Cody in Park County, Wyoming — The American West (Mountains)

Shoshone Canyon

Wyoming

Photographed by Bill Coughlin, July 25, 2015

1. Shoshone Canyon Marker

Inscription. Shoshone Canyon is a gorge cut through Rattlesnake Mountain by the wearing action of the Shoshone River. The mountain is a northwest trending uplift in the earth’s crust that rises 3700 feet above the surrounding terrain. Beds of sedimentary rock that are exposed on the mountain’s northeast flank slope eastward beneath the plains. The same units, which range in age from 205 to 570 million years, bend up and over the crest of the mountain and stand vertically along the southwest flank. Granite exposed at the west end of the canyon at Buffalo Bill Dam is two billion years old. North of the dam, a fault (crack) in the earth’s surface lies adjacent to the steeply inclined rocks. Geologic compressive forces which formed the uplift also caused rocks to move vertically along the fault. The Rattlesnake Mountain uplift began to form 66 million years ago, approximately the same time dinosaurs became extinct. The present topographic configuration of Rattlesnake Mountain and the formation of Shoshone Canyon are due to erosional downcutting occurring over the past three million years.

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Location. 44° 30.667′ N, 109° 8.37′ W. Marker is in Cody, Wyoming, in Park County. It is on W Yellowstone Avenue (U.S. 20), on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Cody WY 82414, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Bighorn Basin

and in Greater Yellowstone.

It is also in the American Mountain West

and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Rocky Mountains,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Shoshone River Siphon (approx. 0.6 miles away); Colter’s Hell (approx. 1.2 miles away); Arland & Corbett (approx. 1.7 miles away); Cedar Mountain (approx. 1.7 miles away); William Garlow Cody (approx. 1.7 miles away); Stone Circles (approx. 1.7 miles away); Lee Street – Cody City (approx. 1.7 miles away); The Panoramic View (approx. 1.7 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Cody.

Photographed by Bill Coughlin, July 25, 2015

2. Shoshone Canyon Marker

Photographed by Bill Coughlin, July 25, 2015

3. Shoshone Canyon Marker

Shoshone Canyon image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bill Coughlin, July 25, 2015

4. Shoshone Canyon

Credits. This page was last revised on February 9, 2022. It was originally submitted on July 25, 2015, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 2,717 times since then and 149 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on July 25, 2015, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.