------43 

Needles------------------------------- 42, 47 

U-3 loop ----------------------------------49 

P, Q 

Paradox Basin -------------------------------113 

Paradox Member of Hermosa Formation ---- 53, 79 

108, 113 

Paul Bunyans Potty ---------------------------67 

Petrified Forest National Park ----------------115 

Petroglyphs--------------------------- ---- 12, 97 

Photography -----------------------------------3 

Powell camera stations --------------5, 90, 93 

Quicksand ------------------------------------66 

R 

Railroads--------------------------------- 96, 98 

Rainbow Bridge National Monument -----------115 

Range Canyon --------------------------------58 

Red Lake Canyon -----------------------------80 

Rico Formation --------------------------76, 101 

Rincons ----------------------------------86, 90 

Anderson Bottom -------------------------93 

Indian Creek------------------------- 93, 101 

Jackson Hole ------------------------90, 100 

River trips-------------------------------- 85, 86 

Canyon King------------------ ------------98 

early float-------------------- -----87, 88, 96 

guidebooks----------------------------- 4, 88 

Powell expeditions ---------------------4, 87 

rapids -----------------------------------108 

stern-wheeler -----------------------------98 

Rivers, Colorado ------------------------- 96, 114 

Grand (Colorado)----------------------17, 96 

Green ------------------------ ------------87 

cutoffs -------------------------------86, 87 

See also Rincons. 

meanders----------------------------- 85, 86 

Rock column------------------------------ 20, 31 

Rock folds, anticlines --------------------------98 

Cane Creek anticline -----------31, 50, 53, 100 

Kings Bottom syncline----------------- 50, 98 

Meander anticline --------------------79, 108 

Moab anticline ----------------------------50 

oil and gas ---·---------------------------53 

potash salts-------------------------------53 

San Rafael Swell-------------- -----------116 

Shafer dome -------------------31, 49, 53, 101 

synclines -------------------------43, 49, 100 

Upheaval Dome ---------------------------43 

Rock fractures, faults --------------48, 63, 79, 104 

joints --------------------------------63, 79 

origin ------------------------------------79 

Rock inscriptions----------------------------- -12 

Rock layers, dip--·------------------54, 85, 90, 97 

Rock paintings ---------------------------------9 

Ruin Park--------------------------------- 9, 75 

Ruins------------------------------------ 64, 70 

Anasazi -------------------------------9, 68 

Fort Bottom ------------------------------91 

granaries------------------------------ 9, 68 

Keyhole ----------------------------------67 

Tower--------------------------------- 9, 68 

s 

Picnic sites ----------------------------36,46,75 Salt beds ---------------------43,53,79,108,113 

Pictographs -----------------------------9, 12, 70 Salt Canyon ----------------------------9, 64, 66 

Pinto Arch -----------------------------------98 Salt Creek -----------------------------------106 

Porter, Elliot, quotation -----------------------87 

Potash salts ----------------·---------53, 98, 113 

Potholes---------------------------------- 36, 65 

Powell, John Wesley------------------------ 4, 87 

San Rafael Desert---------------------------- -54 

San Rafael Swell-----------------------------116 

Sedimentary rocks -----------------------20, 112 

ages--------------------------------- 20, 112 

125 
Sedimentary rock-Continued Page 

cement------------------------------- 25, 65 

color -------------------------------------23 

elaterite ----------------------------------58 

environments of deposition------------ 20, 113 

facies changes -----------------34, 47, 58, 113 

fossils------------------------------- 76, 101 

gypsum -----------------------------79, 113 

"layer-cake geology" -----------------------23 

salt ----------------------43, 53, 79, 108, 113 

sculpture by erosion -----------------------25 

Sevenmile Canyon -----------------------------28 

Shafer Basin---------------------------------100 

Shafer dome -----------------------31, 49, 53, 101 

Shafer limestone-------------------------- 31, 54 

Shafer Trail ----------------------------------34 

Silver Stairs ----------------------------2, 79, 80 

Six-Shooter Peaks -----------------------------61 

SOB Hill ----------------------------------2, 75 

Spanish Bottom -----------------------80, 85, 108 

Spanish explorers -----------------------------12 

Springs---------------------------------------36 

Squaw Flat Campground -------------------2, 63 

Steer Mesa -----------------------------------46 

Stillwater Canyon --------------------5, 40, 43, 92 

Sunset Crater National Monument-------------116 

T 

Taylor Canyon --------------------------------91 

The Doll House --------------·----------------58 

Tee Fins -------------------------------------58 

The Grabens--------------------------------- -73 

age --------------------------------------79 

Cyclone Canyon----------------------- 79, 80 

Devils Lane--------------------------- 75, 80 

Devils Pocket -----------------------------75 

origin ------- ~----------------- -----------79 

The Loop-------------------------------- 85, 104 

The Maze----------- ------·-------------------58 

The Neck--------------------------------- 27, 34 

The Needles ----------------------------------73 

The Portal------------------------------------97 

The Slide ------------------------------------106 

The Spur -------------------------------------54 

"Three Worlds" -------------------------------24 

Thundershowers ------------------------------67 

Tower Ruin-------------------------------- 9, 68 

Trails, Cave Spring Environmental --------- 14, 66 

foot ---------------------63, 64, 70, 73, 76, 98 

horse------------------------------------ -54 

Horsethief -------------------------29, 36, 90 

jeep. See Jeep trails. 

Joint -------------------------------------76 

Mesa -------------------------------------36 

Old Spanish -------------------------57, 108 

126 

Trails-Continued Page 

Shafer ----------------------- -------•----34 

to Druid Arch ----------------------------76 

to Upheaval Dome ------------------------46 

White Rim -------------------------------34 

Transportation in the park--------- ------------26 

Trough Springs Canyon------------------------48 

Turks Head----------------------- -----40, 43, 93 

Twain, Mark, quotation------------ ------------87 

U, V 

U-3 loop --------------------------------------49 

Uncompahgre highland ------------------- 54, 113 

Upheaval Canyon -----------------------------46 

Upheaval Dome -------------------------------43 

Uranium ------------------------------16, 34, 97 

mines -------------------------16, 29, 50, 100 

occurrence ----------------------------16, 62 

Ute petroglyphs-- -----------------------------12 

Vegetation, Chesler Park ----------------------76 

fossil forest------------------- -----------101 

Hatch Point ------------------------------47 

historical changes---------------------- 5, 90 

Island in the Sky -------------------------29 

Squaw Flat -------------------------------63 

W,Z 

Wasatch Formation --------------------------116 

Water, artesian -------------------------------91 

floods ------------------------------------67 

ground------------------------------- 64, 65 

Island in the Sky district ------ -------- 43, 91 

potholes------------------------------ 36, 65 

quicksand --------------------------------66 

springs -----------------------------------36 

Whale Rock---------------------------------- -46 

White Rim ------------------------------- 34, 58 

White Rim Sandstone ------------------23, 47, 54 

color ------------------------------------ -24 

elaterite ----------------------------------58 

potholes ----------------------------------36 

thickness variation------------ --23, 34, 40, 43 

water ------------------------------------91 

White Rim Trail ------------------------------34 

Windwhistle Campground--------------------- -47 

Wingate Sandstone -----------------43, 54, 61, 115 

cliffdwellings -----------------------------97 

petroglyphs ---------------------------12, 97 

resistance to erosion -----------------------25 

Wooden Shoe ---------------------------------66 

Wupatki National Monument------------------115 

Zion National Park-------------------------- -115 

*U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1974 0-536-741