Hiking Colorado's GeologyFun, easy-to-use guides to hiking and understanding the dramatic geologic formations of these regions. |
Contents
Introduction | 13 |
COLORADOS GEOLOGIC LANDSCAPES | 14 |
THE COLORADO PLATEAU | 15 |
THE HIGH PLAINS | 16 |
THE STORY OF THE LANDSCAPE | 17 |
IGNEOUS ROCKS | 18 |
METAMORPHIC ROCKS | 21 |
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS | 22 |
THE SANGRE DE CRISTO RANGE | 125 |
WILLOW LAKE Glaciated Crestone Conglomerate | 126 |
LILY LAKE Glaciated Basement Rocks | 128 |
DEVILS CAUSEWAY Bridge of Basalt | 132 |
HANGING LAKE A Travertine Oasis | 134 |
THE ELK MOUNTAINS | 138 |
MAROON BELLS Colorados Most Photographed Peaks | 140 |
CATHEDRAL LAKE Towers of Baked Ancestral Rockies Sedimentary Rocks | 143 |
SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES | 25 |
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURESFAULTS FOLDS AND FRACTURES | 26 |
PLATE TECTONICSCONTINENTS ON THE MOVE | 29 |
PREPARING TO HIKE THE GEOLOGY | 31 |
TOPOGRAPHIC AND GEOLOGIC MAPS | 32 |
COLORADOS ROCKY MOUNTAINS | 35 |
THE FRONT RANGE | 44 |
GREYROCK MOUNTAIN Margin of a Granitic Intrusion | 49 |
LAKE AGNES AND NOKHU CRAGS Fallout of a Granitic Intrusion | 52 |
LITTLE YELLOWSTONE CANYON Headwaters of the Colorado River | 55 |
GLACIER GORGE An Ice Age Quarry in Rocky Mountain National Park | 58 |
CHASM LAKE Glacial Reflections | 60 |
ARAPAHO GLACIER Colorados Largest Glacier | 63 |
CHICAGO LAKES The Mount Evans Batholith | 66 |
ROCK CREEK TRAIL Smooth Granitic Summits | 69 |
THE CRAGS Pikes Peaks Spiny West Side | 72 |
PETRIFIED FOREST TRAIL Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument | 75 |
GREENHORN MOUNTAIN Volcanic Rocks Preserve the Rocky Mountain Surface | 78 |
DINOSAUR RIDGE The Dinosaur Freeway | 84 |
FOUNTAIN VALLEY Rocky Mountain Trap Door Shards | 87 |
GARDEN OF THE GODS Pikes Peak Trap Door | 89 |
THE PARK AND GORE RANGES | 93 |
HAHNS PEAK Eroded Core of a Tertiary Volcano | 95 |
FISH CREEK CANYON A Glaciated Hanging Valley | 98 |
RABBIT EARS PEAK Eroded Flows of Volcanic Rock | 100 |
BOOTH FALLS Cascades along the Gore Fault | 103 |
THE SAWATCH AND MOSQUITO RANGES | 106 |
MOUNT ELBERT The Top of Colorado | 108 |
ASPEN GROTTOS An Ice Age Cavern | 111 |
HORSESHOE CIRQUE Sedimentary Layers Line an Alpine Cirque | 113 |
THE RIO GRANDE RIFT | 117 |
CHALK CLIFFS White Cliffs Flag a Geothermal Area | 119 |
GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL MONUMENT Giant WindBlown Dunes | 122 |
THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS | 146 |
WEST ELK MOUNTAINS Castles of Breccia | 150 |
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE Meeting of the Headwaters and the Grenadier Range | 152 |
BLUE LAKES PASS The Mount Sneffels Intrusion | 155 |
BOX CANYON FALLS The Ouray Fault and an Angular Unconformity | 158 |
WHEELER GEOLOGIC AREA Moonscape of Volcanic Tuff | 160 |
SLUMGULLION LANDSLIDE Geology in Action | 163 |
WEST FORK SAN JUAN RIVER Soak in a Geothermal Pool | 166 |
THE COLORADO PLATEAU | 169 |
COLORADOS CANYON COUNTRY | 170 |
KNIFE EDGE TRAIL Mesa Verde National Park | 175 |
SAND CANYON Cliff Dwellings in Jurassic Strata | 178 |
DOLORES RIVER CANYON Salt Tectonics and Red Rock | 182 |
UNAWEEP CANYON An Ancient River Channel and the Great Unconformity | 185 |
RATTLESNAKE CANYON Sandstone Arches | 189 |
MONUMENT CANYON Sandstone Monuments and the Great Unconformity | 192 |
NORTH VISTA TRAIL Black Canyon of the Gunnison | 194 |
CRAG CREST Grand Mesas Basalt Backbone | 197 |
TRAIL THROUGH TIME Dinosaur Graveyard | 200 |
HARPERS CORNER BirdsEye View of Faults and Folds | 203 |
THE HIGH PLAINS | 207 |
COLORADOS HIGH PLAINS | 208 |
PAWNEE BUTTES Sedimentary Buttes Rise Above the High Plains | 211 |
CASTLEWOOD CANYON A Conglomeration of Castle Rock Conglomerate | 214 |
WEST SPANISH PEAK Igneous Rocks Pierce the High Plains | 217 |
DINOSAUR LAKE Dinosaur Tracks in Picket Wire Canyonlands | 219 |
Glossary | 223 |
Recommended Reading | 228 |
Key References | 230 |
233 | |
Addresses and Contact Information | 236 |
238 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Ancestral Rockies ancient basement rocks Basin become boulders called Canyon carved cliffs climbs Colorado conglomerate continues Creek crest crosses crystals deposited DIFFICULTY Dinosaur DISTANCE drive dunes east ELEVATION eroded erosion exposed Falls fault feet flows follow Forest Formation formed fossils fractures Front Range GEOLOGIC GEOLOGIC MAP glaciers Grand granite Gunnison High Plains Highway Hike igneous intrusion junction KEY REFERENCE Lake landscape Laramide leads located look Maroon metamorphic miles miles round trip million years ago minerals Monument Mount Mount Sneffels once outcrops Park Pass past Peak pile Plate Plateau Pleistocene PRECAUTIONS pushed reach region ridge rise River road Rocky Mountains San Juan sand sandstone sediment sedimentary layers sedimentary rocks side slope Springs stand steep steps stream summit surface switchbacks trail Trail Guide trailhead uplift valley volcanic winds
Popular passages
Page 9 - Coal swamps Amphibians abundant First insect fossils Fishes dominant First land plants...