Navajo Sandstone

This view area is underlain by Navajo sandstone, which is found throughout the Colorado Plateau. Navajo sandstone creates some of the most dramatic scenery in the area, often forming cliffs and rounded domes. From here, you can see a large number of these rounded domes.

Navajo sandstone was deposited 200 million years ago. At that time, the area was a vast desert system, complete with shifting sand dunes. It looked very much like the Sahara desert does today. These sand dunes subsequently hardened. Erosion exposed the "petrified" sand millions of years later, creating the Navajo sandstone formations that we see today.

As you travel towards Canyonlands National Park, you will see isolated remnants of Navajo sandstone. These rocks were harder than the sediments in which they were embedded. That is the reason they remain. Look for these Navajo sandstone remnants as you travel up Utah Highway 313.

Rock Coloration , One feature of the Colorado Plateau that makes it so beautiful is the many and varied colors of the rock layers. Each sedimentary layer seems to have its own distinctive color phase.

This coloration is due to the various minerals found in the rocks. These minerals react to weathering by coloring the rocks. The prominent reds and yellows in the landscape are formed when iron in the rocks is exposed to the atmosphere. The black sheen seen on many rocks, especially on cliff faces, is formed by manganese. (This black sheen is called "desert varnish".) Purples and greens are caused by clay minerals in the Morrison and Chinle formations. It is thanks to these minerals that the Colorado Plateau is so colorful. . This historical marker was erected by Bureau of Land Management. It is Near Moab in Grand County Utah