The camp site for our second map exercise is located on a private ranch adjacent to the Canyonlands National Park. The campsite is about 35 miles northwest of Monticello, Utah. Although the elevation is about 7,500 feet, the weather is typically warm to hot and dry. Evenings are warm and mornings show no sign of the cool weather experienced during the previous week. Mapping of faulted Colorado Plateau Jurassic, Triassic and Cretaceous rocks is the focus of this exercise.
Mapping is on aerial photographs supported by topographic maps.
Detailed stratigraphic measurements and description of the formations are preliminary activities prior to mapping. Students mapping from aerial photos, New Mexico. Half day field trips to the Canyonlands and Arches National Monument are mixed into the activities at this site. We spend 6 days here and then travel to northern Utah and the third locality, which is located at Dinosaur National Park. The campsite is on the Green River at a location that was one of the stops of the Powell Expedition.